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New to Road biking "world"....help me out.

zakyr

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So I am ditching my mountain bike ('11 Trek 3700 disc -- which is for sale so if interested PM me!) and getting into road biking.

I don't want to break the bank on a bike so I am looking at the Trek 1.1 and other similar "entry-level" bikes.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the bike to get?

Live in the North Shore of Mass so I have a ton of roads right outside of my house to take advantage of.
 

MR. evil

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So I am ditching my mountain bike ('11 Trek 3700 disc -- which is for sale so if interested PM me!) and getting into road biking.

I don't want to break the bank on a bike so I am looking at the Trek 1.1 and other similar "entry-level" bikes.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the bike to get?

Live in the North Shore of Mass so I have a ton of roads right outside of my house to take advantage of.

Whats your budget?

And how often or how many miles per week do you see yourself riding?


The 1.1 has some pretty low end componentry on it but will be ok for the occasional rider. But if you are going to ride a good amount I would look at the 1.5 model as a starting point. Also check out bikes by Jamis and Giant. They are lesser known brands outside the cycling world and offer a little more bang for your buck versus the Trek's, Specialized & Cannondale's of the world. The big 3 I just mentioned make great bikes. but you are paying more for the name and markrting $$$ that go along with that name.

Also consider a used bike. Many bike shops take trade-in's of upper end bikes, and you can ussually get a sweet deal that way. Thats how I purchased my road bike last summer from my LBS. Its a 5 year old Specialized, full carbon frame with high end components, and I picked it up for just under $800. A new bike in that performace range would have cost me well over $3000
 

zakyr

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Yeah I don't have my heart set on the Trek 1.1 I only was drawn initially to trek road bikes as I have always had Trek mountain bikes.

My budget is $800, and that is my max. The less I can spend the better.

I want a solid road bike for rides around 10-20 miles for the most part. I don't care about brand names, but on the same token I want something durable. I'de rather spend $700 for a Trek or Specialized then $500 on a bike that will only last me a year.


I am hoping to get one through a LBS but I want an idea of my options before I go into these stores. I know very little about road bikes so I dont want to trust the sales guys every word.
 

riverc0il

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For $800, I'd strongly recommend used that way you can get something with either a minimum component setup of Shimano 105 or SRAM Apex. You aren't going to find a new bike at an LBS for $800 with either of these drive trains. If you are only going to be a casual rider, entry level drive trains are okay. But if you are getting in for keeps, you might as well start with some good gear.

Brand names are pretty much useless. Brand names cost more because they sponsor pro tour riders and factor in the cost of free bikes and sponsorship money into the price of your bike. Though certainly avoid big box stores. But don't feel like you need to get a "big name" just to ensure quality. I'd look more at component levels. There are some shoddy frames out there but they usually aren't being sold with reasonably good components (i.e.SRAM Apex or Shimano 105 or above). Tiagra isn't too bad but they are seriously upgrading it for the next year so it would bite to get in at that level before it got level'd up to old 105 spec.

The most important thing really is fit. You can use crappy components if you have a great fit but you'll be hating life regardless of your drive train with a bad fit. So ask for a test ride.

Oh... don't forget to factor in extra costs. Pedals, shoes, extra tubes, any other gear needed that you didn't already have with your MTB, road clothing if you want to look the part (certainly not required).
 

zakyr

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Can you recommend a bike?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

riverc0il

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Having gotten back into cycling a few years ago, I can sympathize with trying to buy a bike without knowing much about what is what. When I got back into it, I knew my sizing from a previous bike so I went the non-branded cheap internet route. I used bikesdirect.com.

Pretty damn good pricing but you really need to know what size you need. I wouldn't recommend this route unless you are 100% confident on your size. BD doesn't help much here and their geometry charts fail to list many important aspects such as head tube length (wish I knew more about that before I ended up on a "racey" geo bike). But they are the best way to get a good quality bike at a low price. Also, they do some pretty damn stupid cassette ranges that don't suit an all around bike (i.e. 11-32) so you need to really look over the specs and make sure that they make sense.

There are so many bikes out there by so many companies, it is impossible to recommend a specific one. Especially if you go used, as you're then more limited by what is available.

Another option is to ask LBS's if they have any of last year's models cheap. Probably not at this point, but always worth a shot. Every major road bike brand is going to have a solid aluminum offering. And every LBS carries different brands. The more well known the brand, the more expensive the bikes due to paying for pro tour sponsorships.
 

zakyr

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I actually haven't made any trips to the LBS's yet...plan on going to one in Danvers today.

Hoping to find a left-over year model....Im 6'3" so I would need around a 61cm bike...usually bike shops have larger sizes left over so Im hoping to get lucky.

I have thoroughly browsed craigslist and contacted many....no luck as of yet though.
 

drjeff

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I actually haven't made any trips to the LBS's yet...plan on going to one in Danvers today.

Hoping to find a left-over year model....Im 6'3" so I would need around a 61cm bike...usually bike shops have larger sizes left over so Im hoping to get lucky.

I have thoroughly browsed craigslist and contacted many....no luck as of yet though.

I'm in the 6'3" category too, and when I went to my LBS almost a year to the day ago to get my road bike, the owner of the shop, who has fit me for my mtb and my wife for a couple of road bikes prior, initially wanted to get me on a Specialized, but Specialized was sold out of ALL their 2011 61 cm frame bikes at ANY price point already for the year :eek: I ended up on the Jamis that i'm on and couldn't be happier :)
 

john1200c

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I actually haven't made any trips to the LBS's yet...plan on going to one in Danvers today.

