I Bought a Bike on the Internet

As soon as I finished the Outer Banks Century Ride for Life I knew I was hooked on road cycling. I decided to look for a reasonably priced road bike that I could use to do more century (100 mile) rides. I knew I wanted an aluminum frame, disk brakes, wide-ish tires and a Shimano 105 groupset.

I visited a local bike shop but their prices seemed higher than I was willing to spend.

I found a Raleigh Merit 3 on Amazon for over $500 off retail and ordered it. Two days later the box arrived. Raleigh is not a glamorous brand but hey most bikes including the high-end ones come from Taiwan or China.

Bike In A Box

The bike was 85% assembled and arrived with no damage. Basically, you put the handlebars, seat, front wheel, pedals and front brake on yourself. They even include the tools you need in the box.

I put the whole thing together without reading the instructions.

Almost Done

There were a few part parts remaining that I wasn't sure about until I chatted with my son.

Mystery pieces

The black rubber things are for routing the front brake cable through the carbon forks. The hollow tube centers the brake cable on the connection to the front brake. The two shiny pieces are end caps that you crimp onto the cable ends so they don't fray.

It took me quite a while to get the front and rear derailleurs adjusted properly as I had never done that before. I kind of expected them to be pretty close out of the box but they were way off. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and got everything working correctly.

After a couple of short rides I can say I'm very happy with the bike. It shifts great. It has a little bit of elastic in the stem and seat post to absorb bumps. The handlebars are very comfortable due to their oval shape and a lot of cushioning.

All Done