The Next Bike
While living in New York City during the height of COVID, I got the itch from a co-worker to start cycling and to begin training to do a triathlon. Bikes at the time were very hard to come by in The City. I called a few shops with no luck - I took a gamble and went to the local Trek shop, having grown up in a Trek household, and to my surprise, they had a bright pink (and I mean bright Pink) Emonda in stock that just happened to be in my size. At the time, I didn’t know there were bikes with electronic shifting or what an integrated cockpit was. I was just happy to have found a bike.
This Emonda was a great bike.. for about a week.. Until I found out that this was just the TIP of the iceberg. I went to the same local Trek shop and asked how long it would take to get one of the new Emondas I had watched YouTube videos about with electronic shifting, hidden cables, etc. Lucky for me, they had just gotten their Project One special-ordered floor room bike. Within minutes I had swapped out the Pink Panther for what, at the time, was my dream bike.
After training for a few months, I completed the sprint triathlon but in the process was left with a lot of swelling in my knee and a bruised ego as a 76-year-old lady FLEW by me in the cycling portion of the triathlon. I ended up offloading my “dream bike” Emonda as I was unable to ride for a while.
Fast forward a year or so, after having ridden a Madone and offloaded it due to a move, we ended up moving to NorCal and I made a few friends who all love riding. I told myself (and my lovely wife) that I would just get a used, reasonable bike and I landed a sweet Tarmac SL7 used on FaceBook.
This Tarmac was SWEET - but also just the tip of a brand new iceberg Within weeks I sold it (somehow made some money) and had worked a deal with my LBS for a new bike. I watched what felt like hundreds of YouTube videos deciding between an Aethos or the new Tarmac SL8 - the Aethos was beautiful in the limited edition Campagnolo collaboration with Specialized - I was smitten, but deep down I knew that this would not be my last bike (do you see a theme?) and that the new SL8 would hold its value better, and having just released was at the beginning of its product cycle.
Weighing in at just 15 lbs with pedals and computer mount, my new S-Works SL8 was (and is) a dream to ride. I was very happy with my decision, and thought I could finally settled down..until I was offered a good deal on an ENVE Melee. I had aspirations of riding gravel and road - and the Melee offered just that. While not as good as the Tarmac on … tarmac... With room for 35mm tires the Melee could be an all road, one bike solution for me. So I ordered the Melee, swapped over my components, and began riding.
After riding the Melee a few times and beating a few of my PRs on common segments (though this was mostly due to my overall fitness increasing). I thought I was set, and planned on buying a second wheelset for gravel.
My wife and I then went out of town for a month, and with no bike I was glued to the Tour de France. Watching Remco Evenpoel crush on his SL8 I knew I needed to give mine another shot before I moved on. I went to my LBS, had them swap the components over, and took it for a ride. I quickly remembered how insane this bike was.
So here I am… having had 3 bikes in nearly as many months (and nearly as many rides.. don’t check my Strava). I will still never turn down a YT video of the next super bike, and will always be plotting my next upgrade, but for now… the Tarmac SL8 is the bike of choice, and am looking into a separate gravel bike (though as J reminds me, I have never actually ridden gravel, so I shouldn’t base all of my life choices off of getting a gravel bike or road bike that can do gravel). Though I must admit, the new Aeroad looks sweet…
Join me (and us, as I drag J through my constant indecision) on this never-ending journey in my search for my next bike. Because, of course, the only thing more fun than riding a bike, is looking at new bikes.
