Decisions, decisions

[Wahine]

Sooooooo. I took my bike into the LBS this weekend because it was not shifting well. The long and the short of it is that my components are on the edge of failure. I love my bike and I don't feel like I'm ready to retire the Jolly Green Giant. In fact it feels a little like how I felt when I was faced with the decision to put my dog down, of course at a much lower level. However, I know that the smart thing to do is to get a new bike. Cheaper in the long run and the technology has changed a lot in the last 7 years (that's how old jolly is).

So I'm looking for suggestions on models to start with.

What kind of riding do I do? Long distance triathlon, Ironman and Half Ironman are my faves. I'm a competitive age grouper at a local to state level.

So hit me with suggestions ladies. I've always ridden Specialized, but hey, it might be time for a change. I tried the Ruby. Good bike but not for what I do.

Budget $3000.

[Eden]

For TT's & Tri's as long as you are tall enough - Cervelo makes a beautiful bike (looks and performance that is ) The woman I bought my Quintanroo from was selling the bannana (it's bright yellow) because she was getting a brand new Cervelo. (btw the P2C DA model is listed on their web site at $3000.... )

[li10up]

Just want to pass along what my LBS guy told me when I was looking for a new bike. He says that there are a lot of good bikes out there but that Specialized does a lot of R&D for their bikes. They come out with innovative designs and then other bike manufactures copy their designs. I guess you could look at that in several ways. Save some money and buy from a less innovative company or pay a little more to cover the costs of R&D and support a company that is a leader in the industry. That probably didn't help at all, huh?

[Eden]

I love my Ruby, wouldn't trade it for anything - but really Specialized does not specialize (arf, arf) in TT/Tri bikes. They do have the Transition, but it sure seems like other companies put more time into these kind of bicycles.

[Wahine]

I agree with Eden about the designs. Having said that, I do a lot of riding in hilly country and my racing bike is my training bike. I can't afford 2 separate bikes. So I'm not opposed to getting a road bike (it is a better choice for the majority of my riding hours) and just add my flashy carbon strike aerobars.

[DirtDiva]

Or you could buy the flashy race bike and fix up the Jolly Green Giant as and when you can afford it. Might take a few months and some eBay hours, but you'd have two bikes at the end of it...