New bike adventure: my first (real) ride on my new Synapse!

[gocard]

Took my new bike out on a 15 mile ride in gorgeous weather. We went over some respectably bumpy parts but I felt great overall, for my first real ride on a road bike! The seat though...yeah. I need to get some padded shorts. I'm going to consider mountain bike shorts first until I start cycling a lot more, and then I might think about actual road bike shorts. Here's a picture!

[thekarens]

Congrats! Beautiful bike! Just my .02 as a newbie, but I'd go ahead and get the cycling shorts. I ride a MTB and still went with the cycling shorts. It was worth every penny and it didn't take me long to get over feeling weird in them.

[Owlie]

Very pretty bike! Go ahead and get the shorts. Better to spend the money once.

[gocard]

Owlie and thekarens, you do have valid points. I'm more accustomed to the way the mtn bike shorts look. Are there any relatively affordable beginner shorts that you might recommend? I have been reading about cheaper shorts and there are downsides to some of them, but I imagine the whole shorts business is a learning process as well to learn what I like and don't like.

[Owlie]

Owlie and thekarens, you do have valid points. I'm more accustomed to the way the mtn bike shorts look. Are there any relatively affordable beginner shorts that you might recommend? I have been reading about cheaper shorts and there are downsides to some of them, but I imagine the whole shorts business is a learning process as well to learn what I like and don't like.

My first shorts were from Performance (the $40 (on sale) ones). They were fine to start out, and the Ultra shorts look pretty nice if you can swing them. Look for sales. My most expensive pair of shorts is actually the least comfortable!

[gocard]

Okay, I shopped around and found a pair of reasonably priced shorts. Thanks everyone for your advice - I'll give it a try. Just posting to give an initial experience of the Synapse. Hopefully this can be of some help to someone who is in the market and is considering this model.

Little bit of background: This is my first road bike - I've had mountain bikes in the past, mainly to get around during college. I knew next to nothing about road biking but I love speed and how sleek the bikes look on the road. I plan to ride as a new hobby and alternative to tennis and I don't intend to race.

First things first: I love my Synapse! I rode over some pretty bumpy terrain on a wooden bridge and over some rougher patches but I was very comfortable overall. Of course, if you're riding over those kinds of surfaces you're going to feel the vibration. However, I can't compare to an aluminum version since I hadn't tested the alloy one over such bumpy surfaces to tell a difference.

I totally botched shifting gears to go uphill with the Apex...I didn't push in far enough and ended up going to a smaller cog...defeating the purpose entirely! As this is the first time I've had a bike where the gears actually...shifted, I will need to ride and shift around more to get the feel of it. Next time I should be ready to tackle that hill again. Once I had the gears in a useable state, I felt that climbing up the next smaller hill was not a problem.

I really thought I'd be dead tired and sore the next day but aside from my *ahem* derriere, I felt perfectly fine. I loved going downhill. It was kind of scary and I had to partially hold onto my brakes the whole time but it was exhilarating. Such a thrilll! From my perspective, although the Synapse is marketed as a plusher, more relaxed bike, it can be wonderfully speedy. Hopefully it will be even faster once I've gotten stronger. Can't wait to go riding again this weekend, with padding this time.

I started out intending to buy an alloy bike. I was set on trying a Felt Z85 or F75 from the specs, and wasn't keen on the WSD versions. I was bummed to find out that I didn't fit on a 51 Felt, and therefore couldn't test ride any unisex Felts without ordering. The ones I tested that stood out the most were the Ruby Elite and the Supersix 105. I think I tested the Ruby Elite, the first carbon bike I tried, before going to another store to try the carbon Synapse. I loved the Ruby - it was super comfortable from the get go, but I couldn't stomach the high price tag for it.

I really liked the Supersix but it felt a little too stretched. Perhaps I would have bought it if a smaller size had been available for me to test, but then there was the Synapse...sitting right next to its Supersix sister. I liked the Synapse because it was a comfortable stretched feeling and it could be fast when I wanted it to be. I was also able to confirm a price match to get $600 off. This was a huge factor in me caving in to buy a carbon bike. Since the 2013 models are in, it may be possible to get some pretty sweet deals on the 2012s.

Road bikes start off at a much, much higher price point than I'm used to, I'm still trying to get over the fact that I paid way more than I'd originally planned, but well...I bought into the whole carbon thing, got a great deal, and didn't want to be enviously eyeing a new bike all the time.

Ugh. I ramble. If you managed to read to the end, thanks for your patience

[thekarens]

I was and am on a budget. I got mine at Performance Bike for $40. I went online, read reviews them tried on some. Picked the most comfortable pair. I've only had them a couple weekends, but so far I'm very pleased. Before after 7 miles I was super tender on one side, not any more.

[gocard]

Thanks, thekarens. That price range is where I'd be most comfortable. I am glad you are liking your choice! I will go to Sports Basement to check out their selection and maybe Performance later. Side note, I just watched a clip on Performance Bikes reviewing one of the shorts. Now I finally know how to say "chamois" lol.

[zoom-zoom]

Now I finally know how to say "chamois" lol.

Of course, we say it all wrong here in the US, though.

Great bike...my first bike was a 2010 Synapse Féminine 5 alloy. Great bike, but I was ready for an even racier bike really soon after (and then a CX bike after that)...and now am anxiously awaiting the delivery of my first mountain bike fit well for me (first one ever was a POS and too big...current bike is nicer, but too small). You are on the road to a wonderful addiction--enjoy!

[lph]

[QUOTE=zoom-zoom;656542]Of course, we say it all wrong here in the US, though.

Now I'm curious - how do you say it in the US?

I hardly ever speak English anymore, just read and write it (not that I would find many people interested in talking about chamois anyway). I'd just assumed it's pronounced as in French, sha-MWAH.

[pll]

I would have pronounced as lph suggests (French), but here (Midwest), I have only heard the equivalent of 'shammy'. Even the Merriam Webster dictionary has it that way (listen here). Does not make much sense to me...