Node Mission to TREK Bicycle Shop

TREK Boutique at Solaris...
One of important accessories (or gadget if you like) for cyclist is Cycling Computers. Yes that small thing that looks like a digital clock attached to the bicycle stem (If you don't know what a bike stem is, please click the link) or handle bar. To better illustrate why this particular accessory is so important, try to imagine Batman without  his grapple gun or utility belt...get the picture?

Its easier to set baseline and achieve certain goals. From analyzing your progress to calculating cadence, measuring distance traveled, tracking the altitude,  cycling computers were designed to enable cyclist to visually outline aspects of our ride to make us a confident and informed rider. It help us to measure performance improvements from just normal workouts or preparations for competitive events such as triathlon etc.

The next sets of questions would be the types (wired or wireless), purpose (Road or MTB) and features. Fundamentally, the order of priority should be features and followed by the type and I'd like to narrow the topic to road bike only. To date, convergence seems to gain huge traction in extending the Cycling Computers features such as Heart Rate. There are so many opinion articles out there on the internet and the same goes to the school of thoughts too.

Personally the two thing that's on top of my book of excuses to spend are budget and cadence. Why is measuring cadence so important? IMHO monitoring cadence is on of the best way to build up cycling ability. Its a useful training aid to remind me to downshift as my legs would less likely to cramp at higher nominal cadences than lower nominal cadences especially while on rolling hills and long distance rides. 

I've been using my old Cateeye Strada on my 2012 Madone which is Bontrager DuoTrap ready. The problem is that Madone has in-frame cable routing system. I had to use cable tapes inorder to hold the wires to the frame. Overtime, dirts began to stick and accumulated around the adhesive area, and glaring smudges began to appear.

The TREK Bicycle Shop Visit

Last Satruday I met a guy who owned a 4 series Madone and had DuoTrap installed. It looked really neat and seamless, without any protruding device on the chainstay. Seeing the DuoTrap picture and looking at the real thing had had an impact on me. May be I'm more of a kinesthetic type than auditory or visual. I got me excited to get me one of these cool hardwares. Where best to find TREK accessories other than a TREK boutique at Solaris, Mont Kiara! 

I paid the boutique a visit and true enough, its heavenly TREK and Bontrager. From the line ups of Junior, Road and MTB models to service area, parts, apparels, accessories and things that I had no clue what they were meant for. You name it they have it here (well... mostly). The staff were warm and friendly so I had no trouble spending almost an hour here, feasting my eyes and snapping pictures of what could probably be my "next potential investments". Before leaving the store, I secured the Node together with DuoTrap and quickly leave the store after  I paid for the stuff. It was such an immense pressure to fight the temptations and I knew that the longer I was there, the more vulnerable I'd be. But in the word of T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), I'll Be Back! That's for sure.

The only inconvenience here was the parking space. I had to practically circle the Solaris for about 3 times for a parking spot with decent proximity to the shop. I gave up and eventually parked my car behind an alley that was 2 blocks away from my mission.

Here some of the photos I took while I roamed inside the TREK Shop.

Abayo!









The Cycling Computers


The Madone Series



Helmets


Salivating...







Bellissimo...





Faizol

3 comments:

Farihan said...

been there once, but the staff were not that warm and friendly. too bad for me...

Faizol said...

Indeed. Too bad. I had had that experience at one of the famous bike shop a couple of years back.

That's what happened when their staff didn't feel and act like an owner or perhaps the owner also treated their customer the same way...based on appearance and what car you drive (signature of a premium customer)... not a nice thing to do...

joe said...

both u r right. Even it a normal bike shop in the taman. It happen on me 2x in two differnt shop. Both shop owner is sbiling + the father is the same. So, i din dealing any with them as that.