I love this !

Savagewolf said:

I just wanted to say hello to everyone.

I've been riding bikes since I was able to walk pretty much. I grew up on old, bashed up 10speeds and moved on to a nice Schwinn BMX in my teens.

After that, I moved on to mountain bikes.

I've never really done anything too competitive with bikes. Just the casual riding kind of thing. I've been chugging away for quite awhile on a $53 dollar mountain bike special from Wal-Mart.

Yesterday, I finally scrapped the cash together and bought a brand new 2007 Trek 1000. It's certainly not one of the $5000 superfeatherweight bikes out there, but for me it's incredible.

This is my first time riding a real road bike, and I'm just amazed by how much fun I'm having. The lightness, speed and response is just amazing to me after clunking away on my mtb. (Don't get me wrong, I love mtb'ing...but when you've grown up on cheap ones...moving onto a brand new roadbike is like ditching the old trusted pickup truck for a corvette).

The only drawback is that I'm extremely paranoid about getting a flat. I'm used to big, chunky tires that I can just plow my way through things.

Even so, I love my new bike and can't wait to start riding with a group and start working my way into some races. I'm not too concerned with the winning part yet, just the competition. Once my skill and fitness level goes up, then I'll start worrying about that and whether I need to upgrade.

Cool, congrats..... As for the flats, don't be paranoid because they WILL happen. Just be prepared and all is good. I was amazed at how easy it is to change a flat. Your LBS will show you how to fix it.. Or just do some research on the internet print off the instructions and throw them in your bike bag so you will have them when the time comes.

Welcome to a wonderful world.

I'm on my second roadie in 4 months (size/quality issues) and today I had to ride to my headquarters instead of my regional office. I used to ride to hq all the time on an mtb (front suspension/hardtail) and always found this short steep hill a pain. I'd get up it, but in a low gear and sweating like I was in bed with madonna.

But today on my roadie with clipless pedals and all, I strolled up on 110psi glory...

I do find I have to ride further to burn the same amount of calories though...