Saturday, May 10, 2008

Good God

Basta bought a new bike. A tri bike.

And what an experience that was. My god there is a lot to a bike. I mean, of course there is. If you are going to spend thousands of dollars for a product there had better be a ton of technology and pricey parts in it.

But understanding those parts? Yeesh. So much to know. So much to geek out upon. So much I just flat don't care about. Maybe I will someday, but right now the bike is not high on my list of things I want to study much further than I have already.

Better leave that to professionals who do care. Much like my taxes. I want to understand that topic well enough to understand what my accountant is telling me, but not well enough that I get all of the nuances, stay on top of the latest changes, and make the most of my tax situation. I'd rather pay someone good to do that.

Basta was counting on me to find him the right bike, me being his coach and all. I decided my job was to find him the right bike professional who would then guide him to the right bike. So I started reading about bike fit and calling local bike shops.

Long story short, I think I found them. In fact, I know I found them. The right shop with a wide selection of bikes and the right staff to help the serious triathlete find the right bike for them: The Triathlon Lab in Redondo Beach. No, they aren't giving me anything for endorsing them. They are a fair hike from home, over an hour away, and there are other triathlon shops closer, but these guys do it best. I wish they were closer. They have everything a triathlete needs and then some, a huge inventory of run/bike/swim essentials, and staff that lives and breathes triathlon.

So Basta set up an appointment with a guy there to find his own true tri bike. Larry. Larry did a fantastic job. It was Larry who helped me find the right wetsuit for me last year, when we first embarked on this triathlon adventure. He explained in detail what matters and what doesn't in triathlon wetsuit fit, why a tri-suit is so important, and how to properly put one on. They had just my suit in stock. I bought it and I still love it today. Larry's a good guy.

Larry spent 3 hours with Basta. Basta is a quite normally-shaped guy, fortunately, so many stock bikes would work for him. He's of average height (5'10") and well-proportioned. That means he doesn't have ape arms or super-long legs or anything weird that might require a custom frame. Larry put various bikes on the trainer, had Basta ride, and assessed bike fit. Eventually he decided that three bikes within our budget had the geometry that fit Basta best. The difference between them was components.

Holy crap is that component topic complex. Basta kept calling me and saying, 'this bike has this, that bike has that, which should I get??' I don't know. I've read enough about this to know that this brand is considered better than that brand, but I have no idea why. So we relied heavily on Larry. "This component is stiffer, that is more generous, these are more aerodynamic," he explained. On and on with so many components. It's enough to make the head shake.

So cut to the chase. This is what we bought: A Kuota Kalibur

The other contenders were from Scott and Felt. The Kuota just had a better combo of what Basta needs at this time for the money.

It's a beautiful bike. Basta has put a few hundred miles on it already and is absolutely in love with it. It's a much, much different ride than his Roubaix road bike. He feels fast on it. I can't wait to see how much it improves his run time.

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