Update May 2008: I won first in my age group at my most recent triathlon race on this bike. I still love this bike and it still serves me well. I was talking with my brother recently and he told me he bought a training road bike for about $1000. After a few months, it started falling apart because the components were cheap. This 2005 Specialized Dolce elite has held up well for 6100 miles. I ride it hard, sometimes on rough roads (not by choice, but sometimes I just find myself on one!). I have gone over speed bumps, railroad tracks and even potholes (sometimes I am tired at the end of my long rides and am not paying attention – very bad of me!). This bike is light yet rock solid.
Update 10/14/07: I continue to smoke the bike course at races on this bike! My bike split was second in my age group for my most recent race; and the woman whose bike time beat mine is way faster than anyone else (she should really be racing elite!). I still love this bike after two years and 5000 miles. Replaced the tires twice. I added aero bars and replaced the rear cassette and the chain. I ride this bike hard and it doesn’t let me down. Here’s a picture of me on the bike at my latest race.
Update 7/11/06: I did my third race on this bike and I rocked with an average speed of 21 mph in rolling hills! My bike split was 3rd fastest in my age group. I think it’s really cool that I am doing so well on this bike, that cost me less money than a set of Zip wheels! 😀
Update 6/15/06: I did my first race on this bike and I rocked with an average speed of 20 mph! A veteran triathlon friend of mine looked at my splits and his comment was “Biking is obviously your strength”. 😀
Original Post, November 1, 2005:
I bought a new bike. It’s a Specialized Dolce Elite. I test rode this bike over the summer but wasn’t yet ready to spend $1300 on a bike. My local bike shop had a sale last week and so I bought it. I also bought road shoes, clipless pedals, and a cateye computer with cadence meter.
Link to Bike at the Specialized Site:
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=13170
It’s a very comfortable ride. Not ever having a cadence meter before, I had no idea what kind of cadence I was riding at. I was pleased to see that 80rpms felt very natural to me, tho on hills it did drop to 50. I have room for improvement there. I was dissappointed that my average speed was the same over the same course as with my old bike (14 mph on rolling hills). I thought switching from a mountain bike to a road bike would mean an automatic increase in speed of at least a couple of miles per hour. I’m hoping it’s just learning curve on the new bike 🙁
One thing that bothers me is that the chain rubs in the derailer when in certain gears. I took it back to the bike shop and asked them if that was normal. They said that on a 27 speed bike, that the chain will rub the derailer when in the extreme gears. They said this is just a function of geomtry and that it’s normal. It made sense to me, but I’m going to ask my brother just to be sure they aren’t trying to pull the wool over my eyes!
Update: Here’s my brother’s reply to my chain rubbing question:
- Yes, rubbing is normal. You don’t ever use all of the rear gears for a given
front gear. In fact, trying to do so is not good for the chain. Even if it
doesn’t obviously rub, the chain is at an extreme angle, so it’s rubbing
against itself.Speaking of which, go out and by a chain cleaner. It’s a little tool used to clean the chain. And a chain cleaning brush, and a bottle of degreaser and a
bottle of good chain lube. Now that you have a decent bike with shiny gears,
you’re going to want it to be clean! Clean chain = less friction = faster
bike!
Dolce elite. The fastest bike I own with a great fit. I have had it to 4 bike shops and no one can get the crunch sound of every stroke on the pedal. It’s been cleaned, buffed and it’s frustrating because the bike is so fast and it fits! Are there bearings in a bike?
I was looking into a Docle Elite as my first bike for my first triathalon!!! 🙂
I just put a Dolce Elite on layaway yesterday, it is the brand new model, and the store was going to have a sale coming up soon. I have been going through many difficulties in my life lately with being diagnosed with lupus, and decided in the last couple months that I would like to train for a triathalon. I was and am still using my stationery and my mountain bike for training, but it just doesn’t feel like it is cutting it. Thanks for the great post, I am even more excited to pick up my bike once I find the money…somewhere around here 🙂
so funny, your brother sounds like my brother in regards to keeping the chain clean. I just bought a Dolce Elite and am excited to switch from my mountain bike (which i used last year for my first tri). Have fun with your races this year.
Thanks for posting this blog- so glad I found it!
Cheers,
Jenn
There are some triathlon programs that offer beginner cycling programs. One I know of, because I’m about to start it, is offered by Team Lipstick, an all women’s triathlon group in NYC (teamlipstick.com).
Wow! so happy to come across this post. I did 2 triathlons last summer (on a hybrid) so I’m very excited to buy a road bike this year. I think I’m going for the Specialized Dolce Elite too!
hey – totally agree with your BF re jumping into clipless pedals right away. I have done my first coupleof Tri’s on a mountain bike and got a new roadie a couple ofmonths back. What a difference – faster and better for fitness.
Go clipless from day one, they are great, but practice on grass to get comfortable and when clipping in, as my coach yells as i try to clip in my second foot… “dont stop peddaling!!!” – once you have fallen off you will understand what this means.
I have come off twice this week, both times on sharedcycle pedestria paths – i should have learnt the first time and stuck to the road.
Have a great time.
Thanks for your kind words. I feel very lucky to be able to do this stuff at my age and hope I can keep going at it for a long time.
I think I was always comfortable biking because I spent so much time as a kid on my bike. I rode it all around the neighborhood, and also to my job when I was a teenager.
If you aren’t sure you are going to like biking and triathlon, I say just use whatever bike you have handy. That’s why I started on a mountain bike. I wasn’t sure. As soon as I did one race, I was sure, tho, I wanted a good bike!
I have to say I agree with your boyfriend about just going for the clipless pedals. It’s going to take some getting used to them no matter what, so you might as well just get it over with. I fell alot at first. Just accept that it will happen. Also, make sure you only ride at non-busy times of day, like early weekend mornings – until you get good at the pedals. That
way you won’t also have traffic to worry about.
Getting the clipless pedals right away will get you started on spinning sooner, and the sooner you can spin ( with a nice circular pedal stroke) the quicker you’ll become a better and more efficient biker.
Well, have fun and good luck! Carol
Hi!
I just stumbled upon your site and you are very inspirational to me! I’m embarking on my first triathlon experience currently and can relate a lot! I was curious if you had advice on how to deal with starting biking. My boyfriend has been biking for a while and uses a road bike with clipless pedals and road shoes. I am not very comfortable on a bike yet at all (huge understatement there!) and went out and tried to ride a friend’s road bike this weekend, using the clipless pedlas and road shoes. Needless to say it was a disaster. I know you got pretty comfortable on your mountain bike before switching to the road bike/clipless pedal setup. I was thinking of getting a road bike and just starting out with regular shoes and pedals until I get comfortable. My boyfriend seems to think I should just suck it up and learn to feel comfortable being clipped in immediately. By the way- coordination is NOT my strong suit- LOL. What would you recommend. Thanks for the advice and you rock!
Anna