New bike but wrong bike!!!

[Nutty1979]

Right so i went to pick my brand new Trek 1.5 up from the shop which i've been waiting a month for but when i get there the bloke shows me a big nasty scratch on it which i wasnt happy about. The bloke said "let me see what i can do" he then comes out of the back with a brand new Specialized Allez Sport! Now i'm not sure if its a better bike or not but it is full Shimano Tiagra which the Trek wasnt and it did look abit better so I thought sod it i'll have it. found out the Allez was £740 and the trek was £675 so that aint bad as i didnt have to pay anymore because it was on the cycle to work scheme.

Just been out on it (first time on a road bike) and it scared the S**t out of me hahaha its soooooo fast. got used to clipping my feet into the peddles, found myself abit unstable while cycling off the seat....something i guess i'll get better with practice. The tyres are full slicks which i'm worried about using in the wet. was great fun though, cant wait to take it into work tomorrow.

So did i get a good deal in the end??

Thought i'd share some pics with you.

Cheers for reading

 

[amnezia]

Yes you got a better deal, i'd go for the specialized over the trek any day.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Nice bike Nutty. I reckon you did alright with the swap, providing of course the bike fits ok.

As for out-of-the-saddle pedalling, you will get used to it.

By the way, what bike did you come from. I ask because you are surprised at how quick your new Spesh is.

 

[Nutty1979]

phew thats good then, was worried i was getting ripped off.

I had a rubbish and cheap Apollo MTB which i got for £190 4 months back just to try out commuting. The beast was so heavy cant get over how light the specialized is, might go out on it again today when it cools down abit.

 

[hackbike 666]

Don't worry about getting ripped off if you are happy with it.IMHO

I bought a Daws Audax in 2006 and I think I overpaid Evans for it but im happy with it and it's reliable.(touchwood)

 

[magnatom]

Well done. It is supposed to be a good bike.

I wouldn't worry about slicks in the rain. You don't need grip on a road bike as the contact surface area on a bike tyre is too small to aquaplane. You want the greatest surface area contact which is what a slick provides.

Of course, not all slicks are equal and it depends a lot on rubber compound etc.

 

[Helly79]

That looks a smashing bike I hope you have lots of fun on it

 

[Sittingduck]

Sounds like a right touch to me
I hope you're both very happy together

SD

 

[Jake]

lol told you it would be scarey!! (the speed of it). Good luck and enjoy it. If you can get down to Richmond park, it will really show its colours

 

[Nutty1979]

just got back from another bonding session with the bike, loved it and felt abit more confident on it this time. got myself upto 26mph which seemed so fast on them tiny slicks. looking forward to wizzing it down the Bow flyover tomorrow morning.

 

[Bman]

24.6 mph? C'mon, you can do better than that!

 

[Bman]

Just noticed your update

Im still trying to break the 30mph limit on my old Apollo. I want to do it before I get my new bike as I wont want to use the Apollo again after that!

nice bike btw, and welcome to the forum

 

[ianrauk]

Slicks will be fine in the rain,just be careful of drain covers and painted lines (white, yellow etc), apart from that, it looks a cracking bike and I am sure you are going to enjoy.. so now you need to change your pic..

 

[Black Sheep]

Well done. It is supposed to be a good bike.

I wouldn't worry about slicks in the rain. You don't need grip on a road bike as the contact surface area on a bike tyre is too small to aquaplane. You want the greatest surface area contact which is what a slick provides.

Of course, not all slicks are equal and it depends a lot on rubber compound etc.

this is because the slick gets its grip from the road surface

don't brake or steer while going over lane markings, aim for the gaps between them and take the black stripes of zebra crossings (thats what took me down on my one and only crash on my road bike, except for crashing into a police man.)

 

[Nutty1979]

Thanks for the info on the wet weather cycling, Will take note.

30mph..jesus, 26 was fast enough for my second run and i didnt stay at that speed for too long, just incase.

Oh and picture changed! would put one up of me in my lovely matching black and white lycra but not brave enough yet haha.