As a youth I wanted a 'racer.' I got a huge old-fashioned Raleigh with chainguard and 3 speed sturmey archer. I hated it.
When I went to college I fell out with a bus driver and bought a racer as a personal boycott of public transport. I can't remember the type - but it was a Carlton and it was blue. I used it pretty much daily for over 2 years, then it got nicked.
Then as a parent I had several bikes - culminating in a Carrera Vulcan mtb. I bought it because it was reduced and someone I trusted said it was a good buy.
Then cue some weight loss, change of lifestyle, and possibly a mid-life crisis. I did over 100 miles in a week on my mtb and decided I wanted a 'racer' again. I spent weeks on-line, on forums, and trying to convince my family. Have you seen how much racers cost? My car was cheaper!
I finally settled on a spec - I wanted alu frame, carbon forks and minimum tiagra groupset. I settled on two, Giant defy 2 or specialized allez elite. I liked the (blue) Giant. LBS strongly promoted the allez. I didn't agree with their sizing, but accepted their logic on the bike, so I bought an allez elite (red) pretty much unused from
ebay. 2000 miles and 6 months or thereby later and I absolutely love it. I don't know what a lighter bike, better wheels or higher level groupset feels like- but I doubt if I could possibly get any more enjoyment from it. I spend much of my life with other people, but on the bike I've found I really like my own company. Absolutely priceless. I'm already trying to work out how I can sneak a Tarmac past my family. Do you think if it was red any of them would notice???? !!!
