Since I already posted this on Facebook and all the people my wife actually knows have seen it, it must be OK to show complete strangers. Of all the gifts I have given for Christmas, this was the most fun.
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| Raw Christmas Joy |
My wife has made the transformation into a full on cyclist. Starting with a hand me down bike which was quickly traded up to a new entry level road bike, a Scott Contessa Speedster 25. She rode that for about 1000 miles when we stumbled across a Focus Mares 3.0 Cross bike. After that, the Speedster never stood a chance. The feeling of responsiveness that a light stiff carbon frame provides was too sweet. It is truly a feeling that is hard to describe to somebody that doesn't ride much. It's hard to explain how shaving 5 lbs off the weight of a bike can make it 4X the price. I honestly can't figure it out myself because it really isn't just the weight. I can pack on 4lbs of gear and my light bike still feels light. It is more. But I digress for the story.
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| A Very Merry Christmas |
So late this summer I contacted the person we bought the Focus from who happens to be
A: Local
B: My Wife's Size and
C: A person who is able to get the latest bikes, ride them for a season and then turn them around at about 1/2 of retail.
This is good because the retail on this bike ranks right up there in the absurd category on my bike value scale. If fact, the 1/2 retail was still about $900 more than I was planning to spend since I've got about 4 bikes in my planned budget range that are pretty awesome. After some hemming and hawwing I decided to just go for it.
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| Happy |
I actually took delivery of this bike in October and had to keep it a secret for 2 months. That was no easy task especially as hints were getting dropped about getting a new road bike...Actually they were statements like "I need a new road bike to take the podium..." Or something like that. I also had thoughts like "
what if the garage burns down and she hasn't got her bike yet". It was rough.
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| 1/2 Century, December 26, 2014 - Powered by 1 cup of coffee & 2 biscotti |
Luckily, the weather was very generous and let her get out and ride it immediately instead of waiting until spring. We did over 50 miles on day 1 and another 30 on the next day. The naming process went through "Bumblebee", "The Hornet" and landed on "Little Miss Sunshine" I thought "The Envy Maker" would have been good.
As promised, I have made it though 2014 without buying (myself) any new bikes. This willpower can only last so long.
(Bucksaw)
On a related note, if anybody is interested in a good entry level road bike at less than closeout pricing, look me up (mention this blog for an even bigger discount )
Nice hearing the story from your side! I'm relieved that you posted the bottom photo, it helps contrast the sleepy head ones. Maybe you can name the Bucksaw "The Envy Maker"
ReplyDeleteThat's not a bad idea. Might have to wait for a year. Hmm, I wonder who the Salsa rep is in our area and if he is my size.
ReplyDelete