What do you recommend???

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by dallas
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!

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.