5.03.2011

Cheapest race bike ever?

Can you successfully get through a triathlon season riding a $150 Target road bike? I'm about to find out.

Thanks to what can definitely be labeled one of the worst dentist visits EVER last week, I found out I will have to have a whole bunch of super fun dental work done in the next 2-3 months. Dental work is not cheap. In fact, it costs several thousand dollars. So do Cervelo bikes. Guess which one gets the money? If you guessed dentist, you are correct!!!

Therefore, I am embarking upon an experiment. I'm still rather new to triathlon, and my bike skills are shaky to say the least. I already knew I wasn't ready for a tri bike, but I was hoping to go in with a used higher end road bike. With last week's money sucking dental discoveries, I bit the bullet and purchased a brand new bike off amazon (which I originally found on target.com), that's a tad heavy, and a whole lot cheap.

This weekend, a GMC Denali Road Bike will be delivered to my house. While I am running the Indy Mini-Marathon, my husband will attempt to put this bike together for me. When I return on Saturday, I will hopefully get to take it out for a spin. And this will be my bike for this tri season. It's gold. It has some Shimano stuff. It has great reviews on Amazon.
The GMC Denali Road Bike

We're going to find out if I can have a successful race season on a $150 Target bike, folks. Let the fun begin!

In other news, I am racing my fourth half marathon this weekend - the Indy Mini Marathon!!! I am SO excited for this race. My goal is 2:14:59 or less time wise. I have no idea if I can do it, but I am going to try. If you are super bored and want live updates on my progress Saturday, go sign up to receive alerts about my progress - you can get a time update from four points along the course to see if I am actually close to achieving my goal. You have to sign up by Friday though if you want the updates. Click here and fill out the bottom part of the form on the page. Search for Michelle Newman Brady - that's me :-) (and if any of you actually do follow me, thanks - that is super sweet - but in no way am I actually expecting anyone beyond my husband to actually do this!!!)

In tri news, I have some exciting stuff coming up. I'll keep you posted on a big announcement once everything is in place.

Also, I have a giveaway coming up soon! I've never done one before, so I am a bit pumped about that.

Thanks for reading - we're about to start having some real fun pretty soon!!!!!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Its not about the bike, its about the engine that pedals that bike!! :)

Christi said...

I have to second what Kristin said!

Good luck this weekend!

M said...

Thank you so much, ladies!!!!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

After looking at the bike, I think, once you ready, we can shed weight from it to make it faster and it might be cheaper to keep the frame and upgrade little by little on it.

M said...

BDD, I was totally going to recruit you to "pimp my ride", so I am glad you volunteered before I had to beg :-D

Anonymous said...

I'm watching you...

;)

Can't wait to hear about your first run on the bike!

-D

Unknown said...

I think sub-2:15 is well within reach for you. Plus, the bike experiment makes for really good post material. Good luck!

Matthew Smith said...

You'll do great on that bike! Like Kristin said, "It's not about the bike." Good luck on the half marathon. Sub 2:15 is in the bag!