ollie.olsson
Medlem
In search of the right size...This is a long thread.
I've been on the look out for buying a new bike, and the options available makes this a very difficult deciding process.
However, after a lot of research and looking around, I boiled my choice down to the German brand of Canyon. This however proved not to be an easy choice either! I knew which model I wanted, the Nerve XC, but I wasn't too sure which setup I wanted. But before I started attacking that question, I needed to know what size was perfect for me. And as many of you most likely know, Canyon only sells their products via their homepage and their HQ in Koblenz.
Luckily, we have a sales rep here in Sweden, north of Stockholm, up in Bålsta. We exchanged a few emails, and I then found out that they had a size M of the Nerve XC hiding in his garage which I would be able to come up and give a spin. What I missed out on is that you need to make a booking, so a while later, my brother and I make a trip up to Bålsta to check out the bike. Now, I thought it was going to be some sort of concept store or something along those lines. How I was wrong. It's located at the sales reps house, and my brother and I just kind of appeared out of the blue on his door step. After clearing the air, and explaining the situation, he allowed me to look at the bike and give it a go.
After filling up the tyres with air, and setting it up for me, I jumped on it like a nymphomaniac at a brothel, and test rode up and down the snowy street of which he lived. And I must admit, it felt perfect!
However, I'm the kind of guy who does a lot of research into a product before he buys it, and that can be a good thing, and it can be equally as bad. In this case, it was murderous. Why you ask? Because I started looking at what other people bought and what they thought about it. And my results didn't make decision making any easier. Some people who are just as long as me bought a size larger, and people taller than me bought a frame size smaller. The results didn't have any consistency: except for the fact that everyone was happy with their purchase. And that really did my head in.
I talked to the sales rep about what I could do, and he said that I could exchange the bike for a different size without any drama. Perfect I thought! However, which one do I buy first? The L, and then maybe switch to a M? Or vice-versa? What if I wanted to go BACK to the original size that I bought? That would mean a lot of waiting and unnecessary hassle on both parties involved.
So, I figured I would mix some business with pleasure: go to Koblenz to the HQ and see for myself!
I looked up flights, accommodation, transport and everything in between.
So, I end up flying to Hahn-Frankfurt airport with RyanAir from Skavsta, which wasn't too bad. However, getting the bus from Hahn-Frankfurt to Koblenz is a bit of a gamble. I had 10minutes to get off the plane and onto the bus, where I had no clue as to where it was (there was no info on the airports homepage), so as you can imagine, I was a bit worried about reaching my destination. I did have a back-up plans: hitch-hike or take the 3hr long route instead of the 1hour one.
Luckily I made it. As for accommodation: I'm a member of CouchSurfing.org, and it's a service which allows you to stay with locals on their couch/spare-bed/etc for free, instead of checking into a hotel. And ironically enough, my host works for RTI Sports, which owns the brand Ergon (along with others). And the owner of RTI Sports is the brother to the owner of Canyon. Funny that, isn't it? Explains a fair bit too when you browse through Canyons' homepage.
On my first night there, I was walked through the small town, which I must admit is a very picturesque little town, located by the Rhein which has small castles located all along it. It must be a great place during the summer I can imagine.
I'm treated to a doner kebab, and then we head on back to my hosts place where we promptly go to bed and prepare for the morning trip to Canyon.
Wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed, eat a quick breakfast and then make my way to Canyon to engage in an orgy of eye candy.
Biking along the other river in Koblenz, the Mose, I see the great white building to my left, with the beautiful word “Canyon” written on its sides.
Upon walking through the front doors, you get to see a few of their prized bikes encased in glass, and after walking a bit more along the corridor, you get to see a few of their prototype bikes mounted up on the wall, all of which are very pretty to look at.
