Caincando1

Finally after an exhausting 3 week search I just make a deal to purchase a brand new never ridden Trek Pilot 1.0 from a dealer that went out of business. He's still technically a dealer so I'll get the factory warrantee and everything. We ended up agreeing on $475 cash for the bike.($769 msrp) I pick it up tomorrow. This will be a nice upgrade from my Navigator.

KingTermite 

Nice tradeup. I went from Navigator to Trek 520 road bike when I upgraded.

That's a good price too. Personally, I didn't like the Pilot 1.0 - 4.0 because they are Aluminum frames and my body doesn't seem to like the ride on Aluminum. I rode a Pilot 5.0 and it was the smoothest ride I've ever been on. I was close to getting it, but didn't trust my fat arse on CF.

Caincando1

I'm a little worried about the stiff ride of the AL frame too. But I figured this would be a good way to get my feet wet and see if I like road bikes. I can alwasy upgrade next year once I know what I want. Plus if it's too rough on the roads, I have a smooth as butter trail just down the road from my house.

KingTermite 

My thoughts were the opposite....when I wanted to try a road bike I wanted to get the smoothest, nicest ride I can find. I was afraid if I got something that wasn't, it would "taint" my feelings on it. I ended up going with a steel/touring frame road bike.

trich

Well, the nice thing is that you will almost certanly be able to get your money back out of it when/if you decide to sell it. If you want to go with steel, just post that Pilot on CL and it'll be gone in a day...

Tom Stormcrowe

There's a technique to riding an aluminum frame on rough roads, it's called absorbing road shock with the legs and as some of our members refer to it, "Riding light". It transposes well to steel, Ti and CF frames as well and greatly enhances your agility on the bike as well. It's kind of an adaptation to road from Single Tracking on a rigid mountain bike or a cyclocross technique.

bdinger

^^^ +1000 to what Tom said, and I'll add in another suggestion. The stock seat is stiff, and pure torture. The ride quality of my Trek 7.3FX went night and day when I replaced the stocker with a Brooks B-17. Now if I want comfort, I air the tires down to 80psi (from 110) and man is that thing ever smooth. The Brooks absorbs shocks like you wouldn't believe!

Also, you'll get used to it. Just give your body time, and you'll be amazed how you adapt to the new ride.

Caincando1

The brooks is on the "to buy" list right after bottle cages and a cycloputer.

Caincando1

Other than my newly acquired road rash I did get a feel for how the bike operates. The Sora shifters certainly aren't as smooth as the 105's that I've test ridden, they certainly worked just fine though and I think they will suit me well. The rear der shifts nicely but the front der blows big time. I might have to upgrade that. The pilot 1.0 has the interrupter(I think that's what they are called) brake levers on the top of the bar, and I like that. My body sits a lot closer to the frame on this bike. My my thighs touch the top tube and my heels will slightly touch if I don't pay attention. Coming from a Nav. this bike sits really low to the ground so that is a new feel. The ride was a bit bumpy but not enough to really be noticeable. I really had to stop and feel the ride to notice it.

So far I've put at Cateye Astrale 8 on it which has cadence. I'm excited about the cadence feature. I also threw on a set of black bottle cages. The brooks B17 standard black will be purchased this weekend. So the factory saddle will have to due i the meantime.

I was planning to leave this bike stock for a while and just ride it, but there is a used 105 grouppo on craigslist for $75. I don't like the stock front der and this might be a cheap way to really jazz up the bike. But the 105 grouppo is a double with a 9 spd cassette so I'm not sure if I could use this with my triple without converting to a double.