RolliePollie gets a NEW RIDE!

[RolliePollie]

Here she is...FINALLY! :D :D :D After months of shopping and working with a relative on a possible super deal, I just couldn't wait any longer! So I ordered a Trek Madone 4.7 from my LBS. I picked up her today...I think I'm gonna love her! She feels fast and the fit feels good. Having never ridden a carbon bike before, I didn't know what to expect. I can definitely feel that she's lighter...no clunky feeling like on my Trek 1000. I'm soooo excited!!! I can't wait to try some big hills tomorrow.

My pictures don't really do her justice. She's not too flashy, but she's understated and pretty. I decided to photograph her "naked" before I started switching things out and gearing her up. I already changed out the saddle for my Terry Butterfly and we put my old 25c Michelin Krylions on her. She came with 23c Bontrager Race Xlites and they are just not tough enough for the roads around here. So the new tires went on my Trek 1000, which now resides on the trainer.

So...the first ride....just went out for a quick spin and about 2 miles down the road, I got a flat. What luck! :mad: I was thinking the bike handled really differently than my old Trek 1000...well duh, bikes do handle a little weird when you've got a flat front tire! So, I fixed the flat and then...I can't believe this...I picked up the bike to put the tire back on and set it down for just one second...and it tipped over. Nice. Way to go. Dump your new bike on the first day. I almost started crying. Luckily the seat and bar tape cushioned the fall and I can't find any scratches. Whew! But my white bar tape is already dirty since my hands got black stuff all over them changing the tire. It was not exactly the first ride I'd had in mind. Other than the flat and the tip-over, I was very impressed.

Here are her first pictures. Sorry they're humongous...I can't figure out how to shrink them. I'm gonna get her white bottle cages and I might try to find a blue or silver/grey seat bag. Eventually I'll change to black bar tape (it might turn black on it's own if I keep getting flats). Isn't she purdy? :)

[ridenread]

That is one sharp looking bike. I love it!! Hope you have many happy rides together

[jobob]

Tres stylin. :cool: Wishing you many happy miles.

[Biciclista]

cool bike. So what color are the handlebar tapes going to be? :cool:

It looks light and fast. have fun!

[ASammy1]

She's gorgeous! What's her name?

[fatbottomedgurl]

She's gorgeous! Wow a Madone. Drool. But I think I will be happy with your bike's little sister (did you see my post below about the 2.3?)
My Fuel is carbon. Trek does a great job on their carbon bikes, and their paint jobs are amazing!

[Mr. Bloom]

That is one SMOKIN' Hot Bike! Welcome to the Madone Club!

[Miranda]

Congrats! Beautiful bike. I love my white/black/silver combo bike color. Mixes great with any attire you want, and easy to switch up the bling when you want. My lbs had one of the blue Madones on sale they emailed me about, but it was sold when I went to look at it. Just as well... I'd be lusting after white;). Wishing you many happy safe rides together:).

[redrhodie]

Wow, pretty!

That must have been so scary dumping her! Glad she's okay. Tail winds to you!

[cosc]

What a gorgeous bike. I hope your next ride will only be the smooth wheels a-rolling.

[Chile Pepper]

very pretty--love the colors!

[RolliePollie]

She's gorgeous! What's her name?

Well, I'm not sure if I'll give her an official name. I always call my old bike "Bike" or "Bikey", but her unofficial name is Blue Thunder (Blue because she's blue, Thunder in honor of my Thunder Thighs :o). My first thought for this bike was that the silver and blue accents are my alma mater's colors, and we were the Wolf Pack (Univ. of Nevada, Reno). So I could call her Wolfie. But that just doesn't seem to fit her. Yesterday when I was talking to her about the flat tire, I just called her Bike. But I guess she deserves something more original than that.

[maillotpois]

Beautiful bike! Congrats to you. :D

[kjay]

She is drop-dead stunning! Thanks for posting your photos.

[silver]

Oh!! Lovely!!! And she has SILVER on her!!!! Enjoy! I've got over 10,000 miles on my Madone and I still Love him!!!! I hope that you have many happy miles on yours too!

[spindizzy]

That is one sweet bike. You'll be able to spend lots of $$$ accessorizing her.
Congratulations!

[arielmoon]

She is beautiful! Many happy miles to you!

[michelem]

YAY FOR YOU!!! :D

I've been marathon training, but miss the bike oh so much. Hopefully we can ride together after December 7 (or sooner, if I decide to bail on the race). :rolleyes:

[sgtiger]

Very nice! I like the white and silver combo. It kind of reminds me of that streak you see in photos of very fast moving vehicles.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My first thought for this bike was that the silver and blue accents are my alma mater's colors, and we were the Wolf Pack (Univ. of Nevada, Reno). So I could call her Wolfie. But that just doesn't seem to fit her. Yesterday when I was talking to her about the flat tire, I just called her Bike. But I guess she deserves something more original than that.

Well what about White Wolf? Sort of Native American sounding.
She's so sleek and pearly!

You must have pinched the tube when you switched tires.

