Hopefully this is not one of those posts that should never have been written. If so, please tell me, or Dan please pull it. I've given this quite a bit of thought and I believe it should be said despite my general rule about never saying negative things about someone.

After doing the usual new bike agonizing and research I decided (tentatively depending on fit) on a Cervelo P2k. The Cervelo web site lists 3 dealers in the state of TX. Austin is closest to me (3.5 hrs one way) so I called the shop, Austin TriCyclist. I spoke with the owner Don last Monday. He said he had just received 2 58cm P2ks. I told him I would be coming from out of town on either Fri. or Sat. and that it was my intention to leave with a bike, almost definitely the Cervelo but I was open to a few other bikes. I called and spoke to the owner again on Wed. I told him that I would be there around 1 PM on Friday to get the P2k. I asked if he still had them. He said yes, he had 2 58cm P2k. So I took the day off work and drove to Austin. I found the shop and pulled in around 1 PM. I introduced myself and asked to see the P2k. He said he didn't have any. After some questioning, it turns out that on Mon. he didn't have any and that on Wed. he didn't have any. Both times I called I made it clear that I was driving in from out of town. Both times I made it clear that I was not coming to look, but was planning on buying a bike. Both times he told me that everything was set, the bike were built and ready to go. There was no apology for lying to me multiple times, no explanation. He only said he was more upset than I was because he lost a sale! Then he wanted to show me several other bikes, all of which did not meet the specifications that I had already told him about.

I'm sure that there are other people out there with good experiences at Austin Tricyclist, frankly I don't care. In trying to figure out why he would lie to me, I can only assume that he hoped to get a bike in time to sell one to me. If he had just told me, I would have waited until one came in. There is just no excuse for it, and as a result he has lost my business forever. I have heard that Cervelo is careful about who sells their bikes. I know from this forum and from listening to others that Cervelo has great service and I wanted to call their attention to this one experience. Hopefully this is just a single bad experience out of many good experiences with this tri shop.

Now the good part. I eventually did get my new Cervelo. The P2k is a great bike. It is well made, stiff, light and most important it fits and is extremely comfortable. I was only able to put in a 50 mile ride this weekend, but so far it is a wonderful bike. It compares favorably with every other bike I've tried, some even at double the price.