Update May 2008: I won first in my age group at my most recent triathlon race on this bike. I still love this bike and it still serves me well. I was talking with my brother recently and he told me he bought a training road bike for about $1000. After a few months, it started falling apart because the components were cheap. This 2005 Specialized Dolce elite has held up well for 6100 miles. I ride it hard, sometimes on rough roads (not by choice, but sometimes I just find myself on one!). I have gone over speed bumps, railroad tracks and even potholes (sometimes I am tired at the end of my long rides and am not paying attention – very bad of me!). This bike is light yet rock solid.

Update 10/14/07: I continue to smoke the bike course at races on this bike! My bike split was second in my age group for my most recent race; and the woman whose bike time beat mine is way faster than anyone else (she should really be racing elite!). I still love this bike after two years and 5000 miles. Replaced the tires twice. I added aero bars and replaced the rear cassette and the chain. I ride this bike hard and it doesn’t let me down. Here’s a picture of me on the bike at my latest race.

Update 7/11/06: I did my third race on this bike and I rocked with an average speed of 21 mph in rolling hills! My bike split was 3rd fastest in my age group. I think it’s really cool that I am doing so well on this bike, that cost me less money than a set of Zip wheels! šŸ˜€

Update 6/15/06: I did my first race on this bike and I rocked with an average speed of 20 mph! A veteran triathlon friend of mine looked at my splits and his comment was “Biking is obviously your strength”. šŸ˜€

Original Post, November 1, 2005:
I bought a new bike. It’s a Specialized Dolce Elite. I test rode this bike over the summer but wasn’t yet ready to spend $1300 on a bike. My local bike shop had a sale last week and so I bought it. I also bought road shoes, clipless pedals, and a cateye computer with cadence meter.

Link to Bike at the Specialized Site:
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=13170

It’s a very comfortable ride. Not ever having a cadence meter before, I had no idea what kind of cadence I was riding at. I was pleased to see that 80rpms felt very natural to me, tho on hills it did drop to 50. I have room for improvement there. I was dissappointed that my average speed was the same over the same course as with my old bike (14 mph on rolling hills). I thought switching from a mountain bike to a road bike would mean an automatic increase in speed of at least a couple of miles per hour. I’m hoping it’s just learning curve on the new bike šŸ™

One thing that bothers me is that the chain rubs in the derailer when in certain gears. I took it back to the bike shop and asked them if that was normal. They said that on a 27 speed bike, that the chain will rub the derailer when in the extreme gears. They said this is just a function of geomtry and that it’s normal. It made sense to me, but I’m going to ask my brother just to be sure they aren’t trying to pull the wool over my eyes!

Update: Here’s my brother’s reply to my chain rubbing question:

    Yes, rubbing is normal. You don’t ever use all of the rear gears for a given
    front gear. In fact, trying to do so is not good for the chain. Even if it
    doesn’t obviously rub, the chain is at an extreme angle, so it’s rubbing
    against itself.
    Speaking of which, go out and by a chain cleaner. It’s a little tool used to clean the chain. And a chain cleaning brush, and a bottle of degreaser and a
    bottle of good chain lube. Now that you have a decent bike with shiny gears,
    you’re going to want it to be clean! Clean chain = less friction = faster
    bike!