Sad Start - But Better Now!
I recently “got back into biking” at age 62 following 40 years out of the saddle. New to the area, I pretty much picked a LBS from the yellow pages. I’ll make this short as possible. After one visit, I came out with a Trek 1000. Not a bad bike, but they put me on one that was two sizes large – AND made no adjustments whatsoever. In addition, they put on a pair of Shimano SPD pedals. After a couple of weeks I had d*** near killed myself.
I called and talked to the owner of the shop. He was most apologetic, and asked me to bring the bike in and that he would personally take care of me. (?)
He took back the 1000 and put me on a 7300FX – and recommend going with platform pedals for the first few months. I began riding every day including lots of 30 and 40-mile trail rides. The bike was great – but there was something missing.
So, working with the chief mechanic, and long-time rider/racer – we made the following changes:
Replaced the no-name wheels with Bontrager Race Lites
Replaced the 700x35 tires with Bontrager Race Lites 700x23
Installed a carbon seat post
Installed Shimano SPD-SL R600 pedals
We also made certain that the saddle height was correct and in the optimum fore/aft position – made adjustments to bar height and added pistol grip bar ends.
This is a fantastic setup – for me at least. This bike rolls like a roadie, but with all the comforts of a hybrid. Hope to do my first century within a few weeks.