Yesterday.... A great trip to a great store --the Spin Cycle. (www.thespincycle.com) Kevin Coggins, the owner and I had a great fact filled 1 and 1/2 hour conversation. Some of the things that came out of my visit to Kevin's place: There has been a tremendous amount of change in bike and bike component manufacturing in the six years and the bike that you get today is much more capable and better equipped for the same price as only a few years ago. Also the advancement in Carbon Materials as it relates to bike manufacturing is tremendous. Also a third component manufacturer, SRAM, has come to road biking in a big way after a pretty long history in Mountain biking. We went in depth on many areas of questions that I either had questions on or my lack of knowledge was important to improve upon so as to make a more informed and better buying decision. Kevin, because of our long association, both on and off the bike, let me know a few of the recent business decisions that certain bicycle and component manufacturers have made that are not always in the best interest of keeping options open for both the bike store owner and the retail consumer as well. It is alarming and disappointing to see bicycle companies and component manufacturers act so much like the rest of the business world, but I digress. I currently have a triple front chain ring on my bike for the "mountain excursions" that I participate in and am now considering going to a "newer" concept of a "compact crank" to make things a bit simpler. So Kevin and I talked and talked and talked ....well you get the point....most every thing that makes up a bike was discussed, discected and fully expounded upon. My head was "Spinning" (no pun intended-the spin cycle) after leaving. I think that more and more questions came to mind on the drive home.
I do think that we came down to a few conclusions though: I am going to "test ride" a few bikes equipped with differing components and different manufacturers. I may take out the "loaner" Specialized Roubaix for my weekend trial ride on my normal ride with the "North Raleigh Ride Group". I am also going to try a couple of "Felt" Bicycles. I also plan to try out some or both of these bikes equipped with the new SRAM components. Again, this may drive me to more questions but will, ultimately, get me closer to a very "sound" buying decision.
Again...will update....but it appears that a plan is coming together and YES I am EXCITED!
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