cc700

a lot of bike shops are no better than crack dens in that nothing good comes out of them.

i didn't mean to berate you for your cutthroat lowest-price-sells remarks but i don't think you should just give up after seeing four shops strike out. the fifth could be a savior.

what i was meaning to say is that a great shop... not just a good one, but one that is really top notch and will do anything to keep a customer happy and riding... that kind of bike shop will say "hey, you want particular things like chainrings- we can get them at distributor cost and save the stuff(like brakes) you don't need, so let's make a deal that you might not get just reselling parts"... then you could get something aluminum like a giant bowery and even get it with the parts you want, without having to have such a high extra cost on top of the bike purchase.

any bike shop that won't talk about customization below the 2large level isn't on my good list. from a business standpoint, it probably takes more time and money in consultation in relatively small sales than it is worth... but from a service/customer satisfaction standpoint i don't think companies can afford not to take everyone's needs into consideration, and if i sense that going on i will spend my petty cash elsewhere. anyone can get me a bike, i go to shops for SERVICE. precious few shops understand this.

then again, some of my favorite shops are co-ops... not custom builders or boutiques. even my favorite boutiques are run more like a co-op.

i think some people are crazy to spend more than 50 dollars on a two day a week bike...

that said i have three bikes and ride every day, which if you do the math comes out to barely more than two days each... and i definitely don't share equal usage, equal miles, or equal investment/cost into each of them. i'm not affluent by any means but i have the privilege of a few bikes, and i would have rather spent more on the bikes that see the least amount of saddle time because the enjoyment i get from them is NOT proportional to their cost, it's proportional to the percieved performance i get from their intended use.

so basically, what i'm saying is that your cost is YOUR cost, and your choice of how much to spend and justification of that choice is really not something you need to ask us about...

i haven't ridden the aluminum dawes but i'll put my money on telling you that a kilo is going to be a WAY better track racer than a dawes sst-al ::for the money:: provided you're changing the gearing and the tires and losing the brakes ... maybe in your area you can sell the brakes for 30 dollars, but i think i'd spend 15 for them, tops... even unused.

you may want aluminum but honestly the sst-al doesn't impress me at all as a track racer. i'd rather have a bowery if i was stuck to aluminum, and i can actually test ride one before i buy it.

that said, my kilo is great and i fully recommend it to those who want a cheap bike.