cannonadale vs specialized

Warren Ginn said:

Would someone take a look at these two bikes and tell me
which one has the better setup/components? I will be
riding this on what I call "rugged tours" - tours (65mi +)
on crappy roads in Long Island, NY.

Quoted message said:

I also believe that I need some sort of shock absorption
on the front fork of an aluminum bike, thus the carbon
fork. I was also considering the Cannondale Road Warrior
1000 HeadShok, but that's about $1400...

What LI roads do you ride that are so bad? I've been riding
on LI for 30 years without these draconian measures.
Appropriately wide tires along with a comfortable saddle and
gloves should be all you need on the road.

Otherwise, tell Brands you want to test ride both bikes over
some rough roads.

Art Harris

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Warren Ginn
Hey guys:

Would someone take a look at these two bikes and tell me
which one has the better setup/components? I will be
riding this on what I call "rugged tours" - tours (65mi +)
on crappy roads in Long Island, NY. I intend to switch the
handle bar to a trial-type bar that will give me more grip
variety (I don't like drop bars). I also believe that I
need some sort of shock absorption on the front fork of an
aluminum bike, thus the carbon fork. I was also
considering the Cannondale Road Warrior 1000 HeadShok, but
that's about $1400...

Specialized Sirrus Comp - $949.99 brandscycle.comsiOpen ↗
te/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1542&Catalog=39&sort=Price desc

Cannondale Road Warrior 800 - $999.99 brandscycle.co-brandscycle.co-Open ↗
m/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1630&Catalog=39&sort=Price desc

For reference, but it may be a bit out of my range...

Cannondale Road Warrior 1000 HeadShok - $1,399.99 br-br-Open ↗
andscycle.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1629&Catalog=39&sort=-
Price desc

Thanks,

Warren

The Specialized would be my choice due to it's "normal" wheels and wider tires.
Fit for you and the feel of the saddle after you have around 1,000 miles in are very high on my priority list.
Armadillo tires are tough, but they also ride "tough".

For others who want to try the links, see if these work better.

<http://brandscycle.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1630&Catalog=39&sort=Price>

<http://brandscycle.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1542&Catalog=39&sort=Price>

The links you left didn't work at all in my reader.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by daveornee
.

Try this one for the Cannondale:

<http://brandscycle.com/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1630&Catalog=39&sort=Price>

I hit my reply button too fast last time, before checking my work.

Harris <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

What LI roads do you ride that are so bad? I've been
riding on LI for 30 years without these draconian
measures. Appropriately wide tires along with a
comfortable saddle and gloves should be all you need on
the road.

Otherwise, tell Brands you want to test ride both bikes
over some rough roads.

Art Harris

Put it this way, I don't want to be one of those guys on the
side of the road fixing a flat or tending to a bent rim. I
am frequently thankful for the beefer frame I have now
(cromoly Giamt Iguana with road tires) when cruching over
the potholes along the side of the road. i live in Glen Cove
and many of the roads (particulalrly along the sides) aren't
all that great.

I will gladly trade a bit of extra speed that I could get on
a Lightspeed for a more stable ride and less fragile tires.
That's why I have been drawn to this class of bike. I don't
really care for the name 'hybrid', but the ones I like look
like road bikes with *slightly* heavier duty frames and
wider tires.

Some of the other bikes of this type I have been
checking out are:

Lemond Wayzata Bianchi Strada Marin Highway One Fuji Royale
Motobecane Cafe Noir

All of these bikes have road-worthy frames with a wider gear
range and slightly wider tires. Plus, they don't have drop
bars. I believe that this is what I'm looking for.

Thanks,

Warren

Of the two you're examining I've ridden the Specialized and
very much liked it. I really liked the ability of the
Specialized to accomodate fenders which come in handy with
all the rain we've had this spring.

Tires you might swap out- I use Panaracer Pasela 700x32s
which really cushion the ride. I can tackle 1" and more
potholes with no discomfort. 700x25s are too small I think
to do this and whatever penalty the 700x32s have is made up
for by the ease with which they come on and off the rim
(fingers only), their toughness and longevity. I take no
heed of kevlar and similar "protection"- it's never done
much for me.

The carbon fork I don't think will make much of a
difference. On the contrary it may be an expensive
replacement if you end up smashing into something. Replacing
the fork on my Bianchi (Axis) would run over $250 and I
don't notice any difference between it and the Al fork on
older Axis models.

If you're really sensitive you may want a suspension
seatpost. I don't use one but many people do and it's only a
couple hundred extra grams.

Justin

Of the two you're examining I've ridden the Specialized and
very much liked it. I really liked the ability of the
Specialized to accomodate fenders which come in handy with
all the rain we've had this spring.

Tires you might swap out- I use Panaracer Pasela 700x32s
which really cushion the ride. I can tackle 1" and more
potholes with no discomfort. 700x25s are too small I think
to do this and whatever penalty the 700x32s have is made up
for by the ease with which they come on and off the rim
(fingers only), their toughness and longevity. I take no
heed of kevlar and similar "protection"- it's never done
much for me.

The carbon fork I don't think will make much of a
difference. On the contrary it may be an expensive
replacement if you end up smashing into something. Replacing
the fork on my Bianchi (Axis) would run over $250 and I
don't notice any difference between it and the Al fork on
older Axis models.

If you're really sensitive you may want a suspension
seatpost. I don't use one but many people do and it's only a
couple hundred extra grams.

Justin