A new year and a new season means new a new bike!  You’ve been drooling over those professional bike pictures for month.  Now the time has come to purchase your first frame, or upgrade!  I have had a couple clients recently ask where I begin when buying a bike.  These days there are so many options muddled up by online retailers, directly buying from manufacturers, or the tried and true local bike shop.  On top of that there are frame sizes, components, wheels, cockpits, full integration, superbikes! Ah!  I am going to break this whole bike buying process down into easy steps.  At the end I will post a checklist you can print out to fill in prior to shopping.  Let’s dive in!
                First thing is first, check with your significant other that a new bike is approved ;).  Seriously, we need to first establish a budget for this purchase.  How much can you afford to buy with the CASH you have available at that moment.  You don’t need to actually pay cash for the bike purchase, because we all like those credit card points, but bikes are expensive and American’s already have enough credit card debt.  Also, a good rule of thumb is to only buy what you can replace without too much difficulty.  For example, I could buy a $2k frame and if I happen to crash or need to repair it I could afford a new one within a very reasonable period of time.  This can become a grey area and I am not a financial advisor, just giving a general rule of thumb.  Alright, so what is the entry point for this sport?  If you need to buy a complete bike to begin with you are looking at around $1500-2500 USD.  That range is for used as well as new.  My research shows that new bikes are starting out around $1800 and going up to $2800 for entry level, with the average cost of a complete new bike around $2400.  Every company has a different idea of what entry level is though.  Cervelo and Trek had the highest starting points and Cannondale and Giant having the less expensive starting points. ​

What comes with these different price ranges?  A lot of the difference in prices has to do with stock wheels and components.  The frame materials and layups will stay the same through the different levels.  The highest model might have some more integration at the headset and slightly different carbon layup for reduced weight.  Some of these things are important but for the most part, aerodynamics is king.  Integration of the headset and cockpit is nice but isn’t a killer in buying decisions.

What do you need with that bike purchase?

1. Frame
2. Stem/Cockpit
3. Wheels
4. Groupset

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There are a couple of routes you can take.  You can always buy a new frame, and then go searching for used wheels and components on online marketplaces.  You can also purchase a complete bike but the lower end models usually come with “training” wheels.  Most of the companies today require you to go up to the third tier for aerodynamic wheels, which is important for triathlon.  My recommendation for this is to buy the lower bike model and go searching the online marketplaces for used wheels (Slowtwitch Classifieds, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay).  If you go this route just make sure you check compatibility of hub with your desired gearing?  For example, 11 speed wheelset for 11 speed shifters.  Additionally, if you purchased used wheels make sure you take them to your local bike shop before your first ride.  There are times where the hub needs to be tightened or spokes are loose or worst case there is a crack in the wheel.

​The final part of buying a bike is the groupset.  There are currently three major players in the market; Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM.  All three companies offer electronic and mechanical groupsets.  Mechanical groupsets are cable tension based groupsets.  These groupsets tend to be more durable, less expensive, but require more maintenance.  The maintenance aspect requires some basic bike knowledge or a trip to the Local Bike Shop (LBS).  Electronic groupsets are more precise, lighter weight, require less maintenance (except for the occasional charge), not as durable, and more expensive then the mechanical counterpart.  I use the word durable in the above descriptions but what does that mean?  The best example is if you get in a minor crash, it is easier to repair the mechanical groupset to fully a fully functional part.  If something goes wrong with the electronic groupset it is a lot more challenging/impossible to repair during a ride or even after a ride.

