Road bike shopping, part IV: Full Circle
Alternate title: What I bought, already! :)
(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Already mostly decided on the Cannondale R500 at the last place, I arrived at the last shop and looked around for a while. They had two super-cute 2006 Trek 2200 WSDs (They're pink! Pink!), but they were like $1800 and not even close to my size. All the 1500s they had were 2005s, and therefore ugly. I glanced over the Specialized stock, noting prices, components, available sizes. I considered test-riding a Sequoia, but the models under $1000 had the Tiagra shifters that I didn't like. I decided that I would just take the Pilot for a test ride and call it a day. There would even be time to go back to the other shop and buy the Cannondale.
I had plenty of time to consider all of this, because no one noticed I was there for the first 5-10 minutes. I wasn't terribly upset about it, because there were only 3 guys, and they were all either helping customers or working on bikes in the back. After I flipped through the all the cycling jerseys and assorted gadgets, I tried to make eye contact with someone who could help me.
After a couple minutes, I caught the attention of a guy fitting a mountain bike for one customer and selling a Madone to another. I told him what I wanted, and he got "Mr. Steve" to help me. I repeated to Mr. Steve that I wanted to test ride the Pilot in a 52. He didn't try to sell me anything, just hooked me up with the assorted accoutrements, made sure the seat was positioned correctly, stowed the wallet and keys behind the counter, and we were off to the parking lot. As we walked, I asked where I should go.
"Well, go ahead and take one lap around the parking lot to make sure everything's adjusted right. Then if you take a left out of the parking lot there," He pointed to the side road. "and go down to the stop sign, you can take another left and you'll be in a residential area."
Whoa. So, I could leave the parking lot?! I could just take off into some random neighborhood? Rock. "Oh, okay."
I started to walk the bike off the sidewalk and was stopped short by a horrible grating noise. I had flashbacks of when I blew a tire while test driving a car one time, and felt sure that I had broken something before I even got to the parking lot. Mr. Steve seemed unperturbed, and I quickly discovered that it was the sound of the toe-strap thing scraping against the sidewalk. Oops.
I got around the parking lot without incident...everything seemed to fit fine, and I even got BOTH feet into the toe-clips by the time I got back to the sidewalk. After a brief discussion about the crappiness of toe-clips and my backordered shoes, Mr. Steve saw me off down the road.
I have to be honest--I felt like kind of a tool at first, riding this bike with the big yellow price tag on it through the neighborhood. Still, it was a great ride. On a longer stretch of road, I could really get a feel for the bike in a way I couldn't on the trainer or in a parking lot. This was also, by far, the smoothest ride I had taken all day. I played with the shifting a little bit...there was one place where it slipped and got a little squirrelly, but it seemed to do better on the downshift and was fine when I went back up again. I tried different hand positions, did a short standing run. Everything felt under control, and mostly comfortable. And fast. Oh, lordy. I don't know how fast I was going, of course, but it felt at least as fast as I go on the hybrid, with about half the effort. I probably rode about 2 miles around the neighborhood before I figured I'd better get back to the shop before they called the police.
I wanted this bike, but I was hesitant about the price. It was $200 more than the Cannondale, and I was beginning to doubt that it really rode better. After all, I didn't take the Cannondale very far, and I was negotiating parking lot obstacles and traffic the whole time. I decided to ask Mr. Steve.
I told him that I really liked the bike, but was also considering the Cannondale R500, which was $200 cheaper. "I know you don't sell Cannondale here, but do you think you could compare them for me?"
He asked about the frame material, components, wheelset. I knew most of the answers, but finally asked if I could run out and get the catalog I had gotten at the last place. I brought it back in, he looked over the specs, and gave his assessment. "The Cannondale's a good bike...I've ridden a few of them. The components on these two are pretty much a wash. I'm not familiar with the wheels on the Cannondale, but it's got an all-aluminum frame, which is going to mean a harsher ride than the Pilot. It's probably slightly lighter, though. The Cannondale's designed more for speed, and the Pilot is designed to be comfortable over long distances. It all comes down to what you want to do with it."
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you talk about the brands you don't sell. Don't tell me how much better your brand is than theirs, just give me an objective assessment. I liked this guy.
We talked for several minutes about the bikes and what my goals were--ride a century in less than 6 hours, do longer distances faster and more comfortably than on my hybrid. I asked about whether I would take a speed hit with the Pilot's more upright riding position...he didn't think so. Per Mr. Steve, aerodynamics only really come into play once you get into the 22+ mph range. Unless I'm going to be racing, other factors make a lot more difference than riding position. I asked about hill climbing, which he said was even less affected. I might see more drag on descents, but that was about it. We weighed the bike (about 20-21 lbs.), looked at the specs some more, then he started talking about wheels.
"I don't know what the wheel design is like on the Cannondale, but this dual spoke pattern is very sturdy." He considered me briefly. "Though you don't look like you have a problem with weight..."
I then threw my arms around the neck of this middle-aged bike geek and kissed him full on the mouth. He was flustered for a second or two, but managed to continue, "...I've found that these sort of wheels hold up better even for a heavier guy like me."
Oh, I did not. But my smile probably brightened a little. Empty flattery, maybe, but I'll take it. :)
We discussed the pros and cons a few minutes more, then I told him that I wanted to try and test ride the Cannondale one more time before I made my decision. I waved, I thanked, I drove. And then I broke my promise and called Rob again. After talking to him for a few minutes, I decided that I had ridden enough bikes for one day, and I was just going to go home and make my decision with the information I already had. After all, the only thing that was really keeping me from choosing the Pilot was the higher price.
Rob and I talked about it when I got home, ran over the specs again. After he bounced the two choices off Jarrod (who had called about something else entirely), it was determined that the Pilot was probably worth the extra $200 just for the component upgrade. Good enough for me!
So, once again, I spent all day shopping for something, only to choose the first one I tried on. :) Now all that's left is to pick her up. I stopped by the shop on my lunch hour today to let them know I would be buying it, and Multitasker Guy was the only one there. He remembered me--"So, did you decide on a bike?"
I nodded. "The Pilot."
"Yess!" (He said this with a victorious fist-pump thing, which made me laugh. Think Napoleon Dynamite at the FFA meet..."The contaminant is...oil.")
I'm going over there to get everything settled tonight, and will be driving home with a new Pilot 2.1.
I think I shall name her...Amelia.
Posted by Joy at July 20, 2005 04:59 PM
