In the Italian import bike thread, someone suggested I check out a
Perth triathlon club "bikes for sale" page, where there were a couple
of second hand bikes in my size.
Anyway, there was a Trek 2300 with 9sp Ultegra going quite cheap and I
went round to look at it. While the bike has a fair few cosmetic
blemishes it was in excellent mechanical condition and hasn't ever been
dropped, plus the seller also had one and a half spare Ultegra casettes
he was willing to throw in. I got it for $1,400, which is the same
price they usually trade at on ebay except I didn't pay any shipping
costs and was able to take it home straight away.
Anyway, I got the bike, it fits well, rides well, shifts well, is
almost ludicrously lightweight compared to what I've been riding around
on and is only a drink bottle heavier than a Madone.
When the supply of 9sp ultegra bits runs out maybe I'll upgrade to a
10sp with some of the half price boxed and unused components that go
all the time on ebay, or bit the bullet and buy them at recommended
retail.
In the mean time, I've finally gotten myself a more than half decent
bike, and the discussions of "is this bike I saw on ebay any good" are
now officially over.
:-)
Travis