Coby

Thanks to everyone who helped me in my thread.

I bought this Trek 1.2 today as well as some other basic cycling stuff. I spent a bit more on a few things that I wanted, but I think this will be a great investment. Still need to buy a few things like a proper floor pump as well as maybe a computer. Hopefully by next Spring I'll be ~80lbs lighter. And this bike is going to help me accomplish that.

I want to go ride it so bad, but it's raining like madman.

Northwestrider

Thats great Coby, you'll remember this bike forever. I still remember mine when it was given to me by my parents many many years ago. They are a lot of fun as are the people that use them.

zoste

Congrats! Nice looking ride!

Highly recommend a computer.

Just remember that this is the first step in a journey, not the last.

GeoBigJon

Congrats on the new ride!

10 Wheels

So Nice....many happy miles ahead.

Street Pedaler

Congrats! That's a sweet looking ride.

CraigB

Glad to see you made a choice and went for it! Good job! Now you just need to work on your bike photo skills - all shots are to be taken from the drive-side.

Coby

Haha, oh man, what a noob mistake! I'll take some more pics tomorrow. It was starting to rain when I took those and my camera's battery was blinking.

I just went on a little ride to get used to the bike. It's not nearly as uncomfortable as I expected. I rode around the neighborhood about 4.5 miles and was just telling myself to not stop pedaling. I even went up a decently steep hill.

I have a nice ride planned for tomorrow. I cant wait.

engstrom

Congratulations. Nice bike. I hope you have as much fun riding your bike as I have riding mine.

wxduff

Congrats, my brother has the same bike (different paint) and loves it!

Teon

Nice looking ride, Coby!!! Congrats!!!!

engstrom

Flip it...oh wait, sorry, wrong forum.

Keep it just like it is for a while and ride the wheels off it!

Coby

That's what I'm planning on doing.

One thing I was told/showed in the shop was some stronger and thicker tires that get flats less often. I might invest in them sometime soon. Everything else is awesome. Best purchase I've made in a long time. It sucks that the weekend I buy it is a rainy one. I'm about to go take a ride though. It's nice and cool so I best enjoy it before it gets to 100*.

Can anyone recommend a good but inexpensive floor pump? And a computer? I just need distance and speed.

shmily_dana

Looks great. Have fun!

CraigB

Since it's a Trek, I know your shop will have Bontrager stuff. I have one of their floor pumps and three of their computers and have been happy with them all.

steve85

Sweet ride dude, congrats!

wxduff

For a computer, i like my polar cs200, only about 100 dollars, which does what you need, plus is a heart rate monitor, which is helpful.

Also, as you get into it you might find you want to replace those pedals with clipless pedals.

Again congrats!

shadoman

Nice choice, Coby !
I'd suggest a 2nd bottle cage on that short list of additions.
I don't know how heavy you are, but keeping your tires at proper pressure will probably keep you from flatting.

Dean7

Good work!

Coby

Thanks guys. I'll get some new shoes/pedals after a while. And I'll deffinetly be getting either another bottle/cage or a Camelbak. I drink a lot normally so 24oz will not be enough.

I have a couple questions for you guys. After a few rides I've noticed that my feet start to hurt. I'm not sure if that's because my shoes are thin and flexible or if maybe my seat is too low and too much of my weight is going on the pedals. Any idea?

Also, this is a silly question, but whats the proper way to shift? I ask because sometimes when I shift it gets clanky and takes a second or two to change.

I think the chain is rubbing something when on the smaller gears. I'll need to investigate that more.

Dean7

Feet hurting depends heavily on your shoes and how fast you ride. For me, if I wear Converse All-stars (thin as all crap) my feet hurt like hell after even a pretty short ride if I'm pushing hard. Running shoes with more padding look slightly lame but they tend to work really well for me.

Saddle height MIGHT be an issue, but I've never really heard of that being blamed for feet hurting. Are you running your saddle to where your leg is fully extended at the bottom of it's downstroke? A good rule of thumb for adjusting your saddle is: if the insides of your knees hurt your saddle might be too low. If the tops of your knees hurt your saddle might be too high (and thus you are over-extending your leg). Play around with it a lot 'till you get things right.

Coby

Yeah, I was wearing some Nike Shox and man, my feet were hurting pretty bad.

I'll experiment with the seat tomorrow. I didn't change it from what it was in the shop.

Zoxe

Nice bike! Buddy at work has one of those and rides the heck out it.

For a computer, we've got 4 Cateyes Stradas on the bikes in our garage in various flavors (wired, wireless, cadence...). They're easy to set up, small, are pretty cheap, and work great.

We installed one of the Bontragers that CraigB recommended on Mrs. Zoxe's Raleigh ... it is great too and a little easier to read.

CraigB

The saddle-height rule of thumb that's always worked best for me is to put your heels on the pedals and pedal backward. Raise the saddle to the maximum height you can have it while still maintaining contact with the pedal, and without your pelvis rocking from side to side while you do it. Unless you have unusually thick or thin soles on your shoes, a fully straightened leg with your heel on the pedal will get you extremely close to the proper height - where during normal pedaling your leg will have only a slight bend when you go through the bottom of the stroke.

squirtdad

congrats on the new bike.

On shifting....... make sure you keep pedaling. Modern gears have all sorts of ramps, shaped teeth and other magic to help make fast and good shifts, but some times these take a bit to be at the righth postions to engage... so don't shift and stop pedaling. Also if you are still having questions... go to the shop and ask them to watch you, give you a few tips (benefit of buying from LBS)

Also as a newbie.... keep in a lower (easier) gear and pedal faster. you really shouldn't feel like you are pushing hard on your pedals.