My old Giant TCR Advanced SL 3 was feeling tired, banged up and worn so I splurged on a new bike.  Super “wrench” Lou at Diamond Cycle convinced me to get a discounted Cannondale 2104 model when the new bikes came out, but that plan was dashed when he left Diamond to open his own shop.  My biking buddy Larry advised me to try a bunch of different bikes.  I called around to a bunch of shops to find out what might be available in stock in my size.  Mostly the shops were no help on the phone.

I visited Cycle Craft in Parsippany and the staff was friendly and helpful and I tried a couple of Cannondales but they did not have the bike I wanted in my size.  I left there impressed with the bikes I tried and about ready to order a Cannondale.

I then went to Montclair Bikery and tried a 2014 Pinarello Rokh with Ultegra components.  I was blown away by the responsiveness of the bike and the smooth feeling when on rough pavement…. something that is all too common in this area.  Unfortunately the bike was white and I decided I didn’t want another white bike.  The shop owner David Adornato worked with me to negotiate a better price on the upgrade which I wanted: Ultegra Di2 components.

In the end I bought the bike and they upgraded the components.  Unfortunately they don’t have a mechanic of Lou’s caliber and the bike was delivered unready to ride.  The cover plate under  the bottom bracket was missing, the read derailleur was not adjusted, the chain came off into the spokes on my test ride, the front brake makes a tick-tick-tick sound on the rim which needs some attention, and a mount was missing from the Di2 front junction box.  I fixed the read derailleur adjustments.  The rest will wait for the first tune-up.

The Di2 components are incredible when dialed-in.  You can even make micro adjustments to the read derailleur while riding – like using the barrel adjuster on a cable system.  Once it is done it shouldn’t need adjustment again – there are no cables to adjust.

Here he  is – I’ve named him “Mick” (like Mick Jagger) since the bike is a Rokh (pronounced “rock”) and Mick is the ultimate rock & roller.

Mick the Pinarello Rokh