I am kind of in a bike dilemma at the moment, I have a road bike which has a few thousand miles and many seasons on it. The bike needs a full rebuild. It is an older Tiagra/105 mixed 9spd bike. 10spd stuff has been out for years and now 11spd groups have hit the mainstream. I had thoughts to bring my bike into the current times but I am thinking its just not worth fixing up. There is also some non-crash damage on the frame. I will always say that mountain biking is my favorite but the truth is that I get so many more opportunities to get out on the road or do some gravel road riding. I feel that I need a good all around road/cross bike. I am looking to get a 11spd, disc brake road bike.
 |
| New in 09 |
 |
| Yesterday (Kidding) |
 |
| Crux in Blue |
When I got home from my deployment my search begun. I have shared with some of my family that I was wanting to get a new bike when I returned so for them not to get me anything for Christmas but if they felt the need to get me something, I would accept donations to the bike fund and/or gift certificates to
EPBC. The first decision I was going to have to make would be a full build or get a complete bike. I did the pros and cons list and I decided to go ahead and get a complete bike. I was doing the math on a custom build and I quickly floated past my ceiling. After that I narrowed it down to two different companies,
Specialized and
Fuji. I settled on these two brands because my LBS carries both and I have had good luck with both brands in the past. My road bike I currently have is a Fuji and I have a good buddy that loves his
Specialized Crux, which is the particular model I was looking at. If I decided on the build option I was going to go with the
Specialized Crux, but I decided to go the complete route so I went with the Fuji. More specifically I went with the
Fuji Altamira CX model.
 |
| Bike I ordered |
The
2014 Fuji Altamira CX is a full carbon fiber frame. I am a little nervous about carbon given my Clydesdale size but I am hoping to shave a few pounds while commuting on the new rig. It is also built out with the new Sram Force 22 setup. Which is the new Sram 11spd group. It also doesn't include the road hydraulic disc brakes that are being recalled. The bike comes with the mechanical avid BB7s, which are a proven brake. Overall this bike was the most bang for my buck and Brian down at
Eastern Panhandle Bicycles is making all this happen for me. Such a great shop! I cannot wait to get the bike and get a good fitting done. I hope to put 1500+ miles on this bike this year!
Today I am trying to get the legs a little loose. Nothing crazy, I have decided it is what it is. I am riding 15 miles in the CAT II division. I have no place there but the only other men's category is only doing one 5 mile lap. I feel like I need a little more then that. It should be a great time! I have heard good things about this race. The forecast is showing snow so maybe if I can at least finish I'll beat out those guys that have up! This will be a humbling race to start the season. I will be posting a race recap so look out for that! 