After cruising around the floor, trying to restrain myself from jizzing in my pants (oh yes, I said it, and mean it), I ask for some help and am told that I have to go to the front reception to stand in line for help. At which point they give you a beeper, like the one you find in food courts while you wait for your food, and they give you a coupon for a free coffee/tea at their little cafe that they have (yes, they have a small cafe in the store, think about that for a second). However, their cook was sick at the time, so they could only serve cake and hot drinks. According to my host though, they serve good food there. Also, there is a kids area where they can hang out and there were a few kids bikes for them to cruise around the shop with. Very cool.
Before I disappeared back into the sea of bikes covering the show room floor, I ask how long I have to wait, and they guessed it would be around 30 minutes. Not too bad I thought. I could collect my thoughts, browse around and make rational decisions when I'm sitting on the bike.
30 minutes go by quite quickly I must admit. They have more than bikes there, they have pretty much everything you can find at normal bike store. They've got the the clothes, bags, mini-tools, casual clothes covering the walls towards the rear of the shop. You could pretty much go in there naked, and come out fully clothed, ready for a bike ride. I strongly recommend you don't do that though, it could be a bit embarrassing and quite rude.
After a long wait, I started noticing that the clientele had pretty much been switched out and I walk up to the front desk asking what the big deal was. I had waited for over two hours, and they realised that there had been an issue with my beeper (I held it in my hands the whole time, so I'm pretty sure I didn't miss it) and a customer who was finishing up his sales told the clerk that I was in before him. So they put me straight away in front of the que. Excellent! I didn't have to re-wait all over again. After 5 minutes, a free sales clerk is available to help me to my every need.
NOTE: It's pretty obvious, but show them respect if something like this happens, and make sure you don't lose your shit over it, because these things happen. In return, you'll be treated like you would want to be treated.
I tell him about my silly white people problems regarding the bike and put his english through its paces (just about the whole store spoke English, so communication wasn't a problem what so ever), and we get to it. Pull out a M Nerve XC and I ride around the parking lot a few times to get a feel for it. Sadly, they didn't have a size L available, but they did for the Nerve AM. He explains to me the minute differences between the two bikes geometry before I bike away so I know what to expect out a L Nerve XC. And you know what I realised? THEY BOTH FELT GREAT! I felt like crying on the spot. Instead I try the Nerve XC again to see if I feel a difference, and there was a slight one. I also talked to the sales rep about it, and he explained to me that both sizes would work for me: the L is better for longer straight distances and the M is more for technical agile biking. That made the choice much easier.
I then tried a road bike as well, because I've been thinking of upgrading my “current one” (read: MTB with roadie tyres from my bike courier days). After telling him what I was going to be doing with the bike (ie, not race) the options were reduced quite quickly and we pulled out another bike for me to try. The bike he chose was perfect for what I would use it for, and even the price is hard to argue with!
Sadly, I didn't buy the bikes there and then, because sending them with RyanAir would be a hassle and very expensive. So I said thank you for all the help, and then embarked on my next adventure in Koblenz.
Here are the bullet points, because it's not part of this story:
2 Italian Tornado jet fighter pilots (one of whom was the birthday boy)
4 German Tornado jet fighter pilots
free food
apartment in a building that was 625 years old
open bar
St. Patricks Day partying in an Irish pub
Going to the local pub with some random locals talking about everything you're not supposed to talk about
Drunk
Sleep at 04ish, I think
Wake up at 11.50, 40minutes until my bus leaves
Hung over trip until I got home
So, all-in-all, this trip was wicked fun! Only because I had such a great host mind you who took me to the birthday party.
And if you think it was a waste of money, here are some numbers for you:
Plane ticket: 328 SEK
Airport shuttle (SWE): 248 SEK
90 out of 110€ was spent.
Total = 1376 SEK for a great weekend in another country and visiting the HQ for a great bike company. If you think this was a waste of money...well, haters gonna hate. That's all I have to say about that.
So if you've got some time, petty cash lying around, and want to visit a great town and bike store, I can highly recommend it!
And before I finish this up: I've ordered a Nerve XC size M, and am now playing the waiting game :D I think I'll get the road bike a bit later on, but at least I know which size I need!
