I'm a Bike Whore

Four-and-a-half bikes in two years.

When the wife decided a couple of years ago to challenge herself to become a triathlete and I thought it sounded fun to join her, we only had cheap, old bikes. Neither were road bikes, the fast kind with the thin tires you see racers (and triathletes) ride. After checking some of the bike shops in town, we ended up getting discounted entry level rides on eBay. They worked well enough, but we could tell they didn't stack up too well against the competition. Cycling/triathloning is not a poor person's sport, and it was obvious many of the athletes had invested thousands in the activity (you can buy one like Lance Armstrong rides for $5-10,000).

At the end ot that first season. We decided I had earned an upgrade. Bargain hunter that she is, she found me a lightly used Cannondale for one-third the retail on eBay. This was a quality triathlon bike with an aggressive, aerodynamic riding position and everything. I rode it all fall, but messed up the frame in my big wreck.

When I finally got to the point where I was ready to ride again, I resigned myself to going back to the first bike. She came through for me again, though, finding another high dollar bike at a great price. It was a barely used Kelly cyclocross bike. Cyclocross is the cross country of cycling--off-road, but not rocky, mountain biking--but this one is so light and nice it's as fast as all but the best road bikes. I swapped out the big, green, knobby tires for some thinner road ones & this has been my main bike since.

Except she decided to suprise me again for our anniversary in August. She secretly found a Cannondale frame on eBay a year older than my other but the same model. She paid a friend to move all the components from the other one over and I had my triathlon bike back. I used it for my last race of the year (very fast) and have been saving it for other competitions.

But were two high quality, expensive bikes enough for me? No. I hinted around and my parents and brother chipped in to get me a more recreational ride for Christmas. I broke down and got this one new at the Trek store. It doesn't compare to the others, but the upright positioning allows for better social riding and sight-seeing. It has smaller wheels, better handling, and terrain flexibility. It's for fun riding, not serious, and I'm looking forward to putting some miles on it.

Spouse also bought herself a nice, new Trek road bike for this past season and sold both of our beginner bikes of the summer, so I only have three bikes right now. I'm going to hope that's enough to keep me happy for a while.