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hmmhmmcamo · 06-17-2012, 05:29 AM

Update on my bike shopping...

Woke up today 99% sure I’m getting the Specialized I posted earlier. I talked to one store about it and they told me they can’t order it in because Specialized is sold out of my size (medium). Bummer.

So I call the store that I saw it at the other day and mentioned that I had been in there to look at it but wasn’t sure what the size of the one they had in stock was. Dude on the phone says it was a small, and that they had sold it that morning. He said they had a medium still in the box and they could put it together for me to try out. I told them I’d be by Saturday morning.

Here’s where it went a bit weird. I went in this morning and before I talked to anyone I went over to the bikes to check out what was there. I’m 99.9% positive the same Specialized bike I looked at a couple days earlier was still sitting there (the one the guy said was a small and had been sold). The reason I’m sure it’s the same bike is because there we’re a few different scuff marks on the frame that I noticed immediately and just seemed weird....and which seemed even weirder now because apparently this bike had been out of the box for less than 24 hours.

Regardless I took it for a quick spin out in the back parking lot and it felt pretty awesome. But when I looked at it closer I noticed a few scratched in the paint right above the chain. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but my gut tells me this was a bike that had been returned and is probably considered “very lightly used”, but definitely not new anymore. I think they are trying to sell it as new so I won’t be buying my bike from there.

The next stop on my tour had Giant, Cannondale and Kona bikes. This was by far my best bike store experience and I left thinking that even if I don’t buy my bike there, I will get all my service done there and support them as much as possible.

I had mixed feelings about Giant, but the Seek 1 looks really sweet so I took it for a ride.(http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/....1/9774/49361/) It was awesome and honestly the photos online don't do it the proper justice at all. It just felt really solid and comfortable and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

Next I tried the Cannondale Bad Boy Solo. (http://www.cannondale.com/2012-bad-boy-5-20118). She set this one up for me while I was riding the Seek 1, and even though I knew 100% I wasn’t going to buy it because I think the one fork is stupid and gimmicky, I was kinda interested in just seeing what it was like. In the end I really liked it and didn’t notice the one fork at all, but still I won’t buy it because I just can’t get over how dumb it looks.

From there I went to look at Brodie’s and I probably came across the dumbest bike dude in the world. Honestly I knew more about the bikes than he did, and I’ve only really started researching things this week. In the end they didn’t have anything in my size so I’ll have to try another Brodie dealership tomorrow.

One good thing from that place was he did get me to try a Devinci Sidney which was really awesome (except no disc brakes). It felt really light but solid and it seemed like it would go like stink. After looking online a bit more tonight I noticed they have the coppenhagen model (http://www.devinci.com/bikes/browse_19#19_59_197) which has disc brakes. I also noticed the rest of their frames have disc brake mounts so maybe I can upgrade to them if I find something that I like but doesn’t have the discs.

Next it was off to the Trek store. I took at Trek 7.5 (http://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en/bikes/road/fitness/fx/7_5_fx_disc/#) for a ride and didn’t like it at all...I was really surprised too because I’ve always really liked their bikes.

Tonight I came across the BMS site and really like the look of this bike (http://www.bmc-racing.com/int-en/bik.../standard.html). I don’t know anything about them but that bike sure looks sweet.

Tomorrow’s action plan:
-go ride the Specialized again
-go check out the BMC bike, same bike store has Felt bikes that look pretty cool too
-go check out Devinci and Kona...really interested in riding more Devinci’s
-finally ride the Seek 1 again. I really can’t get over how sweet this bike looked and rode.

06-17-2012, 05:29 AM	#549
hmmhmmcamo Powerplay Quarterback Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Victoria Exp:	Update on my bike shopping... Woke up today 99% sure I’m getting the Specialized I posted earlier. I talked to one store about it and they told me they can’t order it in because Specialized is sold out of my size (medium). Bummer. So I call the store that I saw it at the other day and mentioned that I had been in there to look at it but wasn’t sure what the size of the one they had in stock was. Dude on the phone says it was a small, and that they had sold it that morning. He said they had a medium still in the box and they could put it together for me to try out. I told them I’d be by Saturday morning. Here’s where it went a bit weird. I went in this morning and before I talked to anyone I went over to the bikes to check out what was there. I’m 99.9% positive the same Specialized bike I looked at a couple days earlier was still sitting there (the one the guy said was a small and had been sold). The reason I’m sure it’s the same bike is because there we’re a few different scuff marks on the frame that I noticed immediately and just seemed weird....and which seemed even weirder now because apparently this bike had been out of the box for less than 24 hours. Regardless I took it for a quick spin out in the back parking lot and it felt pretty awesome. But when I looked at it closer I noticed a few scratched in the paint right above the chain. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but my gut tells me this was a bike that had been returned and is probably considered “very lightly used”, but definitely not new anymore. I think they are trying to sell it as new so I won’t be buying my bike from there. The next stop on my tour had Giant, Cannondale and Kona bikes. This was by far my best bike store experience and I left thinking that even if I don’t buy my bike there, I will get all my service done there and support them as much as possible. I had mixed feelings about Giant, but the Seek 1 looks really sweet so I took it for a ride.(http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/....1/9774/49361/) It was awesome and honestly the photos online don't do it the proper justice at all. It just felt really solid and comfortable and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Next I tried the Cannondale Bad Boy Solo. (http://www.cannondale.com/2012-bad-boy-5-20118). She set this one up for me while I was riding the Seek 1, and even though I knew 100% I wasn’t going to buy it because I think the one fork is stupid and gimmicky, I was kinda interested in just seeing what it was like. In the end I really liked it and didn’t notice the one fork at all, but still I won’t buy it because I just can’t get over how dumb it looks. From there I went to look at Brodie’s and I probably came across the dumbest bike dude in the world. Honestly I knew more about the bikes than he did, and I’ve only really started researching things this week. In the end they didn’t have anything in my size so I’ll have to try another Brodie dealership tomorrow. One good thing from that place was he did get me to try a Devinci Sidney which was really awesome (except no disc brakes). It felt really light but solid and it seemed like it would go like stink. After looking online a bit more tonight I noticed they have the coppenhagen model (http://www.devinci.com/bikes/browse_19#19_59_197) which has disc brakes. I also noticed the rest of their frames have disc brake mounts so maybe I can upgrade to them if I find something that I like but doesn’t have the discs. Next it was off to the Trek store. I took at Trek 7.5 (http://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en/bikes/road/fitness/fx/7_5_fx_disc/#) for a ride and didn’t like it at all...I was really surprised too because I’ve always really liked their bikes. Tonight I came across the BMS site and really like the look of this bike (http://www.bmc-racing.com/int-en/bik.../standard.html). I don’t know anything about them but that bike sure looks sweet. Tomorrow’s action plan: -go ride the Specialized again -go check out the BMC bike, same bike store has Felt bikes that look pretty cool too -go check out Devinci and Kona...really interested in riding more Devinci’s -finally ride the Seek 1 again. I really can’t get over how sweet this bike looked and rode. Last edited by hmmhmmcamo; 06-17-2012 at 05:39 AM.