Help Pooks Find a New Bike

[KSH]

Hey Pooks... just wanted to say good luck on the bike hunt. It looks like you are hunting far and wide for the perfect bike.

[7rider]

Wow, Pooks - you are keeping busy with the rides. Great!
Sounds to me like the Quest is so far the front-runner, followed by the Etape.
The Quest has a nice frame and is nicely spec'ed, too. Hopefully, as a '06, he could cut a nice deal. Saddles are an incredibly personal thing. I know of folks who have gone through a bunch of them before settling on the one that's right for them. Don't let the comfort - or discomfort - of a saddle sway you towards or away from any bike. (Me - I'm a big fan of Terry saddles - all 3 of my bikes have them.)
Good luck with the Felts. They are aluminum and carbon frames. I love my Felt. I am not a big fan of aluminum bikes - they can be quite harsh to me. But my Felt (an '05) does not have that harshness. Lively yet comfortable.
Looking forward to your next update!

[Fredwina]

let me chip in here:
As far as aluminum goes, It can be harsh or Lively - I have a Cannondale CAAD7 which I love- but It replaced a GT Force which was a bump-a-rama. They're both aluminum frames, it's just what Cannondale and GT did with the material.Those of us who have been at this a while can recall Vitus - a defunct maker of AL frames that were notoriously "whippy"
P.S. The GT replaced a Steel Schwinn Voyageur. And my Bike Friday is steel.

[mimitabby]

oh, Pooks, please insist they take the cages off the pedals. I assure you they have lots of pedals in the back that they can replace them with. (you only have so much skin on those knees!!)

for me the element of fear was enough that i never fell because of cages..

[roguedog]

Thanks for the reports, Pooks. I get to vicariously shop with you and experience the discovery with you. It's fun.

[SadieKate]

Those of us who have been at this a while can recall Vitus - a defunct maker of AL frames that were notoriously "whippy"
P.S.

I had one of the original over-sized Cannondale frames back in 1984. It was horrible! Completely, unlike the Cannondales of today. It was so harsh I wanted to throw the thing in a ditch about mile 40 and walk home in my cleats. However, I put a softer Vitus fork on it and it made such a difference. I could at least get to mile 60. Anyway, just an example of the myriad incarnations of aluminium.

[pooks]

Wow, Pooks - you are keeping busy with the rides. Great!
Sounds to me like the Quest is so far the front-runner, followed by the Etape.
The Quest has a nice frame and is nicely spec'ed, too. Hopefully, as a '06, he could cut a nice deal. Saddles are an incredibly personal thing. I know of folks who have gone through a bunch of them before settling on the one that's right for them. Don't let the comfort - or discomfort - of a saddle sway you towards or away from any bike. (Me - I'm a big fan of Terry saddles - all 3 of my bikes have them.)
Good luck with the Felts. They are aluminum and carbon frames. I love my Felt. I am not a big fan of aluminum bikes - they can be quite harsh to me. But my Felt (an '05) does not have that harshness. Lively yet comfortable.
Looking forward to your next update!

The Quest (according to the guy) is too small for me, thus I'm missing out on a good deal, darn it. Not only was it an 06, but it has a little ding on it that would also make them take less. But it helped me feel the steel, which was very nice!

And yes, I loved the look of the Etape (another 06) but boy it was rough compared to the steel.

I will be looking for a long time. I'm not in a hurry, and I've had an unexpected expense dumped on me. I can't complain -- my mother needs someone to go to Hawaii with her! -- but this is not something I'd planned on doing, so it's going to eat up any discretionary funds I had available for awhile.

But that just gives me more time to learn, ride, and hopefully get stronger.

[Kathi]

If the saddle bothers you it possible that the saddle isn't flat and the nose is angled too high. Have the nose lowered about 1 cm and see if it feels better.