I had just signed up for the 2008 BTC when the frame of my 2001 Schwinn cracked. I had no time to wait for a replacement frame, so I bit the bullet and bought a new bike the same day.

Specialized had just come out with a new generation Roubaix frame design, so they packaged the leftover stock into inexpensive bikes and I got a nice sale price.

I had a lot of problems with this bike in the first year, almost since day one. The front derailleur would either fail to shift or drop the chain. The rear wheel kept going out of true and even broke a spoke.

I finally took it back to the shop. Specialized simply replaced the wheels under warranty. There was obviously something wrong with them. The replacement rims were an upgrade but the replacement hubs are conventional. Now all the straight pull spare spokes I had bought are useless, but I have wheels that stay true and that’s fine with me.

Shortly after my wheels were replaced the left shifter jammed and became unusable. I took it back again while it was still under warranty for a replacement. I waited and kept calling for over a month but Shimano, for some reason, didn’t have the same shifter in stock. In the end, the shop manager got Shimano to send better shifter and I can finally ride it again.

The front derailleur was still screwing up. I decided to take it to my local shop. The mechanic noticed that the outer bar was bowed outward too far but was able to force it back into shape without breaking it. Now, after a whole year of grief, my front shifting works as it should and I’m liking the way this bike rides a lot.

Darnest thing: just met someone today with the same vintage Roubaix. He too had to have his wheelset and shifters replaced, even though it was a better spec bike.

This bike carried me over those little bumps out in western Colorado in ‘08, even with those problems, and did again in ’09, when it performed flawlessly, so I can’t really complain.