Road Cycling - It's on the way!

well, after (i'm sure) annoying everyone on the board w/ my stupid noob questions, it's on the way! a 2004 Specialized Allez Elite from Specialized's Salt Lake City warehouse to my LBS. It's funny how your opinions change throughout the whole choosing process. from loving the Felt F60 (still do but just a little less than the Allez), to wanting the Cannondale R600 and it's Made in the USA-ness (but too stiff, still nice and light and responsive), to falling into the must-be-steel mindset (it's weird, but i like the feel of aluminum better - probably because i'm used to a MTB), to, on a whim trying a trek 1500 and the allez on the way home one night. the trek fit perfectly, but it seemed way to back heavy. the allez felt too short, but the LBS brought a french guy (the "ringer") out of the back room with a level and tape measure and set up the allez exactly like the trek, and viola! perfect! it's funny, because it was everything i was originally against - compact geometry, made in taiwan, and one of the least rare bikes out there. but it's sooooo light, and responsive. and it looks like something darth vader would ride. i love the brushed aluminum. the website definitely does not do it justice.

I want to thank everyone on this board that has helped me out (including the one's that didn't know it).

now i'm just gonna bug you about shoes and pedals! lol!
i think i want mtb shoes because i don't want to walk like a duck. and i wonder if it's worth it to get pedals that have a platform on one side for hairy intersections and in case i feel like going with just my regular shoes on.

G'day,

If you're wanting to walk around a bit in your shoes, go for a mountain bike type shoe with someyhing along the lines of Shimano's SPD pedals. The cleet is small enough to fit into the recess in the sole of the shoes. This way the cleet hardly touches the ground when walking. you can clip into the SPD's on both sides of the pedal as well.

cheers,


Hitchy

Congrats on the new bike!

As for the shoes and pedal go. I ride Shimano SPDs. I have Shimano MTB shoes and double sided pedals. So far, they are wonderful! I did my first century in them with no problems whatsoever.

So, Hitchy and I are in full agreement. However, I have not tried other types of pedal/shoe types. This is really a personal choice. You will get many opinions on this topic, I'm sure.

Good Luck,

Bob

now i'm just gonna bug you about shoes and pedals! lol!
i think i want mtb shoes because i don't want to walk like a duck. and i wonder if it's worth it to get pedals that have a platform on one side for hairy intersections and in case i feel like going with just my regular shoes on.

Well Long Island tends to have rain at times! How about taking it a step further and going to a waterproof mountain bike shoe? Diadora H20's are great...waterproof and breathable. At times, I wear them all day at work. As mentioned in a previous post, these are on Sale Now!

You can use these with a regular pedal and then when you're ready for the cleat, ask your LBS to sell you the SPD part. http://www.gitabike.com/cgi-bin/shop/sc_searchz.cgi?user_id=87539&database=dbase_shop.exm&template=dia_sr2.htm&0_option=1&0=di-explo-br

For the cleat be sure to get the "goof proof" multi-release SPD cleat. Your bike shop will have to adjust them like a ski-binding so they're easy to release.

now having a trusted LBS is really coming in handy. spent about an hour and a half there today going through stuff to get while my bike was up on the stand. after trying every shoe they had (that wasn't some crazy price) went with the nike pedali combos. nike sneakers have always fit me like a glove. next was the pedal conundrum. went w/ shimano pd-m540. they threw on plastic platforms on one side of 'em for when i'm getting acclimated to being locked in. should be a great combination for starters. we went over different pump options too, but that's something i can decide on when i pick up the bike later in the week. spent the rest of the time chatting away. i love the small shop atmosphere. too bad it seeems like it's days are numbered in the U.S.A.