Specialized Sequoia

After sending the Roubaix to my friend Derek I decided I needed to find another newer bike to ride. I had two goals: 1) I didn't really want to spend too much $$, and 2) I wanted a decent-enough set of components on whatever I bought so that I could eventually swap them onto Jen's old Schwinn, which I eventually plan to rebuild. A couple of days searching on eBay and I found this 2004 Specialized Sequoia XL.

Some quick research showed a Sugino crank, Tektro long-reach, with Shimano Sora-Taigra shifters / deraillers. It also came with a nify old Blackburn rear rack, a nice pair of Look pedals, and your basic Cateye speedo - all with less than 300 mi on the odometer. Aside from the mediocre shifters, a decent enough bike. For $200 a and another $70 for shipping from CA (*ouch*) and it was mine.

Well, FedEx did a number on this one. I've never seen a bike box show up in as bad a shape as this one. It was clear this thing got beat around a bit en-route. Unfortunately, it also got scratched up a bit. What a mess trying to resolve it too. FedEx didn't want to fix it, they just wanted to pay me the insured value and take the bike. No thanks - I eventually just gave up. (To be honest, I think that's what all these shippers count on anyway. Its such a hassle processing a claim that its just not worth it.)

A little cleaning, a LOT of re-tuning, and here you go.

Clearly, this isn't the bike the Roubaix is. Then again, its not designed to be. The Sequoia isn't as responsive but is a bit more laid-back to ride. Overall, the shifters and drive train aren't too bad either. Eventually I had to replace the (FedEx mangled) rear derailler with an old LX unit I had laying around and I also adjusted the levers and re-wrapped the bars. After quite a bit more tinkering and tuning this is actually a pretty nice ride.

The coolest part about this bike is the new frame / geometry but still with plenty of clearance for big tires. Sometime this summer I plan to swap the 23mm Specialized slicks for some nice beefy 35mm Conti CityContact Reflex tires. That should smooth our the ride even further. Who knows, maybe I'll keep this one around for a while.