They're Here

My bikes, they finally arrived on Tuesday. “They’ll be ready Thursday,” Paulo had said, Paulo from Julio Bicycle, so I picked them up yesterday. When I first walked in--after having left the office at 2:30 as I could no longer contain my enthusiasm--I stepped up to the counter with a ridiculous grin on my face and said hello to Willey.

“I’m here to pick up my bikes,” I said. “The Jamis bikes.”

Willey frowned. “What bikes?”

As I opened my mouth to inhale, ready to inform Willey that he and his colleagues did indeed have a pair of Jamis bikes somewhere in his shop, fully assembled and waiting for your truly, Willey then nodded, smiled, and pointed toward the other side of the shop. “Right over there.”

I turned, my eyes immediately focusing in on my brand-spanking new 2007 Jamis Xenith Comp, its carbon fiber frame a beautiful mix of black and chrome, the Shimano 105 drive train calling my name, begging me to shift, the Easton handle bars and carbon fiber seat post waving hello, and finally, the Selle San Marco Ponza saddle, all but ready to support my monkey-thin butt cheeks.

Grabbing the stem and the saddle, I lifted the bike a few inches off the floor, testing its weight. While not as light as a $5,000 Cervelo, my new Jamis was considerably lighter than the aluminum Giant I’ve been riding the past nine months.

Taking a deep breath and returning the bike to the floor, I thought, I haven’t been this excited in a long time.

Just behind the new road bike stood the new mountain bike, a grey-framed Dakar XCR Comp with R-Seven fork, Fox shock, Avid Juicy 3 disc brakes, Shimano XT rear derailleur, Mavic wheels, and Maxxis knobbies. Since I know so little about mountain bikes--and road bikes, too, now that I’m thinking about it--that’s about as much as I can tell you.

After paying Willey & Paulo for their services rendered, I returned home, stashed the mountain bike in my bedroom, and carried the new road bike to the basement where I began transferring the water bottle cage, pedals, and frame pump from the Giant to the Xenith. Finished, I was running up the stairs when I happened to glance out the window to see snow falling.

How’s that for bad luck? On the same damn day I bring home a pair of new bikes, it begins to snow outside. Could my timing have been any lousier?

Screw it, I thought, continuing to change into my riding gear. If it doesn’t stop snowing by the time I’m ready to go, I’ll just sit by the window and wait until it does stop.

Fortunately, the snow quit by the time I pulled on my jacket, so I carried the new bike down the front steps, threw a leg over the frame, clipped in my right foot, and took off.

Twenty feet later, I stopped. The saddle was much too low, so removing my trusty allen key from my pocket, I pulled the seat post up about two inches, tightened the bolts, and got back on--perfect.

Well, not perfect. The Giant I had been riding was technically a “sports touring” bike, while the Jamis is more of a racing bike, meaning my butt feels a lot farther back than it did on the Giant. That’s fine as it pushes me into a more aerodynamic position, although it took a few minutes to get comfortable with the new feel.

Ultimately, though, the new bike is a huge change for the better. Considering the drive train is all 105 (except the rear derailleur, which is an Ultegra . . . did I say that already?), it shifts a hell of a lot smoother than the shifting I’ve been doing. The brakes are 105s too, so that’s a huge improvement. The bike’s lighter, but it also feels lighter when climbing and it feels just as good as the aluminum frame did during the few sprints I put together while out on the road yesterday.

And that’s it. I’ve only spent a little over an hour on the new bitch, but so far, so good.

Tomorrow, granted it doesn’t snow (goddam f#cking snow--see my previous post, Enough Already), I’m expecting Mr. Picco to arrive here in Pleasantville for a few hours of mountain biking in Graham Hills Park, which is only 2-3 miles from my place.

Did I miss anything? No, I think that’s it. Another fantastically boring post for you.