Rae + Chain Reaction = New Bike!
This past weekend, Rae and I went to the local Chain Reaction store in Los Altos to pick up a new bike. We were deciding between a 2003 Trek 2300 WSD that was on sale and a new 2004 Trek 2200 WSD. Trek had discontinued the 2300 line to encourage women to "upgrade" to the 5200 WSD. The new 2200 has a carbon rear stay to go along with a carbon seat tube, while the 2300 had an all aluminum frame, Race Lite Wheels, and full Ultegra components. They didn't have a 43cm 2200 in stock, so Rae had to test ride the 47cm. Feeling it to be too large and eager to walk away with a bike, we decided on the 2300.
After shopping for accessories and clothes (10% off when you buy a new bike), we got Rae sized for her new bike. I've never been properly sized for my Trek 5200. I'm pretty sure that my stem is too long; I always feel too stretched out on the hoods. One of these days, I'm going to do a massive overhaul on the bike... or buy a new one. The 5200 that I have is almost 10 years old. I've already replaced the rear cassette (moving from an 11-21 to a 12-25), the brake pads, the seat, and cables. It's still running on Ultegra 8-spd. Sometimes I wonder if it's cheaper to buy a new bike than to upgrade all of the components!
Tour de France time is coming up next month! Now with her new bike, I have a feeling that Rae will be beating me up the hills!
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It's cheaper to rebuild a bike with what *you* want. Bike manufacturers tend to overvalue a bike that has premium-level component sets, and they're never really complete anyway.
On the other hand, if you're up for it, the compromise is to have a quality shop build your bike. I've lusted after a Ibis Ripley softtail for *so* long now, and have been sorely tempted to do this (to replace a Trek 4500 with nothing but the wheelset OEM, mostly Shimano XT + Avid).
So, yes, I've done a complete retrofit/rebuild, and it's a bit cheaper, and you get to get your hands real dirty. Except for chopping the stem on the new fork and setting the crown on it, I did most everything with an allen set and a Dremel.. and a few weeks in the Michigan winter. I did take it in for a real tuneup (~$100) the next summer, to be sure a pro had dialed it in at some point -- as I had done all new cables and such.--posted by Ken @ Friday, June 11 2004, 15:58 pm PDT
Also, here's a good link:
http://www.wrenchscience.com/
Fun to play around with -- "build your own!" -- example of a semi-custom job to get what you want.--posted by Ken @ Friday, June 11 2004, 16:05 pm PDT
Did you prop yourself against anything for the 1.6s shot with the blurred legs? That's a big camera to hold steady ..
--posted by Charlie Allom @ Thursday, September 23 2004, 20:54 pm PDT
Probably just rested it on my legs as I was kneeling down.
--posted by Adam @ Thursday, September 23 2004, 21:42 pm PDT
Gotta say Rae is one hot babe. Great bod and great smile too!
*runs away before Adam gets into jealous rage*
;)--posted by Adrian @ Sunday, April 3 2005, 20:22 pm PDT
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