Well Northern Virginia is home to many bike path's and cycling is very prominent in the city so I figured why not add a road bike to the stable.
I looked around, at first I was thinking of dropping 1k on a new mongoose cyclocross bike... now I know mongoose isn't the greatest out there but they have been getting better over the years, and I have a special place in my heart for them... the first bicycle I bought 100% on my own (175 dollars in quarters to be exact) was a mongoose villian. They still produce the villian today... it's almost worth getting one for the memories :).
I ended up deciding to just spend less and maybe look used. Well as fate would have it I found my bike very fast. I currently live in Raleigh, NC... fate? I know what size I was looking for 56-58cm according to online sources. I searched craigslist for each size 56cm, 57cm, 58cm. Had a couple options, but one looked really neat... well because it was all black, and I LOVE black bikes. It was the title to this post, a 2004 Raleigh Grand Prix.
I e-mailed the add late Sunday night and the individual, Rocky... fate? (best friends dog's name... ha!), responded the next morning, I called after researching the bike and swung by for a preliminary test ride. I was SHOCKED when I saw the bike. He had ridden it previously from Raleigh, NC to Washington D.C... right where I will be working next year... fate?
The bike was IMMACULATE. It was 5 years old and looked like it was just off the showroom floor. Really a stunner when it came to condition, only things I could find on it were some scrapes on the shifter/brakes probably from laying on it's side or leaning against say the Washington monument :).
Rocky hadn't ridden the bike in a couple or few years so he said it would definitely need a tune up. I hopped on the bike for a test ride and was shocked to find that it shifted flawlessly (once I remembered how single lever shifter/brake combo's worked), the bike rolled perfectly, each wheel true. And it was just smooth and felt too good. I honestly was shocked at the quality of this $850 MSRP back in '04 bike.
I was going to try to haggle him but I found out he only posted the bike a few minutes before I responded... fate? And I felt he should be rewarded for keeping this bike in such good condition so i didn't even bring up price. I had him hold it until the evening, got the OK from the fiance, and picked it up that night.
Alright enough blabbing, here are the pictures! Sorry for the quality, night in an apartment with a shitty camera = shitty pictures.
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