Christmas Wish List

[altiain]

Nice bike, TC! I assume that one is for the velodrome?

Richardson Bike Mart is a pretty good local bike store.

[tailchaser]

Fancy. Are there any good local places to buy a bicycle? GF is thinking about getting into riding. I have an old GT aluminum frame mountain bike I need to have sent back from CA as well.

There are several GREAT shops in the area... What kind of riding is she thinking about?

Performance Bike in Plano/Dallas has some great bargains and they have OK technicians in their shops. If she's going to mountain bike, they actually have some pretty nice options on the floor. Women's road bikes are pretty hit or miss - and I'm pretty sure she'll need a women-oriented frame (legs longer than torso). They're all Fuji (nothing wrong with that), but size selection is limited. I ride a Fuji. Bought it because it rode better than the other bikes I was looking at. Didn't hurt that it was also $800 cheaper for the same component group...

BikeMart in Richardson has everything. In quantity. If you've never been, go. But don't expect personal service if you walk in between now and Christmas. It's a madhouse. If you've just inherited some $$$ they have some SUPERB deals on 2008 Colnagos and Cerevlo SLC-SLs... But be prepared to turn in your team CB card if Sam let you keep it when you bought a British car...

[tailchaser]

Nice bike, TC! I assume that one is for the velodrome?

Richardson Bike Mart is a pretty good local bike store.

That's correct... I've been really surprised to discover that riding in circles on a bicycle is a whole lot more interesting than driving in circles... I'm also hoping to use it to hone my traffic skills to make road racing a little less intimidating for 2010...

[sammm]

Nice bike, TC! I assume that one is for the velodrome?

+1...Sweet bike! You get a pointy helmet yet?

[tailchaser]

+1...Sweet bike! You get a pointy helmet yet?

No no no... The pointy hats are for these!!!!

http://feltracing.com/09-catalog/tim...ies/09-da.aspx

[CosmosMpower]

Nice bike, TC! I assume that one is for the velodrome?

Richardson Bike Mart is a pretty good local bike store.

I actually went to their Frisco location. Seems like pretty high end stuff but nice people. The cheapest one the sales guy showed me was a $750 Trek. Probably had to do with the sales guy seeing me drive up in the Lotus but he was pretty knowledgable. Not sure if they carry anything lower end than Trek/Specialized but it didn't seem like it. Also not sure if a mountain bike will fit in the Mini with 1 wheel removed via quick release.

Don't want something that's crap (walmart bike) but don't really want to spend anything more than 300-400. Don't need fancy component shocks, top of the line Shimano gears etc. Just something for sidewalks, some light trail riding.

[tailchaser]

Go to Performance. They'll have what you're looking for. The Richardson store also has a lot of "city" bikes in varying stages of hip. But they're closer to $700...

$750 road bikes are about as cheap as they get. You don't want a $750 road bike unless it's used. The Fuji sammm (and its Specialized cousin, the Allez) has are about the minimum price of entry for new bikes at around $1100.

I'm trying to sound logical and helpful, but I think that public awareness that I recently spent $1400 for a bike with only 1 gear, no freewheel and no brakes may not help my case...

[CosmosMpower]

I recently spent $1400 for a bike with only 1 gear, no freewheel and no brakes may not help my case...

That sounds about on par with a fiberglass clam for $4,000 on the list of "best deals of the century".

[altiain]

I spent close to $2k on my last mountain bike, but I've had the current one for almost a decade (I used ot buy a new bike every other year, then I started autocrossing...) I'm partial to Specialized when it comes to MTBs, but both Trek and Specialized make good products.

Crap bikes aren't a bad place to start, if she's not sure exactly how much she's going to use it. I bought myself a crap Wally World mountain bike back when I turned 21 because I thought I'd like to give the sport a try, but I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars to decide I didn't like it. I bought my first "real" bike about four months later, but I was glad I'd bought a $150 crap bike first.