What is the difference between all of the groupsets?  Which one is right for you?  If you have the money to purchase an electronic groupset, get it.  They are the way of the future, more precise shifting, and lighter weight.  These groupsets are easy to maintain and never require adjustments (unless you crash).  Campagnolo is always going to be the most expensive groupset.  You pay for that Italian quality control when purchasing their groupset.  Shimano is the most common groupset manufacturer which means reduced replacement parts and wider variety of products to choose from.  SRAM is a great company and one I have been using for the past 4 years.   Campagnlo’s and Shimano’s electronic groupsets are still wired so that means you need to feed small wires through your frame.  This isn’t too challenging but just something to be aware.  SRAM’s ETAP product is completely wireless.  All components connect through Bluetooth signals which makes setup extremely easy!  The only downside is that ETAP is quite pricey (at the time of writing this).
There is a quick budgeting tool in the file below.  Use this to determine what you can afford BEFORE going out and spending your money.  This part was the basics behind purchasing a bike and the required components.  The next section will be how important bike fit is to your performance and frame selection.

Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to.  You spend hours, days, months, and tons of valuable energy working on something, or so you think.  Things just appear to never go your way. Why should you continue to follow this path?  You have now arrived at the all-important decision crossroad.  This invisible but powerful fork in the road causes anxiety to every human.  One route is to just throw in the towel, take the apparent easy way out.  At this point, the path of least resistance seems clear.  It is to quit.  Well, I am here to tell you that at times it is fine to quit, but 99% of the time we fall short of that point.
In a time of new resolutions and life goals, the health and life industry is overloaded with prideful and naive bodies.  People see the New Year as an opportunity to reflect on the past and make changes for the future.  Thanks to amazing marketing, health and fitness goals are the most common.  The problem is people don’t set themselves up for success.  The first couple days, maybe weeks, you nail the workouts and eat healthy.  Then you skip one day, give yourself a cheat day.  You reach this point where you stop going to the gym completely.  You have quit.  And the sad thing is that the industry and society never had faith that you would sustain your new goal.  I am telling you to stop, and reanalyze your life when you think you are getting close to that point.  IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO RECOVER.
Sometimes, the point of quitting can be murky and challenging to find.  Your mind will slowly ease you away from your change and return you to your previous equilibrium.  This is why it is key to set monthly checkpoints.  Every four weeks you should ask yourself:

1. Have I stuck to my commitment made for this month?
   1. If not, why?

You analyze these reasons and determine that you don’t have the time and money.  At a quick glance, your friends will agree with you.  But you are all wrong! Wrong! Wrong!  You are quitting because of the wrong reasons.  You could wake up earlier and work out in the morning and go run outside or use items around the house to work out when you find time.  Basically, you are coming up with poor excuses on why you should stop.  If you push just a little farther you increase your chances of succeeding tenfold.  Another way to look at this is in terms of football.  The difficulty of moving the ball increases as the defense get squished.  You are closer to the end zone though.  The chance of scoring is a lot higher than when you were on your 10 yard line.  If you quit, it is the same thing as the offense walking off the field on the opposing team’s 20 yard line.  80% of the work was done, but the game got harder, and the 20% just seemed too difficult to obtain.  It might be a little harder, but the reward is worth it in the end.   ​

Every year millions of people watch the ball drop in Times Square and with it comes a new year.  The sparks fly from the rooftops signaling another 365 days to do something different, to make a change.  Each spark representing the fleeting hopes and ambitions of the host.  Proclamations fill rooms like; “I am going to lose 30 pounds this year” or… “I am going to eat healthier in 2017.”  We all know that these are said with all the best intentions.  Without any doubt, you will fail at accomplishing your new years resolution.  It isn’t all of your fault though, humans are naturally optimistic.  The problem is that humans tend to struggle with reality.  In the end, only 8% of you will be successful in achieving what you set out to do.

A 92% failure rate shows that something is inherently wrong when goals and resolutions are being created.  Why do people fail so much with their resolutions?  The biggest thing is just being too ambitious…  Let’s look at the common example of wanting to lose weight.  There are two ways people attack this resolution.  One is by going to the gym and working out a lot; burn those calories.  Second option is to just eat less; DIEting.  Yes, there is a reason why the word die is in diet, but that is another topic.  Compare those methods to quitting smoking or coming off of a drug.  Your body and mind don’t want to just go cold turkey, or make any drastic change.  It is too rough on you, especially when the habit you want to change isn’t life threatening, like losing a couple pounds.  One of the biggest contributers in your success will be to govern your ambition.

