My new bike comes in tomorrow! neener neener!

[J-Boogie]

I finally upgraded my 20 year old entry level Trek to a new Tarmac Expert SL4! I am so excited, the wait is kill in me! I don't really expect any measurable gains in performance, but expect to be more comfortable. The trek is a 56cm and everything points to me being a 54cm, so having a properly sized bike should be nice. I feel very anxious about scratching it or something, and also about having spent that amount of money, but I think I will feel better once I get the bike under me. Pics to come!

 

[bknaus]

Congrats on the new bike, definitely post pics! I recently upgraded from a 1987 Schwinn to a CAAD10 and it felt like taking the training wheels off. You're going to love it

 

[alienator]

I finally upgraded my 20 year old entry level Trek to a new Tarmac Expert SL4! I am so excited, the wait is kill in me! I don't really expect any measurable gains in performance, but expect to be more comfortable. The trek is a 56cm and everything points to me being a 54cm, so having a properly sized bike should be nice. I feel very anxious about scratching it or something, and also about having spent that amount of money, but I think I will feel better once I get the bike under me. Pics to come!

Excellent. Now it's time to put the last part of your screen name into action on the bike.

 

[J-Boogie]

The shop finished the build last night, and I took the first ride today. There is an unbelievable difference between my old bike and this one! The Tarmac is very smooth and just feels natural even at 30+mph. The whole power transfer thing is hard to describe, but I'll try. My old trek feels like what you get at the wheels is a rolling average of the effort put in, with no peaks or surges in speed, even during standing sprints. On the Tarmac, every little surge in effort at the cranks results in an immediate burst of acceleration. It really is remarkable.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by J-Boogie .

The shop finished the build last night, and I took the first ride today. There is an unbelievable difference between my old bike and this one! The Tarmac is very smooth and just feels natural even at 30+mph. The whole power transfer thing is hard to describe, but I'll try. My old trek feels like what you get at the wheels is a rolling average of the effort put in, with no peaks or surges in speed, even during standing sprints. On the Tarmac, every little surge in effort at the cranks results in an immediate burst of acceleration. It really is remarkable.

Posts like these tempt me to become a drug-dealer

You got any pics?

 

[J-Boogie]

I did my regular Tuesday evening ride for the first time on the Tarmac. There is a steep overpass near the end of the ride that we always sprint over. My previous best speed at the top was 27 MPH. Last night I led the charge into the sprint after an epic 8 mile pull at 22-24 mph. I reached a new best speed of 31mph at the top of the overpass. The change in bikes has to be at least partially responsible for this.

 

[alienator]

I did my regular Tuesday evening ride for the first time on the Tarmac. There is a steep overpass near the end of the ride that we always sprint over. My previous best speed at the top was 27 MPH. Last night I led the charge into the sprint after an epic 8 mile pull at 22-24 mph. I reached a new best speed of 31mph at the top of the overpass. The change in bikes has to be at least partially responsible for this.

In a small way it might be.

 

[vspa]

you seem like an enthusiast cyclist, why waited 20 years for a bike upgrade ? or at least partially, did you purchase new accessories for the old Trek, new wheels for example, better drivetrain, etc anyway congratulations on your new bike,

 

[J-Boogie]

My old bike wasn't "that bad", and I was keeping up with the people I wanted to ride with. The main factors in replacing the bike were the lack of parts availability in obsolete platforms and the fact that the frame was the wrong size.

 

[ShapeGSX]

Quote:Originally Posted by bknaus .
 Congrats on the new bike, definitely post pics! I recently upgraded from a 1987 Schwinn to a CAAD10 and it felt like taking the training wheels off. You're going to love it

 
I just upgraded from a 1988 Schwinn Tempo (Shimano 105) to a 2011 carbon fiber Giant TCR Composite 2. Dumping the training wheels is right.