Shortly after school started, i found a cycling companion that lived in the same neighborhood - the discovery was unexpected and eventually we got closer together and we meet up daily before and after classes. Eventually the new found friend got curious about the road bikes i rode and decided to get one.
I got back into my bicycle hobby as soon as he was interested in getting a bike, i think we spent about a few weeks researching and going around stores. I shared with him a lot of my experiences and quite a lot of my opinions to persuade him into the right direction. He was very skeptical at first but eventually I got him to avoid spending money in the wrong direction. Right before he was about to spend some of his money on a bike he saw at a local bike shop, we went to our first swap meet together (sports basement).
We found his first bike which was exactly matching what he wanted to spend ~ about $300. It was quite the bargain for a nice entry-level bike. The components / wheels alone on the bike probably made up for the majority of the cost. He wanted a short bike so i guess this was the bike he wanted, especially for the price. The bike was a late model OCR compact in Blue from giant with a lot of modifications towards an ultegra / 600 grouppo mix. The fork was aluminum alloy so it was probably the 2004/2005 model. When i test rode the bike, it was responsive and had all the qualities i would look for in an entry-level bike. I made the decision for my friend to buy the bike right before a family had the opportunity to look at it, and no regrets i hope.
After a few weeks of enjoying his new bike, he then decided the bike was too small for him and he really wanted a bicycle he could be proud of riding. To me, this was the common behavior i see a lot with friends who test ride my racing style bikes. Eventually his mind was clouded with a lot of dream bikes on ebay and eventually he we were researching again. He seemed very interested in a carbon frame and was about to buy one again at a store before the swap meet ironically.
There were about 3 swap meets that day we went on october 2009; i drove from san jose to richmond to walnut creek and back (180miles). I went with my new friend and an old highschool peer. Everyone had their own things to look for except myself - since i really didn't know what i needed. There were a lot of great things going on our first stop in san jose; i got my steel bicycle i always wanted and it was one of the gems of that swapmeet. Being cautious about time, we quickly started moving to the next venue in richmond, east bay.
A lot of high hopes were set on this next location since it seemed to be very publicized. We got to the place about 15 minutes late and started to look. This second swap meet had more "retail" merchants than the previous one so things were more new and less bargain-able. After a few minutes there, i wasn't too interested in their selection - but my friend found his carbon frame that he wanted, a very nice Orbea orca for $500 that came with the fork and a free front derailleur. Shortly after getting the frame we just left towards that last destination in "walnut creek".
We got there earlier than the other two places and saw barely anything. So we went around inside the store that was hosting the event and learned more about the orca frame we just picked up. Some customer shared some nice comments about the frame while we waited for the sellers. After about half an hour we finally saw something useful - a set of mavic krysium wheels. We got the wheelset for under $50 and decided it was time to leave and head back to san jose to look for parts for the new bike we now needed to get parts for.
After the day was over, I probably spent about $300 - but i got my bike that was probably worth every penny. And my friend got his bike built for about $800 and it feels like one of those $2k+ bikes new. We'll be looking forward to the cow palace meet sometime this month and hopefully he will figure out what else he wants for his bike. The only problem i see now is that he got a frame a bit too big, and also a frame too small.
I just finished fixing up my bike last week and am very proud of it, now if i can get my ass off and actually ride it i can really enjoy it.
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