Northern California - What to do with this bike?

At Sunday's Tour de Cure, there was a drawing for a new Bianchi road bike. Amazingly, they pulled my name!

Sadly, I was not present at the drawing - at the time, I was suffering somewhere on Tunitas Creek - so I picked it up this morning from the American Diabetes Association's office. It's a Via Nirone 7 / Sora Mix Compact (http://www.bianchiusa.com/08_c2c_nirone_sora_com.html), which is certainly more than I could ask for given that it was a gift.


(Ignore the Veloce group in the pic, this was the only image I could find of the white paint job and Jalco rims)

Problem is, it's a 55 cm, and the correct size for me is probably 59 cm, since my current bike is a 60 cm Trek.

So the question is, what should I do with this bike? My main options seem to be:

Sell it and use the money towards a new bike or to upgrade my current bike
Keep it around for friends who want to come on rides with me but don't have a bike
Call Bicycle Outfitter and see if they'll exchange it for a different size


Any thoughts / other ideas?

Oh wow. That's a beaut. Congrats!!

I'd call the LBS and see if they will trade. We give a bike away at our raffles every year and the LBS is more than happy to trade for the proper size.

Exchange.

Exchange/upgrade - to that Veloce group, for instance...

Pay it Forward (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=403078)

Considering it's an entry-level bike, I would choose option 1 (sell and use money to upgrade your existing bike).

You could take it to Bicycle Outfitter and discuss some options. Maybe they'd give you a credit for what the bike is worth. You could take that credit and upgrad your current bike. Rather then try and sell it off and get a decent price. Sometimes the store credit is less hassle and equal if not more then what you'd get in a private sale.

Just my thoughts. Nice that you won though, this is what I would call a "good problem" to have.

Congrats!

To resurrect the thread: I ended up going the "pay it forward" route and selling it to a friend who is just getting in to cycling for a fraction of what it's worth. Now, the question is, since I really should be using the money on cycling-related things, what's the most worthwhile upgrade I can make to my setup for low-to-mid three figures? I'm thinking wheels.

What is your bike build currently?

Wheel upgrade.

Be sure to be aware of any tax ramifications. You may be liable to pay income tax on the market price of the bike. I don't know if it's the case, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently. Congrats on the bike.

Final verdict: a pair of Neuvation R28 SL5s. Check out the hot garage door shot!