Our new bikes!!!!

Yesterday we picked up two brand spanking new Trek 4500 WSD steeds in a lovely Iris Blue. Here is the catalog photo:


and here is the link to the spec:
2006 Trek 4500 WSD (if this link takes you to the main Trek site it means it needs to set up a location/language cookie - choose US/English) (links UPDATED 27/12/2012)

There are some pics of the actual bikes in the last post :)

A's bike is one size smaller than mine and because of her cycling related injury a few years ago we are running her bars a bit higher to give her an easier ride. I have flipped my stem over to make the bike fit the way I usually ride (that would be FAST! :), but we are going to be touring and I can imagine that I am going to want to have an easier rise rather than the racer-boy flat I have now...they are perfect for ripping about town at the moment, though :)

The WSD saddles are cushy, but we are still feeling the effects from all the riding yesterday after not having been on a bicycle saddle for so many months....we will toughen the old sit bones up in no time, I'm sure :)

The frames are stiff - when we hammer out of the saddle at the lights to beat everyone off the line (I told you we were nuts :) the power goes straight to the rear wheel and we are GONE! Woohoo!

The fork is cushy! And we are happy for that, as it should take some of the abuse of those 1000 meter descents in Tibet :) We did venture a bit into the rough stuff yesterday, avoiding a traffic jam, and it felt like old times (I usually ride a Gary Fisher Big Sur and A usually rides her one-off Fuel WSD).

The wheels have a double wall rim - tougher than a single wall - and we wanted V brakes rather than discs, for ease of maintenance and availability of parts (China is moving fast, but discs are not mainstream yet :)

This morning it was raining, so we gave you guys the blog posts rather than go for a ride. Tonight we have a soiree with the Trek China folks...tomorrow we will ride as we see the sights of Beijing!!!!