JayC
08-13-2006, 12:09 AM
When I decided to start riding road bikes again, I went to all the local bike shops and looked at their offerings, talked to everyone I knew that rode and basically asked a lot of questions to both the individuals and the shops. I pretty much figured out right off the bat that I couldn't afford to just plunk down the money needed to buy the bike I wanted with the component set, etc. With that in mind, I started watching Ebay for bikes that were A) My size and B) Had the group set I wanted.
A few months ago I finally hit upon a 2003 Basso Devil with a full Ultegra group. I ended up winning the auction and got the bike in a couple of days. Overall, I was happy with my choice except that I wasn't overly thrilled with the ride. The Basso didn't have carbon seat stays and on anything less than perfect pavement, it was a bit of a rough ride.
I started looking around for another frame to transplant the groupset, wheels, etc to. I pretty much went back to square 1 and talked to bike shops, read stuff online, asked questions, etc and once again, came away more confused than I started. I narrowed my choices to either a Pedal Force or Blue frame. Finally, I settled on a Pedal Force frame. I started hunting around Raleigh for a shop to build the frame and just when I had everything lined up, a monkey wrench got thrown in my plans.
Seems that the Pedal Force has a "recommended weight limit" of about 225lbs. I'm about 230lbs. I asked Pedal Force's advice on the frame and they advised me against ordering it. That pretty much threw me back to the Blue. Looking on Blue's website, I saw there was a dealer in Sanford that carried the Blue. I called them and they had a built up Blue on the floor so I drove up and took the bike for a spin. After riding it up and down the road and comparing it to a couple of other bikes they had there, I took the plunge.
The photos below are the result.
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue1.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue2.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue3.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue4.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue5.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue6.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue7.jpg
And here's the specs:
Frame: Blue RC4 (Carbon with aluminum lugs)
Fork - Aerus Composite Fork
Headset - Aerus Integrated
Groupset - Shimano Ultegra
Bars - Aerus Carbon C4 Road Bars
Stem - Aerus C4SQ Carbon Stem
Saddle - Terry Fly Ti
Pedals - Speedplay X5
Wheels - Mavic Cosmic Elite
Tires - Michelin ProRace 2
Computer - Polar CS200CAD
I've been riding the bike in various forms for a few weeks and changing components out as I go. I think Im about finally done with the bike as the only thing I want to change out down the road is perhaps the seat post. Have to get the matching Aerus one to go with everything else :)
Overall Im very pleased with the bike. The ride is superb and the bike climbs like crazy and is extremely stable on downhills. My one complaint, if there has to be one is that the bike is extremely sensitive to crosswinds and you can get blown around a bit. That's probably more the rider's fault than the bike.
Anyone looking for a carbon bike owes it to themselves to go ride a Blue before buying anything else. The only dealer around Raleigh for the Blue is Storm Endurance Products in Sanford. Inside Out Sports is listed as a dealer but I believe they only deal in the tri bike.
A few months ago I finally hit upon a 2003 Basso Devil with a full Ultegra group. I ended up winning the auction and got the bike in a couple of days. Overall, I was happy with my choice except that I wasn't overly thrilled with the ride. The Basso didn't have carbon seat stays and on anything less than perfect pavement, it was a bit of a rough ride.
I started looking around for another frame to transplant the groupset, wheels, etc to. I pretty much went back to square 1 and talked to bike shops, read stuff online, asked questions, etc and once again, came away more confused than I started. I narrowed my choices to either a Pedal Force or Blue frame. Finally, I settled on a Pedal Force frame. I started hunting around Raleigh for a shop to build the frame and just when I had everything lined up, a monkey wrench got thrown in my plans.
Seems that the Pedal Force has a "recommended weight limit" of about 225lbs. I'm about 230lbs. I asked Pedal Force's advice on the frame and they advised me against ordering it. That pretty much threw me back to the Blue. Looking on Blue's website, I saw there was a dealer in Sanford that carried the Blue. I called them and they had a built up Blue on the floor so I drove up and took the bike for a spin. After riding it up and down the road and comparing it to a couple of other bikes they had there, I took the plunge.
The photos below are the result.
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue1.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue2.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue3.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue4.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue5.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue6.jpg
http://www.ctrl-alt-l33t.com/pics/newbike/blue7.jpg
And here's the specs:
Frame: Blue RC4 (Carbon with aluminum lugs)
Fork - Aerus Composite Fork
Headset - Aerus Integrated
Groupset - Shimano Ultegra
Bars - Aerus Carbon C4 Road Bars
Stem - Aerus C4SQ Carbon Stem
Saddle - Terry Fly Ti
Pedals - Speedplay X5
Wheels - Mavic Cosmic Elite
Tires - Michelin ProRace 2
Computer - Polar CS200CAD
I've been riding the bike in various forms for a few weeks and changing components out as I go. I think Im about finally done with the bike as the only thing I want to change out down the road is perhaps the seat post. Have to get the matching Aerus one to go with everything else :)
Overall Im very pleased with the bike. The ride is superb and the bike climbs like crazy and is extremely stable on downhills. My one complaint, if there has to be one is that the bike is extremely sensitive to crosswinds and you can get blown around a bit. That's probably more the rider's fault than the bike.
Anyone looking for a carbon bike owes it to themselves to go ride a Blue before buying anything else. The only dealer around Raleigh for the Blue is Storm Endurance Products in Sanford. Inside Out Sports is listed as a dealer but I believe they only deal in the tri bike.