A Proper Road Bike

Having just gone through the shopping experience myself, in my opinion at the price range you're talking, all of the offerings of the major manufacturers are going to be very good.

Spending $800-$1000, you're definitely looking at quality AL bikes with carbon forks and mid to mid-upper level components.

The road bike I just bought was my first-ever roadie, so I wanted to use a shop due to inexperience with fitting, etc.. I didn't want to take a chance on buying used or buying internet, even though there are some really good deals out there, especially in the used market. Since you've been doing the road thing for a year or so, you might be better positioned than I was to explore those options--but keep in mind the shop offers some worthwhile intangibles too, like tune ups, etc. in addition to the fitting stuff.

As you can probably tell from looking around the forums, you're going to run across very strong opinions about one manufacturer over another, but IMHO at the $1K price point, the majority of the bikes are going to be Asian made, and regardless of badge, many of them will probably actually include frames/components from the same plants. I tend to ignore reviews that start off with "All XX brand suck", or it's favorite cousin, "All XX brand bikes are the best". Folks understandably tend to vote for the bikes they own in a lot of cases.

So search the reviews on line to get a sense of what components you want, what bikes seem to attract the most objective reviews, and then go ride some examples and competing examples to find the bike that speaks to you.

All of which is a kinda long way of saying you're gonna be able to buy a pretty darned good bike for the amount of $$ you're talking.

Happy hunting!

Bill

Billcycle said:

All of which is a kinda long way of saying you're gonna be able to buy a pretty darned good bike for the amount of $$ you're talking.

Of the brands you mentioned, there isn't a bad one in the bunch, and you're sure to find carbon forks at the price you're trying to hit. Basing you purchase on fit, dealer vibe and service, and simply how the bike makes you want to ride it is the best advice I can give you.

d2macken said:

I'm new here and I'm already looking for advice. I picked up an uber cheap road bike last summer to see if I could get into road cycling. Sure enough, I really enjoyed my countless km blasting across the countryside so I've decided I might like to try and find myself a proper road bike.

I'm 21 and a Canadian undergrad in biochemistry, so money is an object. I'm thinking I should be able to come up with $1000.00 +-200 for a road bike. It won't be for racing, just touring for fitness. I don't know a whole lot about bikes and am really not sure (for my skill level and needs) what's worth the money in terms of tiagra vs this vs that.

It seems that in my price range, aluminum is what's most prevalent, and I've heard that CF forks will help dampen any road vibration...?

Anyhow, I'm looking for some suggestions as close to $1000.00 as possible... I'm 5'7'', if that matters. Shops in the area seem to carry Trek, Giant, Specialized, Devinci, Opus, Brodie, Norco, but that list shouldn't be considered comprehensive.

I really appreciate any wisdom that could be shared, really.

Just how "cheap" is your current bike?

If you are really on a tight budget, then for $200 (US or CD) you could buy a pair of the new-style, 10-speed Campagnolo Veloce shifters + cables/housing ...

10-speed Campagnolo shifters will index with most non-Campagnolo 7-/8-/9-speed drivetrains ... the effort will be minimal.

If your bike has a 6-speed Freewheel, then you can buy a 7-speed SUNRACE Freewheel to achieve the necessary cog spacing to use the indexed shifters.

If you keep whatever you remove from your current bike, then you can continue to use the Campagnolo shifters on a future bike.

A quick update,

I went to a few of my local bike shops today to see what they had and here's what I've come up with to be in my price range... I was hoping someone could share experiences with any of these models. They're all pretty much the same price.

Giant Defy 3.0
Trek 1.2
Specialized Allez Sport Compact Double
Norco CRD2
Cannondale CAAD8 8.

What's the word, folks?

Well, I am a little bit biased towards the Specialized Allez Sport, having one myself (albeit a triple). It was my first foray into road cycling, and cost about $800 US, with the rest of my budget going towards shoes, pedals/cleats, helmet, gloves and riding shorts.... which can add up pretty fast. Oh, and the speedometer/odometer wasn't a cheap item either.

The bike has been great for the past two years, no complaints at all about speed or rigidity. Some folks seem to feel aluminum transfers a bit more of the bumpiness from the road to the rider; something to think about when you become addicted enough to want a full carbon fiber frame. Just make sure the bike shop really takes their time and fits you well-- you're probably going to be spending a lot of time on whatever roadie you get, and you might as well make yourself comfortable.

I don't know anything about the Norco brand you mentioned, but at least the other four are all well-respected, quality brands.

You should probably be guided most about the feel and comfort of the geometry of the different brands. Since you are of a pretty average height, thee shops you are going to should have floor models of the frame size that is most-likely appropriate for you. Even if they don't do a real fitting for a test ride, they should at least be able to provide a bike of about the right frame size, with the seat height at least close to right.

Of the four, the C'dale CAAD8 is going to have a frame geometry that is the most race-oriented, whereas the other three will provide a somewhat more upright position, with a bit more comfort. I'm guessing a bit here, but would think that the Giant Defy would perhaps be the most comfort-oriented, with both the Trek 1.2 and the Specialized Allez being somewhere in the middle. But whether you can feel that much difference, or which riding position you prefer, will depend on you. Keep in mind that the actual geometry/dimension differences between all of these are not really that much. Maybe a grand total of 20 or so mm in the head-tube length, and similar, if not less, dimension differences in the effective top-tube length, etc. In the end, the quality of the fit process at the shop may make more difference than the frame choice. You may want to also check out Bicycling.com's online bike review archives - even if they are not of the 2010 models, they probably have some level of info on all four.

Your other decision to make is whether you will prefer a triple or a compact double (they probably don't even offer "regular" doubles). The typical advice is that unless you live in a quite hilly area, a compact double is probably a better choice than a triple. That said, this is also essentially a personal preference item, and probably all of the bikes you are looking at can be had in either form.

If you look at my sig, you'll see I'm a bit biased, but I'd offer that bias comes with good experience.

The Trek 1 and 2 series road bikes are great bang for the buck. I have a 2.3, and we just bought my wife a 1.5. Everything in my original post still applies--ultimately it's going to come down to your personal preference.

You've got a nice range of bikes to choose from, to be sure!

Can you test ride anything in your size? I'm guessing you would be fine with 50 to 52 cm bikes.

I test rode a Trek 2.1 and the quality was outrageously high.

d2macken said:

A quick update,

I went to a few of my local bike shops today to see what they had and here's what I've come up with to be in my price range... I was hoping someone could share experiences with any of these models. They're all pretty much the same price.

Giant Defy 3.0
Trek 1.2
Specialized Allez Sport Compact Double
Norco CRD2
Cannondale CAAD8 8.

What's the word, folks?