Hi all. I am looking at getting a road bike. Looks like alot of fun.
My motivation for a road bike are as follows:
Bad knees so I cant run
I will be recovering from knee surgery soon (torn maniscus right now). PT says I need to build my quads.
I am getting a gut and need to get about 40#'s off me. Im 5'9" and 207#
I love being outdoors and there are alot of places to ride around here.
I have people to ride with.
Rode my butt of on mountain bikes in past years and loved it.
It seems this is a good time to buy a bike. I have been scouring CL and the net but nothing that I liked in a 54-56 in the last couple of weeks. Bikes I have tested out at the LBS:
56 cm Specialized Rubidaux really nice fit and light carbon fiber bike with 105 package. 1445
56 cm Trex 1.2 good fit $855 actually this had Sora package on it and it shifted way better than the Giant.
54 cm Cannondale Synapse good fit and prob front runner for the $900
54 cm Giant. I didnt like the fit on this bike and the Sora package didnt shift as positive as the Tiagra equipped bikes.
Do you have an opinion on Diamond Back Podium 3? Raleigh Revenio?
I think I want an aluminum frame with at least Tiagra components. My componant choice is basically due to the difference between the Giant which was the (first bike I rode) and the Specialized (second to test) shift was so different. I wanted to stay around 1K. I would love to get the Rubidoux but I can get helmet pedals and shoes for the difference.
What else should I be looking for in a bike? What am I missing? I am going to spend all day tomorrow looking and test riding, any suggestions? Any feedback is appreciated.
i think a 54cm is better for a 5'9 person, Shimano 105 is a nice grouppo, much better than Sora and Tiagra, take care of your knees by using smaller gears and higher cadences and avoid hills and climbs for the first couple of months,
Thanks for the help vspa. Another question, what do they do when they tune up (minor and major) your bike? The one shop offers lifetime tune ups, not sure about the other shops.
Thanks for the help vspa. Â Another question, what do they do when they tune up (minor and major) your bike? Â The one shop offers lifetime tune ups, not sure about the other shops.
unlike a complete maintenance, a tune-up might be calibrating your brakes and shifting and eventually truing (making them straight) your wheels, if truing the wheels is included then the lifetime offer is excellent, a complete maintenance consists of the same above but also of greasing the internal moving parts of the headset, hubs, bottom bracket, and changing all the cables,
Well I rode a different Giant today and really liked it. Components were same as the Cannondale, Tiagra. The Giant is a 2012 model same as the Cannondale. Cannondale is $100 (%10) cheaper and I liked both bikes but leaning to the Giant based on the personal attention of the staff. The guy was really cool and spent alot of time, lucky for me they were not busy at all. I think I am going to go in and throw an offer of $950 at the owner and go from there. I think these guys have earned my business. Thanks for all the help and I look forward to putting some miles down.
