Plan A for my new TT bike seemed like a good one. Sure I had decided to buy without a test ride, but I was ok with that decision. I ordered the bike in mid-November through our sponsor shop. And I was excited about the cool design of the bike and the prospects a genuine TT bike promised. After all, last year I made it to the podium at Masters Nationals using a road bike with TT bars and wheels. How much faster would I be with a bike meant for TTs? Hopefully enough to get a Gold at Nationals.
Unfortunately, at the beginning of April, the bike still hadn't arrived. Specialized can't tell me when they will come through with the bike - sometime between May and July. Unacceptable as the Masters National Championships are at the beginning of July. Maybe folks who were just buying a new TT bike are ok with the incredible delays, but I can't wait any longer. I've already changed the road bike I was using for TTs back to road configuration (put the drop bars back on, etc) and plan on using it as my pack race bike. I needed a Plan B
This is nothing against our sponsor shop. Not their fault that Specialized sold bikes they couldn't deliver. Not their fault they don't carry another brand of TT bike that would fit and could be delivered promptly (Trek's estimated delivery was mid-June and besides, the geometry of the bike is wrong for my body).
Plan B. Different bike, different bike shop. I went on Tuesday last (8 April) to see Chris Richardson down at BikeDoctor Waldorf. If I stay in Maryland, it's the closest bike shop to home and I do go down there from time to time to get stuff when I'm down that way. But it's not like I'm a regular customer. None the less, Chris has always been sociable and one time even offered to loan me his cyclocross bike if I wanted to give that part of the sport a try. When I explained my situation to Chris, he was more than willing to help out. Ok, so that's what a bike shop does, sell bikes, but he was willing to do everything quickly and he really knows his stuff. We went through the whole process of looking at how my body is designed and how I have my fit set up on my road bike and then how I fit on a TT bike he happened to have in the shop. That bike wasn't the right fit, but it helped us narrow the choices down to two bikes that would fit the best - Cannondale and Orbea. The phone call to Cannondale was not good news - they'd just shipped the last of their stock in the approriate size the previous Friday and didn't expect more for at least 3 weeks. They could check around with shops to see if someone had one in their shop, but couldn't give us an idea on how quickly an answer would come (and the answer could be no). Next phone call. Orbea. They had the right size Ordu frame in stock. Decision made. Place the order. We set a tentative appointment for final fit for April 16.
Orbea shipped the bike on Wednesday the 9th. I dropped off my race wheels, the TT bars, brake levers, pedals and other miscellaneous stuff at the shop on Sunday after a three hour ride a bit South of the shop. I called Chris on Monday morning, just to make sure he knew I'd dropped off the stuff. He did and was confident the bike would arrive in Tuesday's shipment and that we would be able to keep our planned appointment for the final fit.
While I was making dinner Monday evening, my phone rang. It was Chris calling from the bike shop. The bike had arrived about half an hour after we talked and they'd checked it over and built it up that afternoon. Now that's what I call service!
So tonight after work, I'll go down there for the final fit and bring the new bike home. It looks totally sick in photos, like a bicycle version of a stealth bomber. Maybe I won't show up on radar. I really hope that this all happened for a reason and that this bike is the right bike for me. Only time will tell.
Unfortunately, at the beginning of April, the bike still hadn't arrived. Specialized can't tell me when they will come through with the bike - sometime between May and July. Unacceptable as the Masters National Championships are at the beginning of July. Maybe folks who were just buying a new TT bike are ok with the incredible delays, but I can't wait any longer. I've already changed the road bike I was using for TTs back to road configuration (put the drop bars back on, etc) and plan on using it as my pack race bike. I needed a Plan B
This is nothing against our sponsor shop. Not their fault that Specialized sold bikes they couldn't deliver. Not their fault they don't carry another brand of TT bike that would fit and could be delivered promptly (Trek's estimated delivery was mid-June and besides, the geometry of the bike is wrong for my body).
Plan B. Different bike, different bike shop. I went on Tuesday last (8 April) to see Chris Richardson down at BikeDoctor Waldorf. If I stay in Maryland, it's the closest bike shop to home and I do go down there from time to time to get stuff when I'm down that way. But it's not like I'm a regular customer. None the less, Chris has always been sociable and one time even offered to loan me his cyclocross bike if I wanted to give that part of the sport a try. When I explained my situation to Chris, he was more than willing to help out. Ok, so that's what a bike shop does, sell bikes, but he was willing to do everything quickly and he really knows his stuff. We went through the whole process of looking at how my body is designed and how I have my fit set up on my road bike and then how I fit on a TT bike he happened to have in the shop. That bike wasn't the right fit, but it helped us narrow the choices down to two bikes that would fit the best - Cannondale and Orbea. The phone call to Cannondale was not good news - they'd just shipped the last of their stock in the approriate size the previous Friday and didn't expect more for at least 3 weeks. They could check around with shops to see if someone had one in their shop, but couldn't give us an idea on how quickly an answer would come (and the answer could be no). Next phone call. Orbea. They had the right size Ordu frame in stock. Decision made. Place the order. We set a tentative appointment for final fit for April 16.
Orbea shipped the bike on Wednesday the 9th. I dropped off my race wheels, the TT bars, brake levers, pedals and other miscellaneous stuff at the shop on Sunday after a three hour ride a bit South of the shop. I called Chris on Monday morning, just to make sure he knew I'd dropped off the stuff. He did and was confident the bike would arrive in Tuesday's shipment and that we would be able to keep our planned appointment for the final fit.
While I was making dinner Monday evening, my phone rang. It was Chris calling from the bike shop. The bike had arrived about half an hour after we talked and they'd checked it over and built it up that afternoon. Now that's what I call service!
So tonight after work, I'll go down there for the final fit and bring the new bike home. It looks totally sick in photos, like a bicycle version of a stealth bomber. Maybe I won't show up on radar. I really hope that this all happened for a reason and that this bike is the right bike for me. Only time will tell.
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