stickboybike

Selling the sausage with the sizzle. Best of a legs for the season guys! ----------------------------------------------- Will Mahler

Happy Holidays from our family to yours! ------------------------------------------------- Will Mahler

Era Ski & Bike in Lancaster, Pennsylvania handles a lot of high end frames/custom builds. Todd and Greg at Era have been building what the discerning cyclists needs, long before others have jumped on the high end road bike bandwagon. The other week, I popped in to say hello to Greg, see how their ski season is ramping up and drop off a stack of catalogs/literature. Greg was upstairs in Era's showroom discussing with a customer, her options regarding her next bike fit and custom build. Greg's moto is--if you're going to spend at least $3k for a bike, a custom fit/build is your best option. Nestled comfortably amongst their niche' brands are Bianchi Bicycles. 2009 brought dealers the B4P Mono-Q road bike. This bike falls in that $3k bracket and Greg and Todd are putting their own stamp on this model. The Mono-Q is a race ready bike with it's stock Ultegra SL groupo and Mavic wheel set. Era has add a bit of their own flavor and stripped and flipped the bike into

Shop owner Kirk, at Simplicity Cycles has a really unique Volpe which he uses as his commuter bike. 2009 Bianchi Volpe. Kirk removed the stock groupo and wheel set and installed Dura Ace components and a classic Mavic Open Pro hoops. His favorite Ritchey compact crank and Fizik Arione saddle round out the back half of the bike. Kirk will sell you on the benefits of a quality steel bike before putting you on a rough riding sub $1000 aluminum road bike. Steel is real to Simplicity Cycles. ------------------------------------------------- Dollar per dollar when comparing and selling similarly equipped low to sub-mid range road bikes; (one steel and the other aluminum) they'll weigh within a pound of each other. That pound is typically made up of the weight of the frame and the components--not so much the wheel set. A pound of non-rotational mass (bike minus wheels) isn't going to affect the average cyclists on a 1-2 hour road ride. A pound at the wheel set, you'll feel that