Hoping to find a left-over year model....Im 6'3" so I would need around a 61cm bike...usually bike shops have larger sizes left over so Im hoping to get lucky.

I have thoroughly browsed craigslist and contacted many....no luck as of yet though.

I bought an entry level bike at the shop in Topsfield a few years ago. It was a Giant OCR 3. I dont think they make it anymore but they probably have a current version. I am happy with it but will likely upgrade this season. There is also a new shop in Middleton called Woodys which has a lot of bikes in stock, not sure if they are entry level or not. The guy in there has been very helpful to me regarding set up etc.
 

zakyr

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I'm in the 6'3" category too, and when I went to my LBS almost a year to the day ago to get my road bike, the owner of the shop, who has fit me for my mtb and my wife for a couple of road bikes prior, initially wanted to get me on a Specialized, but Specialized was sold out of ALL their 2011 61 cm frame bikes at ANY price point already for the year :eek: I ended up on the Jamis that i'm on and couldn't be happier :)

What Jamis did you get?
 

drjeff

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What Jamis did you get?

I went with their Xenith Endura 2 carbon frame bike. Having seen the damage that I had inflicted to my MTB over the previous couple of years, the owner of my LBS basically told me that there were certain bikes that he would refuse to sell me, since I'd more than likely end up breaking some things on them. I've been more than happy with the Sram Apex components for my drive train on this bike, and the only "issue" I had was that the post market pedals that I ordered myself had a recall on them, so aside from a single blown tuve courtsey of rolling over a very pointed rock, my Jamis has been bulletproof :)
 

riverc0il

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I actually haven't made any trips to the LBS's yet...plan on going to one in Danvers today.

Hoping to find a left-over year model....Im 6'3" so I would need around a 61cm bike...usually bike shops have larger sizes left over so Im hoping to get lucky.

I have thoroughly browsed craigslist and contacted many....no luck as of yet though.
You can't estimate bikes based on your height. And you don't want to measure Seat Tube as historically is done. Top tube and head tube are far more important. You might fit a 56cm in some manufacturers based on how geo works or 61 might be too small in others. You don't want to go in and say you need a 61cm Seat Tube size because seat tube is completely irrelevant for modern bikes.
 

riverc0il

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Looks like a relaxed geo bike which is probably what you are looking for. Nice that they have a full geo sheet now with all the measurements. I ended up with their Corvus which is much more racier geo. It is a solid package for the price. Tiagra isn't quite 105 but you still have the STI shifters and 10 speed.12-30 cassette is really way overkill matched with a triple. You don't have a useful 16t, a 12-28 wound be way more than adequate. But you can always buy a different cassette when you dial in your preferences. Suffice it to say that you won't find any hill you can't get up with a 30/30. You get free clipless pedals too, which is nice. Though I got what they offer before and I upgraded within a year, they are complete junk (make sure you get the right shoes that match the patter). If you go with this, definitely go with this year's with the new 10 speed Tiagra.

Their Gravity Comp30 looks a little better spec'd with 105 in the drivetrain and shifters and a more useful cassette but platforms instead of clipless and they don't list the Geo which IMO is dumb. It looks super relaxed though. This is a case where you're notice that a 58.5cm would probably fit you even though that is 2.5cm less than you might be used to because of the relexed geo.

Personally, if you're unsure of geo, I'd recommend buying local where you can try before you buy. For the record, I bought one size too big when I purchased from them because I didn't understand the measurement/geo differences between seat tube and top tube. I took the measurement from my last bike's seat tube and used that. But it turned out the top tube for the bike I bought was about 2cm longer than my old bike with the same seat tube. Keep in mind you can always increase saddle height but moving/pushing the bars in/out requires equipment changes (stem, seatpost) that could radically alter fit. YMMV.
 

MR. evil

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Another thing to keep in mind is that 2 people with the same height, but different body proportions will each be on a different size bike. Based on my height alone I should be on a 56cm Specialized road bike based on the size chart (which is just a starting benchmark). But because of the proportions of my legs to torso, specifacly femur length, my bike shop put me on a bike one size smaller (54cm). On the bigger bike it was impossible for the shop to adjust the seat heigh and seat setback to get my knees centered over the pedal spindles at a certain point in the pedal stroke. This could have lead to a potential repetitive stress knee injury if I was on the larger bike.

One thing to keep in mind is that mountain bike sizing / fit it's not nearly as critical as on a road bike. The extra $$$ spent the bike shop will be well worth it.
 

MR. evil

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Another thing to keep in mind is that 2 people with the same height, but different body proportions will each be on a different size bike. Based on my height alone I should be on a 56cm Specialized road bike based on the size chart (which is just a starting benchmark). But because of the proportions of my legs to torso, specifacly femur length, my bike shop put me on a bike one size smaller (54cm). On the bigger bike it was impossible for the shop to adjust the seat heigh and seat setback to get my knees centered over the pedal spindles at a certain point in the pedal stroke. This could have lead to a potential repetitive stress knee injury if I was on the larger bike.

One thing to keep in mind is that mountain bike sizing / fit it's not nearly as critical as on a road bike. The extra $$$ spent the bike shop will be well worth it.
 

zakyr

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Alright, so Im going to stop by a bike shop today to test out some bikes.

This LBS carries mostly Trek's and Garys.....see what happens.
 
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