Colorado Fave Bike Store Recommendations

[Smilie]

I certainly will look out for Bill and tell him! Treads has great deals right now. Even my friend is thinking about getting a new bike since they are having such a great sale.

Will they let you take a bike for a longer ride? I guess I can leave the keys to my car there since I won't be bringing my first born with.

[Kathi]

Yes, they will. When I bought my mtn bike from Wheatridge I rode it on the Clear Creek trail. Sports Garage told me to take the bike I demoed out on the road so we did a 10 mile ride. It's the best way to determine if the bike is right for you.

Most shops require a driver's license and credit card.

If you have a favorite saddle and pedals bring those along. A good shop will put those on the demo bikes. Sports Garage had me bring my old bike, it fit well, and replicated the position as well as they could on the demo bikes.

If I were to demo a bike I would expect the salesperson to adjust my saddle height, the fore,aft position of the saddle and the handlebar height.

I think it's pretty awesome that you're driving all the way here for bikes. What bikes are you looking at?

[Smilie]

Favorite seat?! That brings me to another aspect of riding, how do you "know" what seat is right for you besides taking it for a very long ride? I have read the threads about measuring your seat, but it still seems a bit wierd to me.

This Cannondale is one that I am looking at. We only have 2 bike shops here, and they don't carry any small enough for me, plus they are very expensive and maybe have 10 bikes in stock. Mostly for men.

[Kathi]

I had a feeling that's the one you're looking at.

First get a bike that fits well, then you can determine the best saddle for you. A saddle can be the perfect one for you but if something is out of whack with the bike fit, tt to long, handlebars to low, no saddle will be comfortable.

Saddle choice is often a matter of preference. I'm small, too, and love the WTB Deva. Treads doesn't stock it but they ordered 2 more for me. When I'm riding I don't know the saddle is there. Cut outs don't work at all for me. There are lots of threads on saddles here on TE.

If you're interested in the the Deva I can meet you at Treads and show it to you. PM and let me know if you'd like to see it.

[Smilie]

That is great they did that for you! Do people generally change the saddle that comes with the bikes? Seems everyone has (that I have read posts on anyway!) I have the same saddle on my mountain bike that came with it and it seems fine. But then I haven't sat on it for hours at a time. I think the longest ride was maybe 3 hours.

[Kathi]

It used to be that the shops would swap out the saddle but they ended up with so many unwanted saddles they discontinued that practice. Not sure how that is handled now. My last 2 bikes were custom builds so I bought what I wanted.

I'd work with the saddle that is on the bike. It may or may not be ok. If you absolutely cannot stand it after a while then change it. If you're going from a mtn bike to a road bike the positioning is different and it will take your body some time to adjust to the new position.

[Smilie]

That makes sense about swapping and why they stopped. But darn it anyhow!

On the tandem I rode my century on, the seat is called Body Geometry. It fits well enough, but I still got a bit chafed after doing the 199 miles in two days. I think that might be normal though? Or was the fit not exactly right?