So after much debating, reading, and research, I acquired my new Tri Bike, an Argon 18 E-114. I picked it up used off of the Slowtwitch classifieds, and was a little worried conducting such an expensive transaction, but everything worked out in the end. I had it tuned up at Machinery Row Bikes, which included new cables, new chain and a new cassette. The cassette was a change from an 11-23 to a 12-25, which is a little nicer for the hills, and this required a new chain.

I’ve done a couple of spins on the trainer, and had the first real road ride tonight. The seat slipped back on me, but other then that, it felt pretty good. There will be a period of adjustment going from a road bike to a tri bike, but I have a long winter ahead of me to get used to it. After the ride tonight, I went out for a 4 mile run, and ran probably the best I have ever done, coming in at 28:14, after a 1:09:00 bike (25 mile), so the bike seems to be doing it’s job. I’m hoping that after I get fitted to it professionally that I’ll be able to get the most out of the bike, and be comfortable for the 5+ hour bike I will need to do for Ironman 2010.

My first impression is that I’ve lost a couple of watts in term of raw power output (which might be fixed with a proper fit), but my net speed is about the same thanks to improved aerodynamics. The route I took tonight didn’t have too many hills, but I didn’t feel too bad on the short climbs. The real test will be this weekend when I take it out on the IMWI loop and follow it up with a long run.

All of the reviews mentioned how stiff the bike is, but I haven't had enough experience with bikes to really know what that means. I do get the feeling that there is less power loss between the crank and the wheel, and it does ride as smooth, if not smoother then my road bike.

You’ll notice in the pictures that I have a nice bright yellow saddle. It’s a ISM Adamo Racing Saddle, and it came with the bike. Now at first I was not happy with the yellow, but then I realized two things, first, you can’t see the saddle when I’m on it, and second, it should help me spot my bike in the crowed transition area.