Keep looking around. We bought Melissa an entry level Trek MTB a few years ago for around $350, iirc. It's a hardtail with a rigid fork, but it's just fine for what she uses it for (paved trails and some light offroad riding), and it requires a lot less maintenance than my full-suspension rig.

[MadMerv]

back to the topic.........

I want someone to buy my white elephant!

[jrj512]

I want someone to buy my white elephant!

If you want to sell it, then you have to mention that the garage is proven to hold 12 Miatas! (Edit: Looks like you edited your post and beat me to it.)



As for me, I just want to be loved. Is that so wrong?

[TurboDuane]

That's why you should ask for a beater to drive in bad weather. I haven't washed the Elise in a month and it's squeaky clean. Just a quick dust off and some quick detailer between drives.

I'm not asking for much, pretty happy with what I have.

If I wanted a beater, I'd have a Lotus, which in-turn would require a daily driver. Personally, I prefer to drive my fun car every day

[CosmosMpower]

If I wanted a beater, I'd have a Lotus, which in-turn would require a daily driver. Personally, I prefer to drive my fun car every day

I guarantee you my daily driver is more fun than your fun car. It's about to get a lot more fun with 300 whp over Christmas.

Comptech s/c S2000>NC

[Dave04]

back to the topic.........

I want someone to buy my white elephant!

Does it come with all those Miatas?

[altiain]

I guarantee you my daily driver is more fun than your fun car. It's about to get a lot more fun with 300 whp over Christmas.

Comptech s/c S2000>NC

Cosmos, have you driven a Comptech S2k? I've driven a couple, and I haven't been impressed with them at all. The one big thing an S2000 lacks is low end torque, and the Comptech blower doesn't do anything to alleviate this problem. It may make big dyno numbers, but all of the gains come at the extreme top end of the power band, so the real world acceleration doesn't actually improve that much.

Your mileage may vary. Personally, I couldn't see spending the money on a Comptech kit.

[CosmosMpower]

Cosmos, have you driven a Comptech S2k? I've driven a couple, and I haven't been impressed with them at all. The one big thing an S2000 lacks is low end torque, and the Comptech blower doesn't do anything to alleviate this problem. It may make big dyno numbers, but all of the gains come at the extreme top end of the power band, so the real world acceleration doesn't actually improve that much.

Your mileage may vary. Personally, I couldn't see spending the money on a Comptech kit.

Yep, I agree that you're right for the most part but I wouldn't say extreme top end. It generally starts making power from 5500-9000 which is where the car's natural powerband is. It does feel noticably faster though and the numbers back it up. A similar setup Vortech car (300 whp, 180 wtq) just ran in the 12's @ 112+ mph. That's a big improvement over 14.0 @ 100. I'm not paying anywhere near the $5,500 sticker for the kit either.

[altiain]

Yep, I agree that you're right for the most part but I wouldn't say extreme top end. It generally starts making power from 5500-9000 which is where the car's natural powerband is. It does feel noticably faster though and the numbers back it up. A similar setup Vortech car (300 whp, 180 wtq) just ran in the 12's @ 112+ mph. That's a big improvement over 14.0 @ 100. I'm not paying anywhere near the $5,500 sticker for the kit either.

Interesting - all of the published numbers I've seen on the Comptech kit put the 1/4 mile in the high 13s, only a couple of tenths quicker than a stock S2k. I know I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference in acceleration over stock in the couple of Comptech'ed AP1s I've driven.

I'd be interested in seeing a link to the Vortech car that ran 12s to see what other supporting mods he had.

[icepenguin66]

I'm hope to get a suppressor for my new NFA machine gun!

Realisticaly, going to replace strut mounts, inner tie rod and maybe the shocks.

[tailchaser]

Finally got to take my Christmas toy to the track on Monday... And going back tonight for a structured club workout... I hear the PoP (Probability of Puke™) is about 90%, so I guess it's the gift that keeps on giving!

[Dave04]

I hear the PoP (Probability of Puke™) is about 90%, so I guess it's the gift that keeps on giving!

You know, you keep trying to make cycling sound fun, but somehow you keep missing the mark...