volosong

Just got an e-mail notification that my Pinarello FP Team has shipped today. I've been going back and forth for months over this bike. White bikes with red trim look so sharp. Then, it was on a Black Friday special, but I was busy and didn't order. I sent an e-mail the following week asking if their '12 Days of Christmas" will feature the FP Team on one of the days; also mentioning that I noticed the price went up after Black Friday. Several e-mails later, I ordered one in my size at the Black Friday discount pricing. They are even going to give me a compact crank instead of the standard at no extra charge. Only thing I don't like is that they couldn't give me the silver Ultegra instead of the dark grey Ultegra. Just my own personal opinion, but I think the bike would like even sharper with the silver group instead of the dark grey group. Now ... to check when Nashbar has free shipping or some other special on their Ultegra wheelset.

- - - - -

p.s. CC has been marketing this bike as an exclusive. However, for 2013, the FP Team is now part of Pinarello's standard product line. The major difference between the 2012 CC version and the 2013 version is that you can now get the bike in several different colors and that the grade of carbon is slightly less. From everything that I've been able to figure out, the bike lies between the Uno/Due and Quattro product line, closer to the Due. The bike/geometry is the same as the Opera Canova, (I think this particular model is very popular in Europe.) It will be nice to have 'Pinarello' on the downtube instead of 'Opera'. Who around here have ever heard of 'Opera'? Not many, I think.