It’s All About the Bike

Today wasn’t about poker at all. It was all about the bike. I treated myself to a new bicycle, a 2007 Trek Madone SL 5.2, which is similar to the bike that Lance Armstrong and the Discovery team rode. Similar is the operative word. Discovery team rode $10,000 bikes. I got mine on sale for $2,150 at my local bike shop, which was a lot better deal than I was able to find online.

The bike retailed for about $3,200 in 2007 and the 2008 model sells for $3,600. The best I could do online was about $2,600 for a 2007 Trek Madone SL 5.2. But Palm Desert Cyclery had one in stock, and it was my size. The bike was painted with the Discovery Team colors and logo, and since the Discovery Team is no more, I guess I lucked into a great bike at a nice price. It is full carbon, with Shimano Ultegra SL drive train and Bontrager Race Lite wheels and tires.

The high performance carbon construction makes for a stiff, very responsive ride. The bike handles extremely well and is the best bike I’ve ever owned. I treated myself to a new pair of cycling shoes, and once they fitted me to the bike, I rode home from the bike shop and detoured to zip up a hill that previously felt like a lot more work than it did on the Trek.

The Madone in the picture is red. Mine’s blue with Discovery Team decals. That’s the only difference. Now that I’ve got this bike, the only additional performance differences I can make are to the rider. That’ll be the hard part.