I had a 4 month old Ridley Helium and a 5 year old Tarmac stolen a couple of weeks ago. I had just had a set of Stan's Alpha-340 rims built with Campy Record hubs and Sapim CX-Ray spokes, and did my 4th ride on those before they were stolen along with the Ridley. That's obviously the bad news. Here's a pic:
The good news is that the Tarmac was a trade-in acquisition and thus didn't have much input cost, and the Ridley was a closeout special. Thus, homeowner's insurance will cover replacement costs which is far more than purchase price. The Tarmac was my old bike which was being ridden by my 15 year-old son who is interested in doing some racing.
So, now we're dreaming a bit as we await a check for possibly around $9-10K from the insurance company. I already purchased a Ridley Orion frame on eBay for just $699, an awesome deal for a light carbon frame with "spring classic" geometry--perfect for my area. That should leave us quite a bit left over for components/wheels, a second or third or fourth bike, etc.
Option 1:
Build the Orion for me with SRAM Red and build a set of Zipp, Reynolds or Edge rims with Powertap hub on the rear and DT or Chris King hub on the front. I had Campy on the Helium, but had a bit of trouble getting parts/service at my LBS so Red would be the wiser choice.
Replace my son's Tarmac with an aluminum frame like the Cervelo S1 with some sexy wheels to make him happy. I would like to do the same type of rim for both bikes so we can switch back and forth without changing brake pads if we go with all carbon for example.
Buy a cross bike for commuting and farting around town. Maybe re-create the Stan's tubeless wonders for this bike?
Option 2:
Build the Orion for my son as described above (he and I are about the same size, height-wise. Weight-wise, not so much).
Get the "dream bike" for me. I demo'ed a Pinarello Prince at Competitive Cyclist last year and left long streams of drool all over the roads in Little Rock.
Buy a cross bike as described above, although maybe a little less expensive version.
Option 3:
Build the Orion for me or my son, and get another similarly less expensive but good racing type frame, then spend the leftovers on a few sets of really cool wheels, and maybe still get a cross bike and even an upgrade over my 1990 Chinese mountain bike.
I think the first step in all this will be to build up the Orion and see what I think about it. I loved the Helium but don't really need a climbing bike so I think I'll absolutely love the Orion. No way to know until I ride it, though.
I'm also liking the idea of an aluminum (aluminium for my friends back in the UK) frame for racing at my son's level. He is dreaming of an S3 or maybe Scott Addict, but I've seen the way he rides and I'm thinking some sort of metal...
Anyway, sorry about the novel. It helps to dream out loud. Feedback or co-dreaming is definitely welcome.
The good news is that the Tarmac was a trade-in acquisition and thus didn't have much input cost, and the Ridley was a closeout special. Thus, homeowner's insurance will cover replacement costs which is far more than purchase price. The Tarmac was my old bike which was being ridden by my 15 year-old son who is interested in doing some racing.
So, now we're dreaming a bit as we await a check for possibly around $9-10K from the insurance company. I already purchased a Ridley Orion frame on eBay for just $699, an awesome deal for a light carbon frame with "spring classic" geometry--perfect for my area. That should leave us quite a bit left over for components/wheels, a second or third or fourth bike, etc.
Option 1:
Build the Orion for me with SRAM Red and build a set of Zipp, Reynolds or Edge rims with Powertap hub on the rear and DT or Chris King hub on the front. I had Campy on the Helium, but had a bit of trouble getting parts/service at my LBS so Red would be the wiser choice.
Replace my son's Tarmac with an aluminum frame like the Cervelo S1 with some sexy wheels to make him happy. I would like to do the same type of rim for both bikes so we can switch back and forth without changing brake pads if we go with all carbon for example.
Buy a cross bike for commuting and farting around town. Maybe re-create the Stan's tubeless wonders for this bike?
Option 2:
Build the Orion for my son as described above (he and I are about the same size, height-wise. Weight-wise, not so much).
Get the "dream bike" for me. I demo'ed a Pinarello Prince at Competitive Cyclist last year and left long streams of drool all over the roads in Little Rock.
Buy a cross bike as described above, although maybe a little less expensive version.
Option 3:
Build the Orion for me or my son, and get another similarly less expensive but good racing type frame, then spend the leftovers on a few sets of really cool wheels, and maybe still get a cross bike and even an upgrade over my 1990 Chinese mountain bike.
I think the first step in all this will be to build up the Orion and see what I think about it. I loved the Helium but don't really need a climbing bike so I think I'll absolutely love the Orion. No way to know until I ride it, though.
I'm also liking the idea of an aluminum (aluminium for my friends back in the UK) frame for racing at my son's level. He is dreaming of an S3 or maybe Scott Addict, but I've seen the way he rides and I'm thinking some sort of metal...
Anyway, sorry about the novel. It helps to dream out loud. Feedback or co-dreaming is definitely welcome.
