New Bike

I purchased a new (to me) bike today. Its a 2007 Specialized Enduro Elite, and its a green color. Here are some of the basic specs:

SRAM X9 Shifters
SRAM X9 Rear Dérailleur
Shimano LX Front Dérailleur
Avid Juicy Five Hydraulic Breaks
Fox DHX Air 4.0 Rear Shock
Fox Float RL Front Shock
Trutativ Sylo Cranks
Enduro Bars with Mid-Sweep
Specialized Wheels and Tires

It was a very difficult decision, particularly in light of how carefully I research purchases and the fact that I don't have the luxury of having a stable of bikes.

There were a couple of reasons I decided on the Enduro generally. First, I enjoy and respect the Specialized brand from my experience with my FSR. Also, I wanted my new bike to be a shade more "all-mountain," as opposed to exclusively XC. Which is to say I wanted something with more front and rear travel, both to eat up the bigger bumps and allow me to take technical sections with more speed and greater ease than a shorter-travel XC bike would.

My concern with any all mountain bike was the weight. My climbing woes are well documented here, and I had no intention of shuttling every ride I do from now on, so whatever bike I decided to purchase had to at least not penalize me in the climbs. From all of my research, indications seemed to be that the Enduro was a more than adequate climber and the bike itself would not be a hindrance to my progression as a climber. (My general fitness, strength, time riding, and attitude would still be a factor however. No bike can magically fix those things...)

I had been combing ebay, craigslist, the STR marketplace, and even the MTBR classifieds for weeks, looking for bargains and bikes that would fit my criteria.

Back in early March, I saw an ad on CL from a guy in Alpine selling a 2007 Enduro that he said had only been ridden twice. He was asking $1,900. I emailed him and asked for pictures of the bike and detailed specs, which were not included in his ad. He wrote back and promised to send pictures and additional info, but never did. I shot him a follow up, never heard back, and forgot about it.

Then earlier this week I saw the same ad posted up to Craigslist. I once again emailed the guy and asked for details and pictures. The next few days were a frustrating series of annoying, incomplete emails back and forth with repeated attempts on my part to solicit basic info about the bike. Details trickled out; it had front and rear Fox shocks, Juicy brakes, and was essentially brand new.

Then came the emails trying to make an appointment with the guy to see this mystery bike. I emailed him to see if I could see it before my LBA meeting on Wednesday. He didn't get back to me until Thursday.

But then an interesting series of events transpired that made the whole thing come together. First, I realized that Rachel and I had agreed to help a friend of hers move from her home in Alpine yesterday, which turned out to be mere blocks from where the bike-guy lived. Then Friday afternoon, the guy finally emailed me a picture, enabling me to see most of the components for myself. After that, I finally got the guy to email me his phone number, and I made an appointment to see it Saturday morning before we helped with the move.

Friday evening I even pulled out some cash from the savings account after depositing my paycheck while waiting for haircut. Things were coming together nicely.

When Rachel and I arrived at the guy's house on Saturday morning, and the first thing we noticed was the neighborhood. The homes were nice. Really nice. Huge, gated homes, with massive yards and views almost to the ocean. The guy obviously had money.

We were buzzed in to the driveway from the gated entry to his home, and were met by a couple of kids that looked to be about high school age. Turns out that one of them was the guy selling the bike. It was then clear why getting information and communicating had been such a hassle.

The bike itself was next to the garage, and it looked really nice. The first thing I did was lift it, and it seemed pretty light, especially considering the full suspension. I took it for a spin around the kid's massive front yard, and it shifted well, rode smooth, and felt pretty good. I did notice as I rode it around that it didn't have a big ring in the front. Instead, it had a middle and granny ring, and a bash guard. That threw me a little, since I didn't think Enduros were specifically set up for downhilling. But I have literally never used the big ring on my FSR, so this development was far from a deal breaker.

As I continued to give the bike a once over, I noticed a fairly good scrape on the top tube, but other than that, the bike was pristine. Apparently the scratch had come from taking it off the bike rack. The kid said he had only ridden it twice, and I believed him. The chain grease was still new.

I had done quick research night before, and saw that Enduro Comps were selling for around $1300+shipping on ebay. Craigslists around the country put them between $1500 and $1700.

I began with an offer of $1400, essentially starting low with a willingness to go up a little from there. The kid went inside, asked his dad, and came back to tell me that his dad wasn't willing to take any less than $1700. I wasn't sure it was worth that. I heard that new 2007 Enduros had been blown out of bike shops in December and January for as low as $1500. I couldn't pay $1700 for a used one with no warranty.

We left, and decided to sleep on it. We left kid's house and went to help Rachel's friend with her move. I thought about the bike all day Saturday, and was genuinely uncertain. It was in great condition, and pretty close to exactly what I was looking for. When I got home that night, I did some more research online and saw that the Enduros with the Elite trim were selling for much more than the Comp trims that I had been comparing it to. At that point, I began thinking that $1700 wasn't so bad, especially since the thing was basically new. But I still wasn't sure, and really wanted to avoid making a bad decision.

I went to bed Saturday night without a clear sense of what to do. I prayed about it for a while as I laid there, and my thoughts seemed to crystallize. I actually felt like I received some leading.

I got back out of bed and composed fairly long email to the kid. I detailed my reservations regarding the scratch and the lack of warranty, and offered him $1600. I said in the email that I'd pick it up the next day (today) if he agreed. I hit send around 11:30 PM, and was at total peace with the decision. The bike was clearly worth $1600. Its parts alone were worth more than that. If he went for it, I had a great bike for a good deal. If he didn't, then I guess this wasn't the bike for me.

I wasn't sure he'd respond to the email, particularly given his spotty communication over the past week, but I was determined not to stress about it any more. If he responded, great. If not, I was done chasing him down. I went to sleep with a calm spirit.

We got up for church the next morning, and it was actually Rach that went over and checked my phone to see if he had emailed back. Much to my surprise, there was an email in my inbox from him that had arrived at 6:10 that morning. He had accepted my offer. We had a deal.

His email said that he was playing golf in all morning, and that he would call me when he was done, probably around midday. Things seemed to be coming together nicely, and I felt good about the price and decision to go for it.

On the way to church, Billy called me. I had called and left a message for him the day before, asking for his thoughts, and he hadn't gotten back to me. Now, after I had a deal, he called me back. He wasn't totally sold on the Enduro, and said that it was pretty heavy. I had lifted it, and it felt lighter than the FSR, so I wasn't sure about that. I knew it wasn't going to be as light as a Blur or Yeti, but his reaction had me a little apprehensive. He did say that it was a good jump up from the FSR, and that it was a quality bike that would make me a better rider.

We went to church, and afterwards met up with Adam and Pamella to have lunch with them and Joel and Nichole so that Adam and Joel could talk about the CHP Academy. Just as we were wrapping up lunch, the kid who owned the bike called and said he was home. We picked it up a half hour later, and I was the proud owner of a new bike.

I had a little buyers remorse later that night, when Billy kept sending me other bikes on CL that he liked better. I didn't like them better, but it made me nervous about my (rather large) purchase. I wasn't sure, even after all the research and contemplation, that I had done the right thing. I guess time will tell.

If I had it to do over again, I think I'd test ride a bunch of bikes to get a better feel for how different bikes feel. I'd never even ridden an Enduro before I bought this one, so my frame of reference was pretty minimal.

[EDIT] I didn't have time to ride it Sunday night or Monday evening, but I did make it over to LPQ finally on Tuesday night for an initial ride. And my doubts increased. A lot. At least I didn't sell the FSR...

[EDIT #2] Then I rode Noble. All is right with the world.