rippo

hey all! i've been asked to introduce myself. so here i am.

i convinced my wife to get me a road bike about a month ago for my 36th birthday. it's a Specialized Allez 24, 2002 edition, on closeout. it happened to be my size and was $499...way more than my wife wanted to spend, but as we both have come to realize, that's the bottom of the range for road bike prices! i'm sure i get a few snears as other roadies ride by, but i'm not concerned...it's way lighter than the MTB i used to ride about ten years ago (aluminum frame).

so i'm riding about three times a week (run on the other days). i'm in Los Angeles, so i either ride along the beach on the bike path, or i hit Palos Verdes for some painful hill action. too much granny gear right now, but i'm working up to it.

this cycling is really fun! i'm doing all i can to keep from obsessing about it, and mostly managing. i've never been this excited about 'exercise' though, so that's gotta be good for me.

Chi

Nothing wrong with being a cheapskate! Welcome to the forums!

DnvrFox

No one snears at any Specialized bike.

Welcome.

Jaimie65

I took up riding again three years ago.
My first bike was an MTB new and cost about $AUS 450
Next came a second hand shogun roadbike for $AUS 50.
Then along came the Giant Perigee again second hand for $AUS 300 which is still my commute horse (doing around 250kms per week).
Now I've just bought a slice of celeste heaven.
In other words I worked up to it. Compared to my first three bikes your wife lashed out seriously on your behalf.
As dnverfox said no one snears at a Specialized. Welcome to BF and all the best on the road.

Aggressor

You will find there are quite a lot of users on this forum who ride an Allez. I quite like them myself Welcome to Bike Forums!

SipperPhoto

Welcome aboard Rippo ! Good to have another SoCal here... i'm in OC, about 45 minutes or so from you !

See ya on the road

Jeff

bikeCOLORADO

Welcome!

Orange County? Check these guys out - fun big brash Ska sound:
OC Supertones

rippo

i must admit, i wasn't expecting so many 'welcome' replies! sure is a friendly bunch on this forum. that's nice.

i think i may have just discovered something about myself. i was *relieved* to hear that other bikers wouldn't be snearing at my bike. which means that, deep down, beneath the "i got the cheapest bike around and the rest of you are crazy for spending more" attitude, i really do have a little gear envy.

it was a really frustrating experience, buying a bike. i used to MTB about ten years ago, but have been completely bike-free since then. so when i decided to take up a road bike - actually, i decided to do it *las* summer, for the previous birthday. i thought i could spend $300 and get a starter road bike. i was so demoralized by the actual prices of bikes, i decided i should maybe reconsider this whim. a year later, apparently i hadn't managed to get over it. but really, after going to four bike stores, some of them twice, i was only able to find one bike that was in my price range and size. it wasn't my Specialized, it was a crappy green ugly thing. i then thought, well maybe i'll get a hybrid and if i keep riding, i'll award myself a nicer bike in six months. but even those were too expensive! i was eventually shown the "comfort ride" section of the bike store. i picked out a street cruiser, and told my wife it would be just fine...but i think the look on my face was too much for her to bear. she told me to buy the Specialized, even though it was expensive at $499.

so i bought the bike. all i knew is that it a) fit me, according to the store and b) i'd heard of the brand. had no idea if people would point and laugh when i rode by. looking at bikes online didn't help, as everything seems to have Dura-Ace this and Carbon Comp that.

so thanks to everyone who said my Specialized Allez is ok. if you're just trying to be nice, that's fine...you've made me happy anyway.

bikeCOLORADO

Man...the price, design and "eliteness" of the sled doesn't mean SQUAT when you're out on the road/trail with a smile plastered on your face! If you'd paid $89 for some Walmart bike and it puts a smile on your face...YOU are still happy, having fun and getting fit - right?

I don't think anyone in their right mind (and some elitists can be pretty stupid about this)...would look down their nose at anyone riding any bike!

rippo

that's an excellent attitude!

yeah, i'm pretty excited about riding. it's only been a month, but still... when i'm running, i find myself thinking about my next ride. when i'm supposedly working (like right now), i find myself thinking about my next ride. when i'm riding...well i just ride. and i don't spend much time thinking about equipment, it's mostly about which hill or which mile i'm going to conquer next. who knows, this riding 'whim' might actually stick...

DnvrFox

Specialized is a top company, and IMHO doesn't build any crap.

However, evcen if it were a Huffy, I wouldn't snear at it. I would think to myself, "Self, somehow they managed to get together some money, interest and energy and are dragging themselves out to have fun on and exercise on a bike." I would hope that their next bike would be an upgrade, but if all they ever ride is a Huffy, and they ride, more power to them. They are way ahead of the couch potato whose only exercise is pushing the button on the remote control.

I would be willing to bet that a good percentage of those in this bike forum had a Huffy or *Mart sometime in their biking career. In fact, I think I will do a little poll.

pinerider

Rippo, I think I have the "cheapskate" label nailed down so far - 4 road bikes total acquisition investment of $117, 3 MTB's total acquisition investment of $215. And these are Canadian dollars!

rippo

DnvrFox, that's a good attitude. i do a little bit of running too, and when i see some giant 300 lb man out there running, i think "good on ya!" i was (not quite) that poorly off when i started running. so i hope i maintain that attitude with cycling. right now, when i see roadies go by me, i'm constantly comparing..."he can kick my butt. she can kick my butt. he can...oh wait, that one's as bad as me!"

pinerider, i think you've got me beat, hands down. i assume those bikes are mostly working, right? since i was just starting out, and hadn't ridden a road bike since high school (they called them "ten speeds" then), i really couldn't do the used route. i had no idea what to look for, and didn't want to end up with something worse than useless. but i think i did pretty good, considering i had to buy new and only had about two weeks to shop. "i'll take the first bike that fits me and doesn't make my wife cry at the price!" it so far has worked out pretty well.

SipperPhoto

Believe me, what you ride isn't as important as having fun, and enjoying what you are doing... up until abotu 3 weeks ago, I was riding around on a beater 13 year old 6 speed Centurion... it worked pretty good... but I'd get that elitist attitude from a lot of the local roadies, since my bike was old, and not nearly as high end as most of the guys around OC...

Then I'd smoke them on the road, and watch their mouths gape open, when I passed them... Then I was really having fun :-)

rippo

that's where competition makes sense! having a fancy bike means...what? granny left you some money in her will? you made a killing on the stock market? nothing to do with biking. smokin' the other riders (and on a low-tech ride, to boot) is much more healthy!

i'd better get riding then!