What do you recommend???

dallas said:

Looking at spending between $3000 - $4000 on a compact frame road bike.
Looking at either a Giant TCR 1 Composite , Avanti Corsa Elite or a
LearSport Lear 9000. Dont know a great deal about Learsport? is there
antything else that anyone could recommend. LearSport sounds good with
Dura-Ace??? Would appreciate some advice.

OK! I would first of all be asking myself the questions of whether I
wanted the best groupset available and upgrading the frame, or whether I
wanted to get the best frame and upgrade the groupset. First of all,
I'll start by saying that Avanti and Giant carry a great deal more
prestige than Learsport. Call me a snob, but for the same price with a
choice between each of those three bikes, I'd choose the Giant first,
Avanti second and Learsport last, purely for the weight the name
carries, the reputation and the look of the bike. The wheels on the
Learsport really aren't up to scratch with a Dura-ace equipped bike, and
are more a training wheel then a race wheel. I've seen those wheels most
often in the Shimano 105 price range, but if I bought a Dura-ace bike,
they would be the first thing I'd replace. I notice that between the
Avanti and the Giant, there is little difference componentry wise. Both
have Ultegra, both have Ksyrium Elite wheels. However, the TCR has a FSA
Carbon crankset which is probably better than the Ultegra one in terms
of performance and definitely better in terms of looks. The Giant is, to
my eyes, a well equipped bike and a nice looking one. It has a full
carbon frame too.

Now, the Avanti has a nice frame too. It really depends on what sort of
feel to the bike you're after. The Avanti offers a Carbon rear end and
fork, but Aluminium elsewhere. I would guess (and I don't have figures
in front of me) that the Giant would weigh less than the Avanti and
Learsport. The functionality of Dura Ace and Ultegra is very similar,
the only really difference is in weight. And as far as ride quality,
noone on this board is going to be able to help you with that. In terms
of best equipped or biggest brand name or whatever, I would be leaning
towards the Giant or the Avanti. However, in the wrong hands the best
tool is useless, and if the bike doesn't fit, or feel right, then there
is no use handing over 4000 big ones. My advice is to ride each one, and
base your decision foremost on ride quality and whether it feels
'right', and if you can't whittle it down to one definite choice, resort
to which is best equipped or which looks the most pleasing.

Hope this helps!

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dallas said:

Looking at spending between $3000 - $4000 on a compact frame road bike.
Looking at either a Giant TCR 1 Composite , Avanti Corsa Elite or a
LearSport Lear 9000. Dont know a great deal about Learsport? is there
antything else that anyone could recommend. LearSport sounds good with
Dura-Ace??? Would appreciate some advice.

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If the Dura Ace groupset retails for around $2200, then how good is the rest
of the bike? I always ask this of myself when coming down a hill at 70km/h.

Simple rule - frameset first - everything else afterwards.