With Ironman Santa Rosa on the horizon, it was time to be a big boy, get a real tri bike, and do it right.  Step #1, check out who sponsors Triclub San Diego and see if it makes sense to buy something from them.  Step #2, get a real fitting so that my 112 miles is as comfortable and performance tuned as possible.  Step #3, fall in love with a new two-wheel friend.  Step #4, go ride a lot.

Triclub San Diego sponsor Moment Bicycles was my first choice to visit.  Reason #1 was that they have a great selection of different tri bike brands.  Not something you find at your average bike shop.  Reason #2 was that they had a great computer fitting program where the cost of the fitting was credited against the cost of the bike if you bought the bike from them.

The fitting was a two-hour experience.  First, there were big adjustments.  Especially my adjustment to leaning over all the time in the aero bars as opposed to being more upright on my road bike handlebars.  My fitter asked me if he had it the way I like it.  I answered that I didn’t know because it was the first five minutes I had ever used aero bars!

Following the fitting, it was time to sample the cycles.  We started with the least expensive and worked our way up.  The initial trial run was on the Felt B Series.  An entry level bike with manual shifters on the aero bars.  It was reasonably comfortable, but the manual shifting on the aero bars was clunky.

Next was the classic Felt IA.  Much more expensive and again manual shifting.  Oddly, this ride was very rough and loud even though the price tag was a lot more.  There was nothing enjoyable about this experience.

My third pick was the wild card.  A Guru Chrono 401.  An expensive bike when it came out, but heavily discounted since Guru went out of business.  Thus the wild card status.  No warranty.  The ride was perfect and the big bonus was Shimano Di 2 electric shifting.  Touch a button and magic shifting happens!  No cranking down on the manual shifters plus shifting buttons both on the aero bars AND on the handlebars!

The other bikes available with Shimano Di 2 electric shifting were at least $3,000 more.  My mind was made up and I rationalized this purchase by doing the math which said I was getting the whole bike for the price of the Shimano Di 2 shifting.  Not a bad deal and the ride was awesome!

Home it came and behold there was one more steed added to the herd.