Quote Originally Posted by Owlie View Post
Your username makes me giggle.



You have a pretty nice bike. FWIW, my Apex-equipped CX bike with steel frame retails for about $1600, and a carbon road bike with Tiagra (the approximate Shimano equivalent of Apex) would run about $2000 or so, so you got a steal there! Yes, Apex is entry-level SRAM, but it's nicer than entry-level Shimano. (This is coming from someone who prefers Shimano, even though I've ridden with higher-end Shimano maybe twice and have entry-level Shimano on my road bike.)

Shoes...What can you go try on in your area? Fit comes first. Boyfriend's mom wasn't looking to spend a whole bunch when she bought her shoes, but it turns out that the only ones that fit her were Sidi and therefore sell-a-kidney expensive. Look for a mountain bike shoe that you can use with your dual-sided pedals.

General advice: Perhaps take a class or two on bike maintenance and 'rules of the road' if you can. Ride around in a parking lot (school lots on weekends are great) or on grass to practice clipping in and out. Read the saddle threads, as I almost guarantee that the saddle it came with sucks. The important things, of course, are to ride your bike and have fun.
My username makes me giggle too. I like cats... like to pet them, not to eat them.

I ordered some mtn bike shoes so i would not have to ice skate if trying to walk up a hill. I was so excited to try to practice clipping in, and then this Friday night i twisted my ankle WALKING in tennis shoes. I had been working out and doing regular hours of cardio and now i can barely walk without inventing new swear words!

Sigh, SOON. its so tempting to just ride anyway... but i know i shouldn't because I won't have the ankle strength to get off the bike if i need to stop!