After years of abuse for riding my 'girls bike' Giant TCR i have finally passed it on to a friend and spent some hard earned cash on a new bike. The Giant originally cost me £1250 back in 2000/1 and in the end the only original components were the handlebars,frame and STI's. It was a great bike that fitted me and felt comfy for most of the time but, its time to stop reminiscing and move on. Its gone to a good home.
So whilst scouring Ebay, Wiggle, Cycling Weekly ads and Planet X i was looking for something around the £1000 mark. Not an extravagance when I was looking for a full carbon steed.
Daz almost had me with a Raleigh Avanti Carbon. A very nice bike with Shimano 105 but I couldn't get to see one in the flesh. Planet X was next up, good deals and good value but there is something about the road frames I just don't like. Then Daz suggested Halfords!!! Hello since when did Halfords and cycling extend their knowledge beyond spotty youths, bmx's and crap mountain(use the term loosely) bikes. When Chris Boardman is involved I guess.
A trip to Halfords to look at the bike was first on the agenda. In typical Halfords expectations they had to cut the U-lock of the demo model!
The black Team Carbon with SRAM Rival groupset with carbon STI's and Ritchey wheels looked good for a grand only I was after one of the 500 limited edition bikes. I cheekily asked if they did a Forces discount but alas no, but they did do a student discount. Bargain! I'm doing a Masters in Education and I thought I'd be getting 5% like Amazon offers. To my surprise it was 10%. WOW the bike for £900.
Well the bike arrived last week, No204, but weather has prevented any riding. Lets face it, it's white and carbon. Who wants to be cleaning off the road grit, salt and snow.
The bike weighs an allegedly 17.6lbs (medium frame) but there is room for improvement. A lighter saddle or carbon chainset might be on the upgrade list eventually. I've just added some Look Carbon Keo pedals which still has the 'on the road' weight sub-18lbs. I'm also waiting on a 24g white carbon bottle cage from Taiwan.
I cant wait for the first nice day to try it out. Til then its turbo, I'm getting used to the numbness, and running.
Have a great Xmas and New Year everyone. Train smart! Winter miles, summer smiles blah blah blah :-)
2 comments:
Looks nice mate, will wait for your report on how it rides, I think the good weather is forecast for the 2nd and 3rd August then it will be winter again. Speak to you soon,
Daz
Great choice Mat! I saw this bike in CW and wanted one! Daz is right though; you could be waiting a while to ride it outside!
Post a Comment