[RolliePollie]

I am officially in love with this bike! :D

Thank you everyone for your compliments!!! I took her down to Sacramento this afternoon and did about 30 miles on the bike trail. She is FAST!!! I don't have a computer for her yet, but the friend I was riding with stopped to rest at mile 20 while I went on and did another 10. He said it took me 30 minutes. That's at least 2-3 mph faster that I would've been on my old bike. Woo hoo!

I think the fit must be really good because nothing out of the ordinary was hurting today. So I'm really happy about that. The only real problem so far is that my left thigh rubs the brake cable. Since the frame is shaped and not round, the cable goes around a wide part and sticks out farther than on my old bike. My thighs are big, but it doesn't seem like it should be hitting so bad. It's going to rub a hole in my skin! Or my tights. Losing weight would be the better solution, but I'll see what my LBS can do about it.

And...no flats today! It was one of those bleeping goathead thorns. Man, those things are so nasty. How rude of one of them to jump up and puncture my tube yesterday. Makes me hate them that much more!

Name is still pending...maybe Blanca? Or Bianca? But that's too close to Bianchi. I don't know...maybe just Bike ;)

[7rider]

When I was young, I was baby sat for neighbors from Quebec. They had a beautiful white Samoyed dog named Petit Loup (Little Wolf). They pronounced it "Tee Lou". This bike could be your Petit Loup!
Beautiful bike, by the way. Enjoy!

[tprevost]

Gorgeous!!!!! May you enjoy many happy miles!!! ;)

[Misandal]

RolliePollie,

Congratulations on the new bike! :D I've got the very same model, and after 2500+ miles, she's still a great ride! I'm sure you'll have many great adventures together.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

When I was young, I was baby sat for neighbors from Quebec. They had a beautiful white Samoyed dog named Petit Loup (Little Wolf). They pronounced it "Tee Lou". This bike could be your Petit Loup!
Beautiful bike, by the way. Enjoy!


Ooooh....I really LIKE that. :)

[coyote]

what a beauty!

[Aggie_Ama]

How pretty! I haven't seen that frame, just the pink one. I like yours a lot, of course I got a thing for pearl and blue. :D What about nice blue bar tape instead of black?

[deeaimond]

wow! that is a brilliant colour combo!! I didn't notice the blue until u mentioned it though, my bad. Happy Riding to you two!!

[Aggie_Ama]

I think you need some Purely Custom bar ends to replace those red Bontrager ones. :D

[RolliePollie]

I think you need some Purely Custom bar ends to replace those red Bontrager ones. :D

Purely Custom scares me because I look at all their cool stuff and feel as though I'm losing all self control...

[Aggie_Ama]

Purely Custom scares me because I look at all their cool stuff and feel as though I'm losing all self control...

lol! I got the same thought with the headset. In fact I haven't ordered it yet because I might want bar ends instead or grips or.....:o

[RolliePollie]

I have to whine and moan...I still love my new bike, but the shifting is totally messed up and I had two very frustrating rides this weeked!!! Up to now I've just ridden her on the flat bike trail in Sacramento, so I wasn't shifting all that much. This weekend I ventured out on my local hilly routes and discovered that things are not working quite right!

I actually took her to my LBS yesterday because I noticed the front derailleur cable wasn't routed correctly through the cable guide on the bottom of the bike. It was going over the side of the plastic guide thingie and sticking. So in trying to fix it myself, I basically unhooked the entire derailleur cable and had to take her to the shop. So they fixed her up and adjusted a few things. Then I took her out for a ride and the shifting on the middle ring was a mess. But I compensated by just not using that ring much. It was annoying, but not that bad.

My LBS is closed on Sunday and I really wanted to ride today, so I headed out. Oh my. What a disaster. Clicking, skipping, and shifting by herself. Not fun. I think the indexing is messed up because when I tried to move to the middle ring from the big ring, it would shift all the way to the granny ring. And if I could massage it into the middle ring, it took 3 shifts to get it back down to the granny and just one to pop it back up to the big ring. The half click "trim" would either shift to a new ring or do nothing. And anything down towards the bigger sized gears in back would skip and click or shift by itself. Luckily I still had my granny gear or I would've had to walk home.

So she's headed back to the LBS in the morning. I was so looking forward to the "shifting like butter" I've heard about Ultegra, but I sure haven't experienced that yet :( I have faith that she'll get better though.

[malkin]

Sounds like new bike adjustments...you two will be fiiiiiinnnne!

I love the new bike pics...they look like newborns. Where do you sniff to get that new baby smell on a bike?

[RolliePollie]

I love the new bike pics...they look like newborns. Where do you sniff to get that new baby smell on a bike?

Too funny! I'm not sure...does all the new grease have a special scent? I put my old tires on her so she doesn't smell like new tire rubber. But my new Pedro's Blowout Bag smells like rubber...does that count?

[Dogmama]

OOOOHHHHH! She's GORGEOUS!

Don't stress about the shifting. I bet it's just a simple adjustment. If the cables get stretched, the shifting monster moves in & takes over. That's the extent of my mechanical knowledge. Having a good LBS is essential for this cyclist!

I'm currently experiencing Madone-lust & might need to give myself an early Christmas present. I looked at colors on-line & nothing really struck my fancy until I saw yours!

OK, this is corney - but for a name - White Lightening?