Thanks for reading :D
However, after a lot of research and looking around, I boiled my choice down to the German brand of Canyon. This however proved not to be an easy choice either! I knew which model I wanted, the Nerve XC, but I wasn't too sure which setup I wanted. But before I started attacking that question, I needed to know what size was perfect for me. And as many of you most likely know, Canyon only sells their products via their homepage and their HQ in Koblenz.
Luckily, we have a sales rep here in Sweden, north of Stockholm, up in Bålsta. We exchanged a few emails, and I then found out that they had a size M of the Nerve XC hiding in his garage which I would be able to come up and give a spin. What I missed out on is that you need to make a booking, so a while later, my brother and I make a trip up to Bålsta to check out the bike. Now, I thought it was going to be some sort of concept store or something along those lines. How I was wrong. It's located at the sales reps house, and my brother and I just kind of appeared out of the blue on his door step. After clearing the air, and explaining the situation, he allowed me to look at the bike and give it a go.
After filling up the tyres with air, and setting it up for me, I jumped on it like a nymphomaniac at a brothel, and test rode up and down the snowy street of which he lived. And I must admit, it felt perfect!
However, I'm the kind of guy who does a lot of research into a product before he buys it, and that can be a good thing, and it can be equally as bad. In this case, it was murderous. Why you ask? Because I started looking at what other people bought and what they thought about it. And my results didn't make decision making any easier. Some people who are just as long as me bought a size larger, and people taller than me bought a frame size smaller. The results didn't have any consistency: except for the fact that everyone was happy with their purchase. And that really did my head in.
I talked to the sales rep about what I could do, and he said that I could exchange the bike for a different size without any drama. Perfect I thought! However, which one do I buy first? The L, and then maybe switch to a M? Or vice-versa? What if I wanted to go BACK to the original size that I bought? That would mean a lot of waiting and unnecessary hassle on both parties involved.
So, I figured I would mix some business with pleasure: go to Koblenz to the HQ and see for myself!
I looked up flights, accommodation, transport and everything in between.
So, I end up flying to Hahn-Frankfurt airport with RyanAir from Skavsta, which wasn't too bad. However, getting the bus from Hahn-Frankfurt to Koblenz is a bit of a gamble. I had 10minutes to get off the plane and onto the bus, where I had no clue as to where it was (there was no info on the airports homepage), so as you can imagine, I was a bit worried about reaching my destination. I did have a back-up plans: hitch-hike or take the 3hr long route instead of the 1hour one.
Luckily I made it. As for accommodation: I'm a member of CouchSurfing.org, and it's a service which allows you to stay with locals on their couch/spare-bed/etc for free, instead of checking into a hotel. And ironically enough, my host works for RTI Sports, which owns the brand Ergon (along with others). And the owner of RTI Sports is the brother to the owner of Canyon. Funny that, isn't it? Explains a fair bit too when you browse through Canyons' homepage.
On my first night there, I was walked through the small town, which I must admit is a very picturesque little town, located by the Rhein which has small castles located all along it. It must be a great place during the summer I can imagine.
I'm treated to a doner kebab, and then we head on back to my hosts place where we promptly go to bed and prepare for the morning trip to Canyon.
Wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed, eat a quick breakfast and then make my way to Canyon to engage in an orgy of eye candy.
Biking along the other river in Koblenz, the Mose, I see the great white building to my left, with the beautiful word “Canyon” written on its sides.
Upon walking through the front doors, you get to see a few of their prized bikes encased in glass, and after walking a bit more along the corridor, you get to see a few of their prototype bikes mounted up on the wall, all of which are very pretty to look at.
