At my highest weight and worse shape in years I order a N+1
 

My bike fund is in good shape even thorough I am not. When Pedalforce offered a great deal on a new carbon frame with SRAM Rival 10 speed group I decided to round out my fleet with one fully modern bike.

61cm ZX3 frame and all carbon fork
2009 Rival 10 speed group
carbon seat post

I have a saddle, drop bars, stem and tape on hand. I also rearranged my wheel sets to free up the Nimble Spider wheels. I'm hoping the bike will weigh in at under 17 lbs.

[Oregon Southpaw has reached his daily limit of posts chastising users for the all too commonly held belief a new bike will solve all problems]

I hope the new bike inspires you to get out there and ride. Seriously - focus on getting back to healthy!

I don't believe buying a bike has anything to do with the shape you're in and you certainly don't have to justify the purchase. Buy what you like, even if you're only going to hang it on the wall.

Fantastic. I have looked at their website a bunch of times, I hope you post pics when you get it and let us know how you like it.

I think your going to like that Rival setup.:thumb:

Sounds like you need a new bike to motivate you to get out and ride more!

But I can hardly believe that Mr. Steel Bike Rejuvenater is going carbon!

Robtown: I always did it the other way. That is, I set a fitness/weight goal with the reward for reaching it the purchase of a new ride. I don't think I would trust myself to do it the way you are. Hope you enjoy the new "fully modern" ride when it arrives. As always, pictures please.

I do need to ride. I've been worn out and sick since September starting with ear and sinus infections. I'll probably ride my (winter) steel cyclocross bike with the BIONX much more as I regain strength and loose a bike's worth of weight.

I originally wanted the RS2 but the ZX3 was on sale. It's also a bit less compact / more upright and might be a bit tougher for a cyldesdale like me. I expect the bike will weigh in between 16 and 17 lbs.

I've heard good things about Rival. It's my first 10 speed STI setup and the whole bike, down to the chain will be SRAM.

I do have the old-school carbon Miyata with modern bits that I enjoy. I'm not abandoning steel - here is my current project:
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3033/1003722f.jpg

It's more a matter of taking advantage of the sale when my bike cash stash was full.

I concur with getting the bike when you have the funds for it- But you now have a problem. C.F. has an inherent problem--If it is not ridden for 5 days- it disintegrates. So unless you want to upset then wife with the pile of ash on the bedroom carpet- You had better get riding it and soon.

Word of warning though-- C.F. will ride different to your current steeds. Take time to adjust and swop things about till it gets right. MY TCR did not give me the ride I wanted till the 3rd set of wheels I tried.Yet another reason to use this winter to get the bike sorted and ready to go for when Spring arrives (If it ever does)

You may want to reconsider the Sram chain. I've read where the KMC X10SL and the Dura Ace 7801 are smoother and quieter, good luck.:thumb:

Like many of my fleet this is much more bike than I need. I've used SRAM, Ultegra, and DuraAce chains and they seem very much alike. In this case it comes with the Rival Group so I'll use it. I had an integrated aerobar setup, a generic Shimano crankset, and DA bar end shifters lined up for the RS2 frame - but they're surplus now. I'll probably install the aerobar setup on a spec bike I built and re-purpose it's FSA dropbar along with a Ritchey Pro stem on the new bike.

I got my Fedex tracking number.... :beer:

The frame and SRAM group arrived today. It's very light and looks great. I hope to get some time in this busy season to start assembly. Pictures to follow.

How do you like the bike? I checked the website and it's a fantastic price!

Hmmm...I dunno how I missed this thread in December; anyhow, congratulations on the new bike.

Like other posters have said, get busy riding.

I had a couple of 10 speeds back in the Seventies and really enjoyed riding them.
Hope you enjoy riding your new 10 speed! :lol: Watch out for salt on icy roads unless you want the CF to rust.