After most of a year of saving money and losing weight I've finally pulled the trigger on a brand new road bike. It's kind of a two fold reward for both losing 80lbs and for successfully saving money to buy it.

The photo bellow is a stock one as mine won't be here to first thing next week.

It's a specialized Roubaix Elite. Stock its almost all shimano 105 and I'm going to replace what's not with parts off of my homebuilt giant.

I'll post real photo's next week or so when I get it.
http://www.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/2007/bikes/RB_Elite_Tpl_Blue_Tint%20Wht.jpg

We need a :drool: emoticon.

We need a :drool: emoticon.

Where's Tom, he knows a couple. ;)

http://www.dgemu.com/forums/html/emoticons/drool.gifhttp://www.thelegacy.de/pics/smilies/sabber.gifhttp://forums.clubrsx.com/images/smilies/drool.gifhttp://www.drunkendonkey.net/eng/html/emoticons/dribble.gif

Howzzat?

Wow, nice!:D

nice bike

I think you're going to really like that bike right out of the box.

Congratulations on losing 80 lbs! :beer:

Nice! You should buy some pedals for it.

Losing 80 pounds is a great accomplishment as well!

Nice! You should buy some pedals for it.

was thinking about just tying my shoes to it with some bailing wire actually...

Nice ride. The triple crank up front and long cage RD would be replaced w/ short cage and compact up front....but still too nice....specialized makes very good rigs.

Oh baby that's nice!

Awesome, congrats on both!

Seeing everyone's new bikes is a big part of my incentive to stick to my routine. When I reach my target weight, I'm going to get a new road bike and rig it out for ultradistance riding. For now, I will continue to drool over pix of everyone else's bikes. And believe me, with the bikes people have been posting, I'm drooling.

I'm with CliftonGK1.

I've really been drooling for a new bike lately....I'm setting a target weight and plan to get one when I reach that weight.

In terms of ultradistance I sat in a 'bent on Sunday...I literally wanted to fall asleep it was so comfortable. Good thing it won't fit in the elevator or I'd be really tempted!

In terms of ultradistance I sat in a 'bent on Sunday...I literally wanted to fall asleep it was so comfortable. Good thing it won't fit in the elevator or I'd be really tempted!

My 'bent is the DB-1500r stationary in my living room. Comfy enough to spend 2 hours a night pedalling when I'm watching TV. The on-road ultradistance rig I'm looking at is a Motobecane Immortal Force.

Nice ride. The triple crank up front and long cage RD would be replaced w/ short cage and compact up front....but still too nice....specialized makes very good rigs.

I may have that done or do it myself a little later on. The 2008 models offer a tripple and a compact at all (three i think) price points, but they are running all the 2007 models on clearance, and the only option with a compact in that model year was well above what I could afford.

I can't complain, my LBS took real good care of me, I did the package deal, bike, roof rack for my car, and a trainer at the same time and they made me a pretty amazing deal, so no complaints whatsoever.

That is a sweet looking bike. I so have to get my road bike painted.

I may have that done or do it myself a little later on. The 2008 models offer a tripple and a compact at all (three i think) price points, but they are running all the 2007 models on clearance, and the only option with a compact in that model year was well above what I could afford.

I can't complain, my LBS took real good care of me, I did the package deal, bike, roof rack for my car, and a trainer at the same time and they made me a pretty amazing deal, so no complaints whatsoever.

Sounds like an excellent shop which treats you well. I can hardly wait to see some ride pix with the new bike.

In talking to the owner at one of the local shops (I won't mention any names, but they're in Issaquah, and have a banner ad at the top of the page) we got to discussing the benefits of a compact double vs. a triple while chatting about hills. He brought up that a triple is more difficult to maintain and tune, and adds extra weight and increases Q-factor while only adding 5% onto the total gearing range of a compact double.
A friend of mine has a 105 triple / with an Ultegra rear, and has had zero problems with it. So it's a great setup from what I can tell. The only reason to move to a compact double in the future would be to save weight and reduce complexity in tuning.

He brought up that a triple is more difficult to maintain and tune, and adds extra weight and increases Q-factor while only adding 5% onto the total gearing range of a compact double.
A friend of mine has a 105 triple / with an Ultegra rear, and has had zero problems with it. So it's a great setup from what I can tell. The only reason to move to a compact double in the future would be to save weight and reduce complexity in tuning.

This is the exact reasoning that made me want to go for a compact double if I could have, and I still might in the future.

I don't think the weight is really significant unless you start looking at ultralight compact cranks like the FSA SL-K vs. an aluminum triple setup. I think the more significant difference will be ease of tuning (if it needs it).

I don't think the weight is really significant unless you start looking at ultralight compact cranks like the FSA SL-K vs. an aluminum triple setup. I think the more significant difference will be ease of tuning (if it needs it).

Yeah I'm more interested in the cleaner, crisper shifting, and not having to deal with keeping the cable tension perfect all the time.

Hey Halthane, can I ask? What was your start and end weight? What bike did you ride that helped you reach your goal?

Hey Halthane, can I ask? What was your start and end weight? What bike did you ride that helped you reach your goal?

Started at 320-325, not really sure and I'm down to 240. I started out riding an 89 Centurion Ironman that a drunk left in my lawn. After that was stolen I bought a really beat up giant ocr3 on ebay and rebuilt it with 105 ten speed, and put about 2500 miles on it this year since January. When the specialized comes in I'm going to strip the giant down to frame and fork and hang it on the wall as a reminder of my accomplishment. The Groupo will hopefully end up on some old Japanese steelframe for use on the trainer.