Should I be excited??

[Clarence1997]

Just got my new Ottott ST.....it's nice, looks nice, rides nice, all that. But am I supposed to be excited? :O(

Or is it "just a bike"...a good bike..?

[Bruce K]

Man, if I had spent a large some of money on anything I would sure want to feel something more than ambivalence, and hopefully some excitement.

At least for a little while.

BK

[sw3759]

yes of course you should be excited...we can't tell you how excited until you post some pics though :)

[Climb01742]

Just got my new Ottott ST.....it's nice, looks nice, rides nice, all that. But am I supposed to be excited? :O(

Or is it "just a bike"...a good bike..?

what bike(s) are you coming from? when you get to a certain level of outstanding bikes, the difference between bikes -- the wow factor -- can get small. there's also something i'm guilty of: my own high (unrealistic?) expectations are sometimes hard to live up to. give it time. its strengths could become clearer down the road.

[stevep]

go ride it man...and see for yrself.

and invest in steveps bond fund for high returns with little risk ( to him )

[Birddog]

Is that a pickle in your pocket or did you just get a new bike?

Birddog

[CNY rider]

It depends if bikes are your "thing". They're the luxury expenditure that I enjoy the most, by far.

But that doesn't mean that's the way it is for everyone. For instance, I bought a new car this fall. I read lots of Internet sites and frankly couldn't believe the wild excitement people felt over cars (mind you this is just a pretty run of the mill Subaru). I just don't get the swooning over cars, but I have no trouble appreciating it for a great bike like an Ottrott.

By way of comparison: I barely slept the night before I went and got my Legend. I carefully arranged clean blankets in the back of the car for the transport home. Then I kept it in the living room in front of the fireplace mantle for a day until the wife ordered it out to the garage. I still look at it while I"m doing my offseason work in the basement and think that it's the greatest bike ever, and that I'm lucky to have it.

When I got the new car I looked it over, thought "that's nice" and haven't really thought about it since.

[dauwhe]

It depends if bikes are your "thing". They're the luxury expenditure that I enjoy the most, by far.

But that doesn't mean that's the way it is for everyone. For instance, I bought a new car this fall. I read lots of Internet sites and frankly couldn't believe the wild excitement people felt over cars (mind you this is just a pretty run of the mill Subaru). I just don't get the swooning over cars, but I have no trouble appreciating it for a great bike like an Ottrott.

By way of comparison: I barely slept the night before I went and got my Legend. I carefully arranged clean blankets in the back of the car for the transport home. Then I kept it in the living room in front of the fireplace mantle for a day until the wife ordered it out to the garage. I still look at it while I"m doing my offseason work in the basement and think that it's the greatest bike ever, and that I'm lucky to have it.

When I got the new car I looked it over, thought "that's nice" and haven't really thought about it since.

+1. Bought a new Toyota last fall. Mostly just made me nervous and uncomfortable.

On the other hand, as I type this my very first custom frame ever is on a FedEx truck somehere between Portland, OR and the east coast. I check the tracking info every few hours, even though nothing will happen for days. I wonder if the waitstaff at the truck stops are as efficient as they could be. I'm hoping for tailwinds for the truck! And Friday seems so far away...

It's exactly like a kid before Xmas!

Dave

[crossjunkee]

Your excitement should be for being able to get out and ride. Not because you just spent thousands on a bike.

I remember my first bike my parents purchased for me. It was red, had rubber tires, cost less than $50., and it came from Sears. I couldn't even ride it yet, but I stared at it for hours. It motivated me to ride.

[Archibald]

What's the clearance, Clarence?

No, you shouldn't be excited. You should take up golf.

[Kevan]

you haven't tried it in bed yet.

[Tom]

no, no you shouldn't. You should send it to my house.

[cpg]

If you're not excited, have your meds readjusted. That's a joke but really why wouldn't you be excited?

Curt

[fiamme red]

Heck, I'd be excited if the wife just allowed me to bring another bike into the apartment.

Wait, I don't have a wife... hmmm...

[Ginger]

Just got my new Ottott ST.....it's nice, looks nice, rides nice, all that. But am I supposed to be excited? :O(

Or is it "just a bike"...a good bike..?


Yes Clarence; It is just a good bike.
I find that there's a concern component to excitement that you might not have with an OttRott. You don't have to wonder if the bike is going to be as nice as you think it will be. There's no suspense that it won't be exactly what you asked for. There's no question that it's a nice bike.

