Hi all,


I need some reassurance here (or a reality check). I'm someone who's gotten really into biking in the past year on my hybrid, never had been on a road bike until a few weeks ago. I go out at least a couple times a week and ride 30-40 miles, mostly with clubs. I love it, wanna improve my speed and endurance.....and I finally quit smoking, which will help in that dept. So I am ready to move to a road bike.

Last week's bike shopping/fitting left me excited, this week left me freaked out. This is the deal- I have all kinds of physical issues (back problems, carpal tunnel, knee issues, and very overweight), and already have a relationship with my lbs where they know about all this (they have put in lots of hours adjusting my clipless pedals so my knees and feet don't hurt, and did a great job, seem very precise, so I want to buy my bike from them).

So lbs took lots of measurements, talked to me for a couple of hours, but as I started to test road bikes, nothing felt comfortable, even with many adjustments. Contributing to this is that I have really long legs for my height (5'4, 32 1/2 inseam). So I had accepted that I was probably going to need a custom frame. Anyway, after more road testing yesterday on bikes that lbs got to be as close to my req'd geometry as possible, we settled on a custom steel Serrotta. I knew I was headed toward sticker shock....the total for everything (frame, gruppo, saddle, pedals, etc.) is going to be $4000. A lot of the specs meant nothing to me (should I care that my top tube is going to slant?), but I do know that I'm getting a triple crank with the Campy Centaur gruppo. I definitely can't do Shimano- it hurts my hands too much. I do know that the difference between a custom Serrotta frame and a stock is about $500, so it isn't really that much (I am in super-rationalization mode).

Now I can afford it (I work hard and make good money, have no dependents) but I feel like maybe that's just too much for a relative biking newbie. I didn't want to get an entry level bike (based partially on advice from this board that I should buy what I could afford and grow into it) I feel like my bike love is an obsession that is just growing.

Anyway, I put $1000 down to get a draft of the frame from Serrotta. Is this crazy??? Do you guys do stuff like this, and then feel wracked with guilt??? None of my non-biking friends will even begin to understand spending this much on a bike....but I guess I shouldn't care.

One cool thing was that I did get to ride LOTS of bikes, and learned how to use integrated shifting, which was easier than I thought. I don't know how the hell Susie learned how to use it at the same time as going clipless, though!

I also found the road bike really scary/unstable after years of riding a hybrid, but I'm told that's normal. My hybrid weighs almost 30 lbs and has wide tires. Babble, babble....

eek!
Amy