New bike!

I have a hot date with my new bike for tomorrow morning. Nothing fancy;
just your basic, entry-level Specialized 16-speed racing bike. And it's red
:-)

I've done a lot of business with the guy at the local bike store, and he was
really good to me today. He spent some time replacing the handlebars and
adjusting the positions of the saddle and brake housings so it would fit me
perfectly. He explained that the idea is to be able to sit in the saddle
with the pedals in the lowest position and my hands on the bottom of the
handlebars, and not be able to see the front hub. That tells you whether
your weight is distributed properly. Even with the right size frame, I
could see the hub with the standard handlebars that came with the bike,
because I'm long in the torso. So he put a different set of bars on the
bike and tilted them up a little. The hub disappeared and the improvement
in feel was noticeable. He also popped the toe-clips off the standard
pedals so I can accommodate my bad left foot better.

On the way back from the shop, I chose a couple of routes for my
intermediate and long-term goals. We have some good hills around here, as
well as some good straightaways, and the county and local communities are
gradually developing more and more extensive bikeways. It's remaining a
fairly bike-friendly community, despite the local population boom. I have
lost two good friends to bike/auto collisions in the past few years, and
these tragedies helped raise local awareness and impetus for better bike
routes.

I also have a Schwinn touring bike I bought from the same shop a few years
ago, which I use to run errands. That's the only bike I've had for a few
months now, because my former racing bike met with its ultimate rest last
spring, after over 30 years of faithful service. Yes, a 35-year-old Raleigh
Grand Prix. Boy, was the guy at the bike shop glad to hear I was finally
retiring the old Raleigh, so he doesn't have to work on it anymore. It
literally started falling apart the last time I rode it -- well, nuts and
bolts and pieces of the saddle did, anyway. Literally falling off and
clanking to the pavement. Then the next morning, while the old Raleigh was
still on the rack on the trunk of my car, I backed it into the big rubber
bumper of a big pick-up truck in a parking lot. Goodbye, green Raleigh;
hello red Specialized!

It's cardio time!!!

ep

Edna Pearl wrote:
> I have a hot date with my new bike for tomorrow morning. Nothing fancy;
> just your basic, entry-level Specialized 16-speed racing bike. And it's
red
> :-)
>
> I've done a lot of business with the guy at the local bike store, and he
was
> really good to me today. He spent some time replacing the handlebars and
> adjusting the positions of the saddle and brake housings so it would fit
me
> perfectly.

Did they use a machine similar to this one for the original fit?
http://www.oldtownbicycle.com/newsite/bikefitform.shtml
These are really great. My bike shop loaned me two bikes to try before I
purchased my new bike about a month ago. This made it real easy to
determine which style and size was best for me.


>He explained that the idea is to be able to sit in the saddle
> with the pedals in the lowest position and my hands on the bottom of the
> handlebars,
Do you mean in the drops when you say 'bottom of the handlebars'?

Enjoy the ride.

"Beverly" <bowens@home.woh.rr.com> wrote in message
news:hI4dh.2173$ja6.808@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...
> Did they use a machine similar to this one for the original fit?
> http://www.oldtownbicycle.com/newsite/bikefitform.shtml

No -- that's cool, though!

> These are really great. My bike shop loaned me two bikes to try before I
> purchased my new bike about a month ago. This made it real easy to
> determine which style and size was best for me.

Boy, your bike shop must really like you! :-) I've never seen a bike shop
give a loaner -- unless it was a demo model that they were going to sell
used. Did they let you ride the bike you bought before you bought it?

>>He explained that the idea is to be able to sit in the saddle
>> with the pedals in the lowest position and my hands on the bottom of the
>> handlebars,
> Do you mean in the drops when you say 'bottom of the handlebars'?

Right.

> Enjoy the ride.

Thanks!

ep

Edna Pearl wrote:
> "Beverly" <bowens@home.woh.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:hI4dh.2173$ja6.808@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...
> > Did they use a machine similar to this one for the original fit?
> > http://www.oldtownbicycle.com/newsite/bikefitform.shtml
>
> No -- that's cool, though!
>
> > These are really great. My bike shop loaned me two bikes to try before I
> > purchased my new bike about a month ago. This made it real easy to
> > determine which style and size was best for me.
>
> Boy, your bike shop must really like you! :-) I've never seen a bike shop
> give a loaner -- unless it was a demo model that they were going to sell
> used. Did they let you ride the bike you bought before you bought it?
>

I was considering two models - one a comfort road bike and the other a
standard road bike. The owner loaned me his wife's comfort geometry
bike for a couple of days. He didn't have the exact standard road
model in my size so he setup one in a similar model. It came directly
off the showroom floor. It's a common practice in this area for the
bike shops to setup bikes for test rides. I'm not sure they allow you
to keep them two days like they did for me. I finally decided on the
standard road bike - Trek Madone 5.0 WSD.

This bike shop sponsers the local cycling club and the MetroParks bike
patrol unit. I'm a member of both. I've dealt with them for several
years.