My first bike was in college -- a Trek 520 tour bike. For WHATEVER reason I decided I wanted to bike over spring break, so I went to the local college bike shop and told them I wanted a tour bike. They had last year's model on sale and I bought it. It ended-up being 2 sizes too big, but I didn't know it then! I rode it and rode it a long way, only to get hurt because it did not fit me. It was 15 years until I rode again and bought my next bike.

My next bike was a mountain bike. I rode it on the road because I didn't like trails. Six months later, I bought a road bike, Giant OCR1. I studied bikes and components and the OCR1 was a really good bike for the money. I shopped around for last year's model, to get a deal, and I found it! My only downfall was I did not understand compact geometry and bought a size too large. After riding for a few months, my local bike shop helped me fit to the bike, changing components and explaining why. I rode it for 2 years.

Now I had "bike experience" and started searching for a "dream bike". It was a bike I knew I would build, with help of friends, and not a stock bike. I found a used Bianchi steel frame on eBay. It was NOT my ideal frame, but it had so much character and the geometry seemed perfect, so I bought it. I then hand picked my components, wheels, etc., and built the Bianchi. I have NO REGRETS!! What a BIG BIG difference the Bianchi was to the Giant -- proper geometry and great components rule!!!! I rode it for a year and a half.

Now that I had gotten a geometry that fit me well, I wanted a better frame -- an Italian carbon frame. So I started looking for deals and discovered a new 2006 Italian carbon Battaglin frame at half price. It was MY GEOMETRY!! So I bought it and took my Campy Chorus components off the Bianchi and put them on the Battaglin. It is my dream bike. I hope to be riding it for a very long time!