badgercat
06-25-2010, 10:08 PM
So I had posted some months back about my love for the Jamis Quest (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=36380). I still do love it, but in examining my budget and my riding habits, I started to think more seriously about whether or not I needed that "caliber" of bike at this point in my life when the Satellite (a notch below the Quest in Jamis's steel roadbike lineup) would probably do me just fine. I had still intended to not buy a new bike until I returned to Arizona at the end of the summer, though.
I'm living in Omaha for the summer doing a research internship. I brought my Trek with, along with the essentials (tubes, lube, multitool, etc), but I felt like I should check out a LBS or two just in case I had any needs. Last weekend I thought, "well, I might as well check out this one shop that's a Jamis dealer and see if they have anything I can ride for fun." Boy, did they ever. :o Turns out that Jamis still has some 2009 closeouts left, at a considerable savings.
I've alluded in a couple threads over the past couple days that I might be adding another bike to my stable. Long story short, I went back to the shop today, and after some fiddling around with the setup on a trainer and then after some riding, I decided purchase a closeout-but-new 51cm 2009 Satellite Femme (specs here (http://jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/satellite/09_satellitef_spec.html)). I hadn't actually seen one in person before today (they had it boxed in the basement as of yesterday, but they put it together in anticipation of me coming back in today), I had ridden a 54cm Quest Femme and a 51cm men's Satellite. I felt a bit stretched out on both, and while either probably could have been made to work, it seemed like the women's 51cm felt the best out of the gate. I'm sure it will still take some tweaking (even today they immediately put shims in the levers and changed the tilt on the handlebars).
The catalog pictures make the white/butterscotch color scheme appear somewhat... uninspiring... to the point that I was sure I was going to name her "Ugly Betty." But in person, she's actually quite lovely! I may stick with the name anyway. :cool:
I haven't taken her home yet... I'm quite proud of the fact that I have never had any credit card debt, and I wasn't about to start now when the shop offers no-hassle layaway for up to 60 days. I put about 30% down today and will probably pay the rest off after my next paycheck in ~2 weeks. I'm only going to be living here for about 8 more weeks after that, so I'll need to get as much riding in as I can to make sure I can let the shop here handle any initial kinks and adjustments before I go back to Arizona! Especially since this essentially my first "proper" road bike, I'm sure it will be a work in progress. Fortunately, there is also a Jamis dealer in Tucson, should any warranty issues arise after the summer.
Anyway, I took one sort of lousy picture today just so I can ogle it occasionally while I wait for the next paycheck.... I've attached it to share with you all too. :)
I'm living in Omaha for the summer doing a research internship. I brought my Trek with, along with the essentials (tubes, lube, multitool, etc), but I felt like I should check out a LBS or two just in case I had any needs. Last weekend I thought, "well, I might as well check out this one shop that's a Jamis dealer and see if they have anything I can ride for fun." Boy, did they ever. :o Turns out that Jamis still has some 2009 closeouts left, at a considerable savings.
I've alluded in a couple threads over the past couple days that I might be adding another bike to my stable. Long story short, I went back to the shop today, and after some fiddling around with the setup on a trainer and then after some riding, I decided purchase a closeout-but-new 51cm 2009 Satellite Femme (specs here (http://jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/satellite/09_satellitef_spec.html)). I hadn't actually seen one in person before today (they had it boxed in the basement as of yesterday, but they put it together in anticipation of me coming back in today), I had ridden a 54cm Quest Femme and a 51cm men's Satellite. I felt a bit stretched out on both, and while either probably could have been made to work, it seemed like the women's 51cm felt the best out of the gate. I'm sure it will still take some tweaking (even today they immediately put shims in the levers and changed the tilt on the handlebars).
The catalog pictures make the white/butterscotch color scheme appear somewhat... uninspiring... to the point that I was sure I was going to name her "Ugly Betty." But in person, she's actually quite lovely! I may stick with the name anyway. :cool:
I haven't taken her home yet... I'm quite proud of the fact that I have never had any credit card debt, and I wasn't about to start now when the shop offers no-hassle layaway for up to 60 days. I put about 30% down today and will probably pay the rest off after my next paycheck in ~2 weeks. I'm only going to be living here for about 8 more weeks after that, so I'll need to get as much riding in as I can to make sure I can let the shop here handle any initial kinks and adjustments before I go back to Arizona! Especially since this essentially my first "proper" road bike, I'm sure it will be a work in progress. Fortunately, there is also a Jamis dealer in Tucson, should any warranty issues arise after the summer.
Anyway, I took one sort of lousy picture today just so I can ogle it occasionally while I wait for the next paycheck.... I've attached it to share with you all too. :)