Liv Avow Advanced 2017
Getting your first “big girl” bike is as exciting and nerve racking as buying your first house. My first “big girl” bike was a Liv Avow Advanced I bought in 2016 while living in Perth, Western Australia. I named her “Kona” and the day I went to pick her up I rode her home with running shoes and a brand new pair of clip on peddles. Little did I know at the time that higher end bikes do not come with peddles, one cleat does not fit all peddles, and it is looked down upon riding a nice bike with tennis shoes.
I believe this was the first year or one of the first years for Liv and their triathlon bike line and they really nailed it, the colors, quality, and style were all on point. From the start the bike fit me like a glove and I never had any problems with it. I rode and raced the bike consistently for three years, I just recently sold it to a young girl who is wanting to get into triathlon and this will also be her first bike, and only replaced the wrapping on the handle bars and I ended up switching out the saddle for a Cobb Saddle. The only issues I ever had with the bike was when I would fly and the airlines would bend the rear derailer but the bike was always easy for any bike mechanic to work on. I am almost 5’5 and the bike frame was an XS. I believe that the bike frames with Liv bikes and Giant bikes might run a little big but the bike fit me perfect and it was able to fit the 13 year old girl I sold it to.
So why did I not get another Liv bike when I got a new triathlon bike with electronic shifting? I live in Wyoming and bike shops are few and far between. The closest bike shop to me is two hours away and only carries mountain bikes. The closest triathlon bike shop is in Colorado which is a five hour drive. I wanted to get a new Liv bike yet there where not Giant/Liv dealers in a 7 hour square radius of me where I could test ride one and I did not feel comfortable buying a bike online and then asking the local bike shop to put it together. It would be like buying a car without test-driving or a house without walking through it before signing on the dotted line. In the end I settled on a Cervelo for the reason that the closets bike store near me that sold TT bikes, five hours away, was a Cervelo dealer. In conclusion Liv makes stylish truth worthy bikes and I highly recommend the Liv Avow Advanced as a starter or wallet friendly triathlon bike.