Is it time for a new bike?

[Mr. SR500]

Looks like it's time for Mr. SR500

What ya know, I'm already online. Makes sense since I'm online like 99% more then Kim. I've been trying to get her new Madone squared away. Our LBS was purchased, so her order has been a little up in the air. Still looking at a '07 delivery we hope. When we placed the order we were number 152 for a 52 cm Madone 5.1, however production wasn't scheduled until December. I guess Trek underestimated demand a bit when they rolled them out in August. Anyway, I think Mr. S should still consider a Madone or other carbon frame bike.

Do you guys do any time trails? I'm trying to get Kim to go with me on the tandem. On singles my age group is so competitive, it makes it tough to get in the medals, but now mixed tandem

[Mr. Bloom]

Mr. SR500...welcome out of the world of "lurking" into the sunlight

I will consider a Madone...but my guess is I'll shoot for that in '09 due to the cost and my relative low skill level (when we have the first year of college tuition )

I've not done anything competitive yet, but I do have a goal of doing something competitive in '09. Do you have any time trial event suggestions for a mid-40's greenhorn rider?

[Mr. SR500]

You'll be fine, TT's are fun because it doesn't take the whole day and there is plenty of down time to hang out with your buddies and have fun. I don't even have aero bars, but enjoy seeing if I can improve against myself. The course is 20k (12+ miles), and fairly flat out and back. It sort of reminds me of a 5K in the running world. We go over to Ohio the last Sat of the month (Feb - Sept). Last month they had ran a team TT, so the Zipp Team boys came over from Indy and went home with the money. They were impressive, 4 identical Cervelos all with DEEP Zipp rims, on top of a black Mercedes wagon. In general the hardware the people bring is amazing, full TT bikes, disk wheels, lots of deep carbon wheels, etc... But there are also kids, recumbents, and everything in between. At the end they give medals in each age/gender cat, and occasionally door prizes.

Back to bikes, lots of great bikes to try, but I would consider a bigger jump and if you needed to wait a year you'll be happier in the long run. I try to focus all my hobby attention and money on biking, and with the health benefits make it easy to justify.

P.S. SR500 gave me my Madone for my 40th b-day, great wife!

[Jo-n-NY]

What a great gift. My dh surprised me with my Ruby Pro in March.

How nice to see another Mr. on the board.

~ JoAnn