Newbie - Out of shape - HILLS - Right Bike?

[amartha]

Hi,

I live in Pennsylvania -- Penn's HILL vania.

Here's what I did. Go to a bike shop that will refit a road bike with a hybrid bike's gears. EG: get a Raleigh gran sport, a typical entry level road bike. Then refit the gears with a mountain bike system -- Shimano Tiagra (9-speed) moves also with a Shimano LX (mountain bike) rear derailleur. If you use a compact crank (50 / 34) put the LX rear derailleur on the bike and put on the mountain bike 12-34 9-speed Shimano cassette. The chain needs to be longer.

So change the rear derailleur, chain, cassette and you get a hilly goat of a little road bike.

[Bramble]

Well, I'm so bummed out today. I waited to 2 long weeks (and 3 days) for my Dolce Comp Triple, which was supposed to be on order from Specialized. I contacted the lbs this weekend because the sales-person assured me 10 business days was MAX. Anyway, I asked someone at the bike shop to follow-up on the order and I got a call back in which they explained that they didn't know how it happened, but they couldn't get my bike until LATE AUGUST. (My guess is that I'd be getting a 2010 and I've heard that Specialized is changing their lineup, so the Dolce Comp is going to be dropped.) Sigh...I was willing to look at other bikes that fit my specs: 1600.00 max budget, triple, minimum 105 components, WSD... no luck.
I went to a couple of other bike shops and bought a bike on Saturday that I don't really love. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to return it and start my search over again.

The problem seems to relate to low inventory in the Portland metro area. Most of the bike shops stock a very limited number of women specific bikes. I've been told again and again that the 2009 inventory is low and the bike shops are waiting for the 2010 bikes to be available. I'm new to biking and wanted to enjoy my bike before the winter rains return.

Sorry for whining...I really had my heart set on THAT bike.

Any suggestions? Are some bike shops in the Portland area known for carrying a larger inventory of women specific bikes?

The other option is to wait around until the end of August?

That's what I keep running into in my bike search, also in the Portland metro area. I've got similar specs, but its not even just a problem with WSD bikes. Wanted to test ride a few unisex bikes as a comparision, but there's just been nothing of the right frame size in stock for me to even take test rides on.

My LBS guy did hear from his Specialized rep that there would be a 2010 Dolce Comp, but that it just wasn't available yet. But who knows. It starting to feel like this will be a wasted summer as far as the new bike goes. I should have started looking earlier (wasn't sure I could swing the money this spring.) I'll just chug along on my slow hybrid, way way behind my regular riding group.

[TrekTheKaty]

July-August is when the new bikes come in, so everyone has trouble getting stock (when I bought my bike last Aug, they immediately got on the phone and tried to reorder--it would be 2 months before they got another one!). Get on the phone and start calling around. It will save you time, now that you know what you want. Somebody has that bike sitting in their showroom.

[Bramble]

In the end I wasn't able to find the Dolce Comp Triple at any local shop. But last weekend I ended up test riding a Giant Avail 1, and liking it equally well. Since I'm impatient I went for the bike in the hand and snapped that one up. Inventory problems on that one as well, they weren't sure if there Giant had any small frames left, but there was one at another shop in the chain. Picked it up yesterday.

And Laphmore, as to your original question as to whether a road triple was enough on the hills, my old bike was a hybrid with mountain bike gearing. So I lost a couple of easy gears moving from the hybrid to a road triple. As I'm over 200 pounds I was worried about that, but when I went out for my first ride in my hilly neighborhood I didn't really notice the loss of the easy gears and riding up the hills was almost a breeze. Definately could feel the difference with a lighter bike and thinner tires.

Edit: Just got a call from my local Specialized shop that the 2010 Dolce Comps were now available. Isn't that always the way it works.