Kona Honky Inc Bike. You Have One?

[radacrider]

Nice, Velocivixen, sounds like you are narrowing down your search and getting a good idea of what bike and setup works for you. I am all about service as part of what I choose to buy. Sounds like you found 1 great LBS.

[Velocivixen]

Thanks radacrider! I spent those hours at Sellwood Cycle Repair and Matt there ROCKS! After all that time I felt guilty not buying the bike. In all fairness, I told him I'd have to at least test ride some others to ensure I'm making the right choice.
My DH just asked me "What are you going to do if you get that new bike?" (I've only had my Trek 7 months)! Selene Yeager's book says to project out one year and try to get something for that. In 7 months I've never ridden on anything but an asphalt MUP or the road, so obviously I won't be buying a mountain bike. I see myself riding a road bike longer distances and maybe longer distances that involve hills.
He did tell me that, if it turns out I need more lower gears, that it would be best to change out the rear cluster & derailleur to a mountain biking gearing. I have a gearing ratio chart that my DH made with a graph of the gearing of my current bike and of the other bikes I'm considering with graphs of the gears. Changing this bike (50/30 chainring) to a compact double (50/34) would only give me 1 more low gear, and the ratios would be a tiny bit different, but a compact double won't give me a bunch of low gears. I think I'd buy the bike "as is", ride it, get confident on it and more fit, then decide if I really need the lower gears.
Now I just have to convince my DH to fund my new baby.

[indysteel]

I'm glad the bike shop is being so helpful. That's awesome.

Which bike has 50/30 gearing? That's not a typical confinguration, unless you're referring to the big and small chainrings of the triple that's on your FX. In any event, a compact 50-34 double offers fewer small gears than a crank with a 30 chainring, assuming identical cassettes.

[Velocivixen]

@Indy, that was a typo. Sorry about that. The Honky Inc. Has a standard double in front, but is sort of "in between" because the front ring is 50/39. The guy at this shop said it was a compact and I had to tell him it had 50/39 and he was surprised, and actually checked the Kona website then counted the teeth! It has 10 speed in the back.

What is your thought about 9 speed vs 10 speed in the back in relation to road bikes. I was told that, more and more, road bikes are leaning toward 10 in the back and parts/components for 9 in the back are harder to find. A couple of bikes I had considered had Tiagra components with 9 speed.

[RidingBuddy]

What are the gears on the cassette? I think I would refer to the 50/39 chainrings as a "non standard compact.". I have a 52/38 on one of my bikes and always have to explain it.

My opinion on the 9 cog versus 10 cog is this: I would prefer the 10. Because there will be less change between cog size, you should have smoother shifting and more ease finding the "right" gear. It's also getting a little harder to find 9 speed cassettes, (not terribly hard but not as many options). But honestly I wouldn't rule out a bike cause it was 9 speed. However I might rule out a bike that had lower components than 105.