Very new member - 2013 Fuji Roubaix 1.3 :-)
Hey folks.
I've been searching on this forum in ninja mode for awhile and decided I should just join.
For about an entire year I would go out and rent a road bike (twice a week) and ride, and slowly fell in love with the feeling of being on a bike - so much I decided I should bite the bullet and pick one up. So me being me - it took me 3 months to find the right bike as I weighted out every option humanly possible!
I was looking for my first bike and read a ton - everyone says to buy the best bike you can afford and make sure it's the best frame out of all choices.
I went around and rode a ton of different bikes...both carbon and alum.
I had always rented a bike and would rent a Revenio 3.0 (105 fitted alum) - so I didn't want to buy anything less than that. So with this being my first bike I said I want a nice lightweight alum bike with at least 105 components. As I started looking at bikes, the options clouded my judgement and I started telling myself, "no biggie, if I get this bike it's only $100 more than the other bike" and next thing you know I was considering $2,000 bikes (so I had to go back to the basics of what I wanted).
I searched craigslist for deals but I couldn't find the perfect bike in my size that hadn't been banged up.
The final two bikes I was stuck with was a 2013 Fuji 1.3 $900 from Performance Bike or a 2014 Cannondale Caad10 $1,500 from a LBS.
The Caad10 has a cult following and was cool...but it didn't sweep me off my feet. It felt great...but didn't make me tingle - granted it felt better than many of the other bikes I had been on. The Fuji made me sing...
I was told the right bike is one you feel like you can ride with your eyes closed. I felt really happy and in total control of the Fuji so I took the plunge and picked one up during their double point weekend so I not only got a beautiful bike for $900, I also got $180 in store credit. It was such a better deal than the Caad10, plus I felt much better on the Fuji than the Caad10.
With me being so new - I couldn't really tell the difference between a carbon and alum bike so I said I'll go alum as I'll end up upgrading anyway down the line!
I don't know why you don't see many Fuji owners on the road or even on here...but I'm definitely proud to say I own one. I'm getting used to riding in the streets as I'm used to bike trails.
It's past 1:00am so I'll post some pics tomorrow morning but I'm excited and just wanted to say hi. I obviously have a ton of questions and I'm definitely open to insight and critics!
Adding new pics:
Last edited by pimp4cheddar; 05-28-14 at 08:07 AM.