THE Bike

I bought my first (and possibly last) ever road bike in 2010. Prior to that I had only ridden mountain bikes and didn't see much need to have a bike that could only go on the road.  After all, I could just ride my mountain bike on the road AND on the dirt right?  When I started to take training and racing a little more seriously I quickly realized the advantage of having a road bike.  It is a necessary tool for those group rides, hill intervals, and perhaps most used by me, the indoor trainer.  So I acquired one at the next opportunity. Shortly after I put together my new Blue RC8, I realized what the hype was all about.  Up to that point I had been riding an sporty SUV (mountain bike) but this new baby, this bad boy, this was a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics, this was a sports car.  It accelerated like a dream and hugged the road around corners and scared the beans out of me doing so.  So I was converted, I had a road bike and liked it too.  I spent a lot of time on it, I shaved my legs, and grew to love riding skinny tires. Then I started commuting to work a little more and wouldn't you know it, the best route to work had some single track, some double track, dirt bike paths, and some pavement.  I didn't want to ride my mountain bike to work, that would be overkill and cause unnecessary wear.  On the flip side, my road bike was taking a beating and getting too dirty for a sports car.  If only there was a hybrid sort of bike that could go where my mountain bike did and not loose too much of the sports car feel.  I needed the cycling equivalent of a rally car.

Enter the Cyclocross Bike.

When I was looking at my first road bike I contemplated a 'cross bike as an alternative option and almost pulled the trigger.  I didn't have plans to do any Cyclocross racing so it didn't really seem like a good fit.  The thought never occurred to me that I could have just put road tires on it.  Later I met a few people that did just that and they were happy with that option but there was one thing that bothered me: brakes.  I didn't like cantilever brakes or the idea I needed special wheels that would only work on a road / 'cross bike.  I liked the disc brakes on my 29" MTB and my Stan's wheels are light enough to run on a 'cross bike but those darn canti brakes!  If only there was a 'cross bike that I could run my MTB disc wheels on.  Then I could use a wheel from my 'cross bike or mountain bike in a pinch if needed.  Versatility, that's really what I wanted.

Enter the Specialized CruX Disc.

The second I saw this bike frame I was hooked.  Problem solved. The perfect training, commuting, everything but mountain biking bike.  I can run my Stan's ZTR Crest MTB wheels, disc brakes, and reuse the rest of the parts from my road bike.  Best of all:  I can race Cyclocross this fall.

I've never killed this many birds with one stone.

Now the question becomes what is THE bike for July 2012??