Dream bike! Pic & first ride report

[malaholic]

I have not yet settled on a name for her - I'll need a few more rides for that -- but here she is. Went for a 60 mile ride yesterday through some of the toughest hills in the area, and I am in love. She is fast & super-responsive. Despite being very stiff, the ride is smooth and not at all jarring. Descends & corners wonderfully. I still need to make a few adjustments for fit/handling purposes. I've already flipped the stem angle down instead of up like it is in the photo, but I will need to get my steering tube cut further and remove some of the spacers.

This was my first time riding SRAM (my Ruby has Shimano). It was surprisingly easy to get used to and felt nice & crisp. The only thing that I still mess up is that when you run out of gears in back and try to push the lever through, it stops on the first tap and you end up shifting up instead of down. So I need to keep better track of what cog I'm on in back. But overall I'm very happy with the SRAM group also.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go for another ride.

[nscrbug]

Wow...that is one stunning bike!!! My DH has been lusting after the Dogma...but that is simply NOT gonna happen. So, he is willing to "settle" (ha ha) for the FP3.

Can I ask...which pedals are those?


Linda

[Jiffer]

SWEET!!! Congrats! I recently got my dream bike, as well, so I know the feeling. I also got SRAM shifters, and used to have Shimano, and I can totally relate to shifting up instead of down when you are on your last gear. Kind of frustrating when you are on a steep hill and go harder instead of down or staying the same. I used to have a gauge on my cable that told me what gear I was in without even having to look down at where the chain is, so I have to get used to that too. One time I was on a long climb and was telling my husband, "I keep thinking I must have one more gear, but I don't." I was having a harder time physically that day, so chalked it up to that. However, as it turned out, I DID have one more gear! It just looked like I was on my last gear, to my untrained eye, but I wasn't.

But in general, I am liking the SRAM, and my much smoother and lighter bike. Have fun with yours. She's a beaut!!!

[ridenread]

That is one beautiful bike! May you have many happy rides together

[zoom-zoom]

Gorgeous! My next bike will probably have SRAM (actually, my next bike--likely a cyclocross bike--will probably get my current 105 set-up, then I would put SRAM on my current road bike).

[lunacycles]

Might I suggest you don't cut the steerer, but just place excess spacers on top of the stem? You might change your mind down the road, and you can never add length to a steerer once it's cut.
Congrats on your new ride!

[tctrek]

Congrats! What a gorgeous bike!

[malaholic]

Wow...that is one stunning bike!!! My DH has been lusting after the Dogma...but that is simply NOT gonna happen. So, he is willing to "settle" (ha ha) for the FP3.

Can I ask...which pedals are those?

mmmm....I'd have loved a Dogma too. Realistically though it just wasn't worth that much extra money. It would have been a bit lighter and a bit stiffer, but this is already shaving close to 5 pounds off the weight of my Ruby, and given that I'm small and not exactly applying massive force to either frame or cranks I probably wouldn't notice the stiffness difference between this and a Dogma anyway. I am perfectly happy "settling" for the Dogma's sibling; I bet your hubby will too!

The pedals are Look Keo 2 Max.

Might I suggest you don't cut the steerer, but just place excess spacers on top of the stem?

You're right, that is why they didn't cut the tube shorter to begin with. I'm going to experiment over the next few weeks with moving the stem up & down to find what feels right both in terms of my own position and also in terms of bike handling. If I just want it moved down a little, then I'll just stack a spacer on top. If I want it moved down a lot, I'll have the tube trimmed but probably still leave a spacer so that I'll have the option of moving it back up if I wanted to.

[Bike Chick]

Wow! What a sexy bike!

[kenyonchris]

I have the FP3 and LOVE it! Congrats!

[ciao_bella]

Beautiful bike!

Did you buy that in the US? I tried to find the list of USA dealers on the Pinarello website and none showed up.

Ciao

[OakLeaf]

Mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm.

[jarider]

Beautiful bike!

Did you buy that in the US? I tried to find the list of USA dealers on the Pinarello website and none showed up.

Ciao

http://www.racycles.com/road/pinarello
ciao_bella try this site

[malaholic]

Did you buy that in the US? I tried to find the list of USA dealers on the Pinarello website and none showed up.

Yeah, their website is not very helpful for finding US dealers. Pinarello apparently has only a single US distributor (Gita Sports) which is the source for all US dealers. You can find the list of US dealers on their website at http://www.gitabike.com/cgi-bin/shop...pinarello.html.

I ended up buying online from Slane Cycles in Northern Ireland anyway because I wanted just the frameset but Gita supplies the FP7 to the US as a full bike only. Other models like the Prince & Dogma are available as framesets but cost a bit more than I wanted to spend. Slane sold the FP7 as a frameset only, at a very reasonable price including free shipping to the US. There's more info on my buying experience with them on this thread.

[kenyonchris]

Yeah, their website is not very helpful for finding US dealers. Pinarello apparently has only a single US distributor (Gita Sports) which is the source for all US dealers. You can find the list of US dealers on their website at http://www.gitabike.com/cgi-bin/shop...pinarello.html.

I ended up buying online from Slane Cycles in Northern Ireland anyway because I wanted just the frameset but Gita supplies the FP7 to the US as a full bike only. Other models like the Prince & Dogma are available as framesets but cost a bit more than I wanted to spend. Slane sold the FP7 as a frameset only, at a very reasonable price including free shipping to the US. There's more info on my buying experience with them on this thread.

I bought my FP3 as a complete bike because they wouldn't sell just the frameset, but the bike shop bought back all the components and stuff, even the wheels. I put my Campy stuff on there, my Ksyrium wheelset, and it wound up being almost $1500 cheaper.
If you can find a dealer and just want the frameset, you might be able to work the deal like that.