New Direction

Well as usual, I’ve been flip flopping over the choice of bike I’m going to buy and while for the moment it looks like I’ve got the financial aspect of the purchase worked out I’m still a little bit up in the air. I’ve decided against the Bianchi, too flashy, I don’t really like the campy shifters and Ultegra would be a high priced up grade from Veloce and I think I’d be more worried about the bike getting damaged. I dropped back into Capital Hill Bikes on Thursday last week and hopped on the Cannondale CAAD9 equipped with 105 and really enjoyed it, probably even more then when I rode the 1885. The bike is so stiff and responds so well and I liked the feel of the frame size and everything. It really felt smooth and handled like a dream. The full aluminum frame will be a bit rough on longer rides I’m sure, but I won’t be racing any seriously long rides any time soon, and if I decide to do any centuries or longer rides I’ll probably use the Specialized anyway.

So, we’ll see; I may be going in to order it as soon as this week since I think I’m pretty much determined on it. On Friday on the way home I stopped by Performance Bikes to check out the Fuji’s and store brands which were really inexpensive and featured full Ultegra, but after spending 30 or so minutes in the store and not even receiving a hello, much less an offer to help I decided I’d rather support the LBS that is doing so much for me already and get the bike with a frame that is worthwhile. Plus I’ll get service deals there where as I would never even consider taking a bike to Performance for service. So, I think that settles it, at least so far as where I’ll take my business. Hopefully I’ll be reporting a new bike to the collection soon.