How do you set yourself up to become part of the 8%?  When it comes down to it, the creation of the plan is easy… the execution is almost close to impossible.  There are simple ways to help you execute a little more effectively.

1. Ask yourself WHY. 
2. Control your ambition.  Extreme in the context of moderation.
3. Create metrics

​WHY do you want to change?  What gave you the idea to set the resolution?  If you are doing it because your friends are doing it you won’t succeed.  Don’t try to change for other people.  Make sure you are changing because you feel you need to change in order to be happy, confident, or fulfilled.  So write down your goal and underneath it write what the goal means to you.  Write down how you see your life if you succeed. 

The next part is tempering your ambition.  We know you want to lose weight but going to the gym for an hour every day for the first two weeks of January will exhaust you to a point of quitting.  By the end of January you will be with most people, back on the couch.  Instead of spending all of that time in the gym, let’s focus on building the habit.  Don’t go to the gym and workout for an hour.  Instead, start out by going to the gym every day for just 10 minutes.  Set short term and achievable goals.  10 minutes in the gym is not mentally taxing and is easy to fit into any schedule. 

​Finally, set metrics so you know what success is.  If losing weight is your goal, you can set pounds lost/gained as your metric.  If you want to eat healthier, you can set grams of sugar eaten as a metric.  The goal is to choose something that has a hard measurement associated with it.  Choosing a subjective measurement system can lead you to failure.  Do these things and you will set yourself up for a more successful year!

​The goal of this article was to give everyone the tools to succeed in goal setting.  In the end I want to help people change themselves for the better.  I have been in situations where I hated the way I looked, the way I thought, and the way I felt.  Day in and day out I told myself that I needed to make a change.  Constant mental and physical abuse by my peers brought me to a point where I had nothing left to lose.  I made the decision to make a change.  Losing weight was my goal, and running was my vessel.  It took time, effort, and coaching to lose weight and get to the place I am today.  In appreciation for the support I gained during my journey, I am offering 1 month free of online coaching for the first 20 people to submit an information questionnaire.  One of those people will be randomly selected for one full year of free coaching.  You have absolutely nothing to lose in this situation.  Do something today to help your tomorrow.

What is similar between Ironman World Champions, Tour De France winners, and Olympic gold medalists?  The simple answer is they all have a coach.  What about if you don’t necessarily have aspirations to be a world champion or gold medalist?  What if you just want to complete your first Ironman, win your local criterium race, or set a PR in an upcoming half marathon?  Coaches provide the input and flexibility to maximize your time.  The goal is to always do the minimum amount necessary to maximize your adaptation and benefit to training time.

Coach vs. Online Training Plan:
A lot of people fall into the trap of downloading that 18 week “Couch to 5k” set-in-stone training plan.  I am not saying that these training plans are horrible.  If someone has a lot of experience and knows how to properly modify the training to fit the stresses of daily life then these plans provide a decent footprint.  Let’s look at a trusty pro/con list to see what a training plan is all about.

IREP athletics does have these set-in-stone training plans for triathlon, running, cycling, and swimming.  Partnering one of these training plans with a one or two consultations would provide a budget friendly alternative to monthly coaching.

Online/local Coaching:
The stigma around hiring a coach is that it is always too expensive.  But can you put a value on your overall health and performance goals?  Hiring a coach provides the flexibility and experience to maximize an athlete’s potential through maximizing the time available to train.  A coach will listen to the athlete and modify the daily training plan in order to work around those life events and stresses that you can’t control.  A coach will know when to back off and perform some serious body maintenance when that niggle pops up.  Take a look at the following pro/con list for hiring a coach:

​All of the coaches at IREP Athletics believe in implementing the most up to date training theories to set our athletes up for success.  We believe in connecting with our clients and building a relationship where sharing information is not looked down upon.  I recommend connecting with one of our coaches to find out some more information about what we can provide.  This initial communication is completely free so there is really no reason not to talk.  Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.