Racing Bike

109 views and no one has a single suggestion for a mid-level carbon frame for racing? really? I assumed that would be what the majority of you ride....

john.francis said:

109 views and no one has a single suggestion for a mid-level carbon frame for racing? really? I assumed that would be what the majority of you ride....

Well, often you have to be patient after posting a question. That said, you need to know that there's no definite answer to your question. What you should look for is a bike that fits you well, uhm, physically. Good fit means you can optimize fit-based performance parameters. Stiffness and weight are great marketing terms, but they're not the great performance differentiators that the ad men will have you believe. After fit, you should be sure the bike feels good when you ride it, so this means doing some test rides.

Frankly, I don't think you should get hung up on needing CF. CF isn't going to offer any race winning performance that can't be had on a frame of some other material. The most common bike you'll see at local races, around the country, is likely something from Cannondale's CAAD series. Likewise, there are a lot of other aluminum bikes being raced.

Use the forum 'search' function to find past threads on such race bikes.

I've been looking into a road/race bike myself, and yesterday while I was at Performance Bike I spotted a Schwinn Paramount 7; all carbon. The weight on a 56 frame was about 20 lbs with pedals. The price is $1399 through the end of the month with double points for Team Performance members.

It had a compact chainring and also Shimano 105 hardware. I thought it was a nice bike, and it was fairly comfortable for my 5'11 frame.

There are so many great bikes designed for racing currently on the market that taking recommendations from a forum will degenerate into a situation where "too many cooks spoil the broth", IMO. You got all the major manufacturers and then there's scores of smaller makes that are excellent as well.

I'd suggest going to several bike shops, take a look at a few and give them a ride for a good distance - longer the better. At your price point, you'll find all the bikes to be very, very good and fit for purpose.

Further, considering what you're going to spend the shop would do well to include a pro bike fitting with your purchase. If not, suggest it - you'll probably get it.

I was 1 of those 109 views who didn't reply as I don't have a CF framed bike, so I thought I would let those who do own a CF reply as they saw fit.

Now that I think about it, I don't have a $5k bike either.

My most expensive bike is a steel framed Paramount Campagnola equiped my Dad bought new in 1964 for $600.

My newest bike is an aluminum framed Cannondale Shimano 105 equiped that I purchased new in 1984 for about $570.

I'm pretty sure my reply won't be of any benefit, but at least I did reply. 😄

Just picked up my NEW road bike and just got home. I got a Schwinn Paramount 7; full carbon fiber, Shimano 105s Dig this...

The retail price was $1999 (I think..) and on sale for $1399. Then, I got an email from Performance Bike that I could get an additional $200 off Schwinn and Scattante (Performance house-brand) bikes between today and Wednesday. I called Performance to see if they'd honor the $200 "online only" credit in the store and they would.

I just walked out with a full-carbon bike for $1209 including my $10 pedals. :eek:

GT Fanatic said:

Just picked up my NEW road bike and just got home. I got a Schwinn Paramount 7; full carbon fiber, Shimano 105s Dig this...

The retail price was $1999 (I think..) and on sale for $1399. Then, I got an email from Performance Bike that I could get an additional $200 off Schwinn and Scattante (Performance house-brand) bikes between today and Wednesday. I called Performance to see if they'd honor the $200 "online only" credit in the store and they would.

I just walked out with a full-carbon bike for $1209 including my $10 pedals. :eek:

Good stuff.

alienator said:

Good stuff.

I like it. I'm used to riding a mountain bike on the asphalt (2010 GT Avalanche 1.0) so anything by comparison will feel light and responsive.

This is my first road bike EVER, and I like it. I question my decision to go with a bike packing a compact (2 chain-ring) crankset but everyone I talked to told me that was the way to go. We'll see.

I have taken it out on its maiden voyage and climbed a hill that always gives me problems on my mountain bike, and it took them with a grain of salt. Coming down this same twisty hill, the bike seems responsive and seems to go where I point it. At this point the bike is probably more capable than I am, as I have been riding a road bike for all but an hour or two.

IMO, it's a really hot looking bike. Given that it's a "US Exclusive," it's done out in red, white, and blue. The frame is sort of "race-striped" in white and blue, and where the white meets the blue, there is a thin red line separating them. It sounds gaudy, but I think it's really sharp. I'll post pics later.

64Paramount said:

I was 1 of those 109 views who didn't reply as I don't have a CF framed bike, so I thought I would let those who do own a CF reply as they saw fit.

Now that I think about it, I don't have a $5k bike either.

My most expensive bike is a steel framed Paramount Campagnola equiped my Dad bought new in 1964 for $600.

My newest bike is an aluminum framed Cannondale Shimano 105 equiped that I purchased new in 1984 for about $570.

I'm pretty sure my reply won't be of any benefit, but at least I did reply. 😄

I should apologise guys - I was at home sick, and was flipping between the forum and facebook. And unfortunately not much progress was being made on either site, so alas I got slightly impatient. For that, I'm sorry.

Thanks for the feedback so far guys, I think I'll need to start getting out there and trying out as many bikes as possible. Especially given the number of sales going on at the moment, sooner rather than later is the time to buy, it would seem.

Thanks again guys for your advice.

John.

GT Fanatic said:

Just picked up my NEW road bike and just got home. I got a Schwinn Paramount 7; full carbon fiber, Shimano 105s Dig this...

The retail price was $1999 (I think..) and on sale for $1399. Then, I got an email from Performance Bike that I could get an additional $200 off Schwinn and Scattante (Performance house-brand) bikes between today and Wednesday. I called Performance to see if they'd honor the $200 "online only" credit in the store and they would.

I just walked out with a full-carbon bike for $1209 including my $10 pedals. :eek:

Good for you, GT! 😎

Post a pic or 2 when you get a chance.

john.francis said:

I should apologise guys - I was at home sick, and was flipping between the forum and facebook. And unfortunately not much progress was being made on either site, so alas I got slightly impatient. For that, I'm sorry.

Thanks for the feedback so far guys, I think I'll need to start getting out there and trying out as many bikes as possible. Especially given the number of sales going on at the moment, sooner rather than later is the time to buy, it would seem.

Thanks again guys for your advice.

John.

No apology needed on my account, John. I mainly just posted to bump your thread up and had to think of something to say. 😄

Good luck shopping for your new bike!

64Paramount said:

Good for you, GT! 😎

Post a pic or 2 when you get a chance.

Thanks! More detailed pics to come later this evening!

That looks great, GT! 😎

64Paramount said:

That looks great, GT! 😎

Thanks! Here are some more in-depth photos!

Nice. Quite a few of us, on the forum, have had Paramount frames, although I'd say with the exception of yours, nearly all of them have been steel frames. You should do a interwebular search to discover the long rich history of Schwinn Paramount frames.

alienator said:

Nice. Quite a few of us, on the forum, have had Paramount frames, although I'd say with the exception of yours, nearly all of them have been steel frames. You should do a interwebular search to discover the long rich history of Schwinn Paramount frames.

I'll check into them. Thanks for the tip.

I just saw the rest of the pics you posted, GT.

That's a beautiful bike! 😎

64Paramount said:

I just saw the rest of the pics you posted, GT.

That's a beautiful bike! 😎

Thank you for the compliment! I really like it a lot. Every time I look at the thing I notice some small detail I hadn't noticed before. It wasn't until I rode the bike a few times that I noticed the stars emblazoned onto the handlebar grips; very cool, subtle touch.