I think that I am the proverbial "$100 rider on a $1000 bike".
When I started riding last summer, I pulled a 1987 GT Tequest out of the garage and started pushing pedals.
I promised that if I kept riding through spring, I'd buy a nice bike. This spring, I bought a carbon frame Ultegra equipped bike with a Mavic Aksium Race wheelset.
There is no doubt that the bike is overkill for my current abilities.
But I had the money, and I love the bike. What else can I say?
The two aspects of the new bike I like the best:
- The drive train is reliable. Since I don't have to worry quiet as much about missed shifts, I change gears more frequently. That allows me to attack hills a little more aggressively, and is a lot of fun.
- The fact that the bike is much lighter helps with hills (I think), but ti really makes schleppning the bike around a lot easier.