I bought the wrong bike!

I have a new Specialized Dolce Elite road bike that I purchased in May. While I love riding, I probably should have bought the Trek 7.5 WSD. The road bike fits me well but I think I am better suited for a flat bar bike instead of a bike with an aggressive riding position. I know I will love riding the Trek and want to get one. My question is: Should I attempt to sell the road bike, perhaps on Craigslist or on this forum? Should I wait until after the winter? The road bike is in perfect condition-- it has 194 miles on it. Thanks

Are you sure? Have you tried going to the shop, and having them raise your handle bar till it is level with your seat? Is it level with your seat? Are your bars higher than your seat? Do you know that you do not have to ride in your drops all the time? You can ride the majority of the time, except when you are going downhill on the tops of your bars or in your hoods. I know these sound like stupid questions, but they could be the answer to your problem.

What size tires are you riding, you can put a little wider tire on that will make the bike handle slower.

Finally, you could go to the shop and find out what it would take to swamp out your handlebars, you will have to have different shifters too, and brakes, but it might be worth the effort if you like the bike other than riding in the drops.

spoke

I did have the bars raised and I ride mostly with my hands on the top of the handlebars- I am almost never on the drops. I think I am just more comfortable with my arms in a wider position, as I would have on flatbar handlebars. It would cost about $250 to change over the handlebars, which is what I'm hoping to lose if I sell the bike. I also own a Gary Fisher Utopia, which is an older flatbar hybrid. A lighterweight, more aerodynamic version of that is really the style for me. When I've test-ridden the Trek, I feel that it is the bike that I will have a lot more fun riding and it is the perfect match for the riding that I do.

My road bike is somewhat similiar to yours, Giant OCR1, and everyone told me I should have bought the Trek FX. I am so glad I did not... "now".

My bike felt right, but when I started dealing with riding it in higher mph speed limit traffic on county roads, keeping my balance on the skinny road tires, trying to work out some fit issues, my form, gear, etc... I had some thoughts of... Hmm, what have I done?

So, I'm with the other post on I wouldn't ditch the whole thing quite yet. And frankly, if you live in an area where winter is approaching, selling it in that area now might bring you less $. Folks start thinking about skiing, etc. vs. bikes and buying, IMO. Unfortunately too it seems you lose a lot of money on the sale of something once used... even though slightly.

My Giant has an option where the the bars are installed slightly more upright. Switching to flat bars may help, just keep the extra set. Does the shop have a FX for you to demo and tell them what it is you like about "it" vs your bike now? Maybe that would help in modifying your bike?

Now that I have ridden it a while, I find everything just feels better in the drops being more aero. Also, I feel the need for carbon. I want to smooth out my ride. Does that mean my bike was the wrong bike for me? No. It was the right bike for my skills, etc. Now, I'm ready to upgrade.

I don't know if you still hate it, would the shop take it in on trade? And sell yours as a demo? Our lbs with winter coming cut the prices on the floor models. If the other is what you really wanted after a heart to heart with the shop, then seek out a deal.

I hope it works out for you. I have some other pieces of gear that I got burned on. Some of those were the seller, but the others were me trying to figure out what I really wanted. Good Luck:).

Talk to the bike shop that sells the Treks and ask them if they would do a trade in for the new Trek- making adjustments for value of the two bikes of course.

Your Elite comes with 700x23 tires ...I bet its fork and brakes won't accept 'fat' tires above 25's.
The Trek 7.5 comes with 700x32 tires....way fatter than 23's.

Though making minor changes to a current bike you really want to keep can often work out well, my opinion is that every woman should have at least one bike that they truly love and are comfortable on.
Life is too short to spend a bunch of time and money trying to convert bike into something that it basically is not. Fixing up an old bike is something else again- more like a labor of love, and most older bikes are gotten cheap or free, not like your new Elite.
If you make a bunch of 'comfort' changes to this practically brand new Elite, it's value will be substantially lower when you go to resell it. It will not be what some other woman is looking for when they go looking to buy an Elite. You'll get the most money if you sell it now while it is still just like it was when it came out of the factory.

I ride on my hoods--not in the drops at all, ever. I love my drop handlebars, though. They give me more hand positions than flatbars (my commuting bike has flat bars).

er, ummmm. How much would you want for it??:) Seriously!

Kitty

The bike was $1299-- now with 194 miles --in perfect conditon-- I was going to list it for $1000.

Ï hardly ever ride in the drops either mostly on the hoods or top position, except for descents where I get so much more control.

Almost always on the hoods here. I am not completely unflexible but I feel like it when I ride in the drops. I do it when I am bombing down a straight descent or for a little stretch but mostly just hoods or tops of the bars.

If you hate it, sell it. No use loathing your primary bike and it sounds like you won't ride the Dolce if you add to the stable.

I would hazard a guess that few ride in the drops as their primary riding position. Do you ever ride on the hoods?

I generally ride on the hoods, tops on climbs, drops on descents or trying to go faster.

I'm glad I've got my 7500 FX... Flat bars make me happy.

It sounds like you've already made the decision. We've all made that mistake. If it's relatively new, try trading it in where you bought it. Otherwise, find her a good home (see above!).

ack - managed to post to the wrong thread. oops

You can get a wider drop bar and add a brake lever by the tops.

Handling might actually improve for you (get less twitchy) if you lower the stem. A long, low stem will take the twitchiness out of a bike, because the steering moves in an arc. The bigger the arc (from a longer stem), the more you have to turn the bars to get the same amount of turning as with a shorter stem. (having the stem angled up shortens the horiz. length of the stem making the steering behave more as if you had a shorter stem).

Add me to the list of those who ride with drop bar and never drop. My first road bike had the extra brake levers on my bars. I loved them. In fact I just added a set to my LHT for extra braking power when stopping with a fully loaded trailer.

It does sound like you have your mind made up. But having the extra hand positions available is a real plus. I ride my flat bar mtb on occasion for my commute and my hands do hurt. On the other hand, my daughter has a flat bar road bike and really likes it. My husband added a pair of bar ends that give him an extra place to put his hands on his flat bar bike when we started doing some touring this year. bikerHen

I have a Bianchi 928 and virtually NEVER ride in the drops. I have zero depth perception and I blame that for my lack of balance. Riding in the drops just makes my imbalance seem more noticeable (plus I have a history of crashing.) I am probably going to add inline brake levers to my bars as the brakes are the only reason I am ever near the drops for any length of time.

If you just don't like the BIKE then I say sell it but expect that you will take about a $300-400 loss. If you like the bike and just don't like the BARS, then definitely try the cheaper route of changing out the bars.

But if you don't like the BIKE nothing you can do to it will change your mind and you will remain dissatisfied. I know I would.