Good First Bike

You are exactly where I was 3 months ago. I bought a Felt SR-91. These bikes are new to my area and I bought it new for $480 (I think normally they are over $600) and replaced the seat, pedals, and added a computer and was out the store at $600. Very good bike. I've put over 700 miles on it and still rides like new. My next bike will be a Felt as well, but will have the drop bars instead of the straight bars.

Other options in that price range that I thought were decent bikes are the Specialized or the Schwinn. Check them out on the web, then go riding. I actually stole the seat and pedal idea's from the Specialized and put them on my Felt.

Good luck shopping.

Fuji makes several road bikes for under $500, in both aluminum and steel frame versions. While I haven't ridden any of the new ones I have an old 1980s Sagres which has been a very good bike. Take a look on Ebay. I've also looked at these Felts at the local bike shop and they seem really nice, and fine values in several price ranges. And a low end Giant might be a consideration. Also take the time to visit several shops and take advantage of a discount on an unsold bike that is a year or so old.

As always a trip to Bicycle Review website will supply price range and rider reviews of many different brands of bicycles, and their component hardware.

I think fuji's lower priced road bike is called the fuji finest and they make it in AL and cro-moly. Or at least they used to. I've ridden one (the steel one) and it wasa much nicer ride than other bikes at similar prices that i'd test ridden. A used bike might be a good choice for you though if you're willing to be patient and search around.

Hey,

I was in your position a couple of weeks ago and decided to go with a Specialized Allez. It has a carbon fork, a mixture of Ultegra and Sora components and got out of the store under $600. With the 2005 models hitting the showroom in the next couple of weeks, you can find some good deals on 2004 models now.

I just realized I screwed that up. It does have a carbon fork, and it does have a mixture of components. It has Sora shifters and front derailleur and Tiagra rear derailleur. Ultegra is a little more expensive and would not be paired with their Sora parts.

whitey0414 said:

Hey,

I was in your position a couple of weeks ago and decided to go with a Specialized Allez. It has a carbon fork, a mixture of Ultegra and Sora components and got out of the store under $600. With the 2005 models hitting the showroom in the next couple of weeks, you can find some good deals on 2004 models now.

Felt F90 (about 550.) Same frame as the 80 but to keep cost down it uses the sora group