So my answer is "No", as far as a *purchase* goes, you probably shouldn't be excited. It's a bike, it's a tool. You bought it, it cost money. In that way it's just a thing. A very good thing, but just a thing.

But, perhaps you should just enjoy riding such a nice bike. Even if you have others that are just as nice.

I've been told that OttRotts really don't become your favorite until you put a couple thousand miles on them...
So maybe you're not excited about the bike now, but perhaps in a couple thousand miles you will be. :) Think less excitement and more enjoyment.

Ginger
(Who was, and still is, terribly excited about her custom Kirk :banana: )

[Serotta PETE]

Excited can mean many things to differnt folks....We are all different.

What the OTTROOT should do is put a smile on your face every time you ride it. (but then any bikes puts a smile on my face when You ride it - - unless it is a SANDY bike.)

The Ottrott is a wonderful ride and hopefully you have a large "enjoyment factor" every time you ride it.


If not and it is a 57cm - - SEND IT TO ME! I will send you a bottle of red in return. PETE




Just got my new Ottott ST.....it's nice, looks nice, rides nice, all that. But am I supposed to be excited? :O(

Or is it "just a bike"...a good bike..?

[djg]

Well, it is just a bike and there's no reason not to be excited about it--get as excited as you wanna be.

I mean, for all the talk about compliance and efficiency and bikes pedaling themselves and so forth...well, if your previous bike was a good, well-designed road bike, and it fit you properly, then I'm not sure how much of a revelation you can reasonably expect. The new bike really might feel different when you jump on the pedals, or carve a turn, but your speed shouldn't change appreciably unless your position has changed appreciably (or something was broken) and I wouldn't expect better or even different handling from an Ottrot than, say, from a CIII, unless maybe you got a significantly better fork (even then, if the last fork was good, I woudn't expect you to notice a huge difference without really pushing it). I say this not to be a downer, but to suggest that sometimes folks get unreasonable expectations about the spectacular differences a new ride will make. You got a cool shiny new bike. As you say, it looks nice and it rides nice. What's not to like? You'll find the bike's advantages as you get used to it, and get things dialed in. In the meantime, enjoy it.

[Jack Brunk]

If the bike doesn't make you want to ride it all the time, then it's the wrong bike. I can tell after 3-4 rides if the bike is for me or not.

[SoCalSteve]

If the bike doesn't make you want to ride it all the time, then it's the wrong bike. I can tell after 3-4 rides if the bike is for me or not.

+1

For WHATEVER reason. It could be the best bike in the world (for someoe else.) But not for you...

Hence, why we sell bikes so quickly.

Steve

[billrick]

Dave - Would this be from the HampCo industrial complex, by chance? That would get me pretty excited, too! Post pics soon!

:)

On the other hand, as I type this my very first custom frame ever is on a FedEx truck somehere between Portland, OR and the east coast. I check the tracking info every few hours, even though nothing will happen for days. I wonder if the waitstaff at the truck stops are as efficient as they could be. I'm hoping for tailwinds for the truck! And Friday seems so far away...

It's exactly like a kid before Xmas!

Dave

[SimonC]

There was a very interesting thread on MTBR.com - over the course of perhaps 30 posts, a user (Aquaholic) showed all the work that had gone into building his custom Jeff Jones - from a pile of straight-gauge tubing through to the very curvy finished bike. It was really interesting to view, but someone had posted at the end that they'd been really excited to see the process, but at the end they'd realised it was 'only' a bike.

There's a lot of hyperbole on forums, and a lot of fussing over aesthetic details or construction that makes little / no discernable difference to the ride of the finished product. At the end of the day you need to remind yourself sometimes that it's 'only' a bicycle - two wheels and a jumble of tubing. A new bike may ride nicely, but it's not going to be a religious experience.

[dauwhe]

Dave - Would this be from the HampCo industrial complex, by chance? That would get me pretty excited, too! Post pics soon!

:)

Yep! I'll have to build it up before taking pictures.... seems the right thing to do for a rando bike.

Dave

[Jeff Weir]

If you have to ask........

[AgilisMerlin]

I feel bad for the bike :(

[Ginger]

A new bike may ride nicely, but it's not going to be a religious experience.

If you ride a lot, but you've never had a bike fit you correctly, never ridden a bike that handled well because it was fitted out so that it made you comfortable riding but made the handling crud so you were never rock solid certain that the bike would behave.
If that's the case, then while a nicely built custom bike is a just a nice bike, it is as close to a religious experience as a bike's gonna get.

[big shanty]

You would definitely be more excited if it were in the lugged steel medium.