After cruising around the floor, trying to restrain myself from jizzing in my pants (oh yes, I said it, and mean it), I ask for some help and am told that I have to go to the front reception to stand in line for help. At which point they give you a beeper, like the one you find in food courts while you wait for your food, and they give you a coupon for a free coffee/tea at their little cafe that they have (yes, they have a small cafe in the store, think about that for a second). However, their cook was sick at the time, so they could only serve cake and hot drinks. According to my host though, they serve good food there. Also, there is a kids area where they can hang out and there were a few kids bikes for them to cruise around the shop with. Very cool.
Before I disappeared back into the sea of bikes covering the show room floor, I ask how long I have to wait, and they guessed it would be around 30 minutes. Not too bad I thought. I could collect my thoughts, browse around and make rational decisions when I'm sitting on the bike.
30 minutes go by quite quickly I must admit. They have more than bikes there, they have pretty much everything you can find at normal bike store. They've got the the clothes, bags, mini-tools, casual clothes covering the walls towards the rear of the shop. You could pretty much go in there naked, and come out fully clothed, ready for a bike ride. I strongly recommend you don't do that though, it could be a bit embarrassing and quite rude.
After a long wait, I started noticing that the clientele had pretty much been switched out and I walk up to the front desk asking what the big deal was. I had waited for over two hours, and they realised that there had been an issue with my beeper (I held it in my hands the whole time, so I'm pretty sure I didn't miss it) and a customer who was finishing up his sales told the clerk that I was in before him. So they put me straight away in front of the que. Excellent! I didn't have to re-wait all over again. After 5 minutes, a free sales clerk is available to help me to my every need.
NOTE: It's pretty obvious, but show them respect if something like this happens, and make sure you don't lose your shit over it, because these things happen. In return, you'll be treated like you would want to be treated.
I tell him about my silly white people problems regarding the bike and put his english through its paces (just about the whole store spoke English, so communication wasn't a problem what so ever), and we get to it. Pull out a M Nerve XC and I ride around the parking lot a few times to get a feel for it. Sadly, they didn't have a size L available, but they did for the Nerve AM. He explains to me the minute differences between the two bikes geometry before I bike away so I know what to expect out a L Nerve XC. And you know what I realised? THEY BOTH FELT GREAT! I felt like crying on the spot. Instead I try the Nerve XC again to see if I feel a difference, and there was a slight one. I also talked to the sales rep about it, and he explained to me that both sizes would work for me: the L is better for longer straight distances and the M is more for technical agile biking. That made the choice much easier.
I then tried a road bike as well, because I've been thinking of upgrading my “current one” (read: MTB with roadie tyres from my bike courier days). After telling him what I was going to be doing with the bike (ie, not race) the options were reduced quite quickly and we pulled out another bike for me to try. The bike he chose was perfect for what I would use it for, and even the price is hard to argue with!
Sadly, I didn't buy the bikes there and then, because sending them with RyanAir would be a hassle and very expensive. So I said thank you for all the help, and then embarked on my next adventure in Koblenz.
Here are the bullet points, because it's not part of this story:
2 Italian Tornado jet fighter pilots (one of whom was the birthday boy)
4 German Tornado jet fighter pilots
free food
apartment in a building that was 625 years old
open bar
St. Patricks Day partying in an Irish pub
Going to the local pub with some random locals talking about everything you're not supposed to talk about
Drunk
Sleep at 04ish, I think
Wake up at 11.50, 40minutes until my bus leaves
Hung over trip until I got home
So, all-in-all, this trip was wicked fun! Only because I had such a great host mind you who took me to the birthday party.
And if you think it was a waste of money, here are some numbers for you:
Plane ticket: 328 SEK
Airport shuttle (SWE): 248 SEK
90 out of 110€ was spent.
Total = 1376 SEK for a great weekend in another country and visiting the HQ for a great bike company. If you think this was a waste of money...well, haters gonna hate. That's all I have to say about that.
So if you've got some time, petty cash lying around, and want to visit a great town and bike store, I can highly recommend it!
And before I finish this up: I've ordered a Nerve XC size M, and am now playing the waiting game :D I think I'll get the road bike a bit later on, but at least I know which size I need!
Thanks for reading :D
