A New Ride – Surry Hills, NSW, Australia

Five years ago, I would have told you riding a bicycle is weak, uncivilized, and not fitting of any human being. Today, I use a bicycle as my main mode of transportation and in recreation. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been in a car in the past 5 months. When I need to get somewhere long distance, I rely on public transport. However, the new ride is not for commuting, it is for racing. As cycling training for Ironman Australia reaches 100+ mile distances, I decided rolling a triathlon specific bicycle would be ideal. With than in mind, I searched every bicycle shop in NSW and Victoria for a deal on last years models. The search resulted with a 2008 Giant Trinity Alliance 2 for sale at Bates Bikes. The bike was 15% off and the thing rolls. The service at Bates is good and the service is friendly. For example, there was a crack in the internal cable routing inlet on the carbon part of the frame and they called their Giant dealer and have a replacement frame coming in right now. This differs from some of the attitudes that you can get from bike shops in the city. I put a 65 mile ride on the Trinity the day I took her home and am looking forward to many more long rides.