Road Bike Buying Advice

[riverc0il]

Many of the upper end MTB makers are stating to use Reach and Stack for sizing bikes as its a more meaning full way to size a bike vs TT and ST lengths. I wonder if road bikes will soon follow

I'm seeing reach and stack in more and more geo tables lately. Still not as widely adopted as it should be. I think TT and HT measurements are sufficient for getting a good size. You can always fine tune with moving the seat, flipping the stem, or getting a longer or shorter stem, as well as adjusting spacers.

 

[drjeff]

Keep in mind that when buying a Spesh, Trek, Cannondale, etc you are not only paying for a bike but also the name on the down tube. You will be able to stretch your money further if you look at some of the bike company's that are not house hold names such as Jamis and Giant to name a couple.

LOVE my Jamis Xenith Endura 2 that my LBS got me into last June

 

[BackLoafRiver]

Update

Went to a shop in Portland today to test ride the Defy.

Because I am only 5'7, I fit nicely in between the small and the medium. I took the small out first and rode it around for a bit. Had to adjust the seat once to get the proper leg extension but after that, the bike fit well. It's looking like the small Defy 1 is going to be the winner. I want to check out a Trek 2.1 just to see how it rides but, really, at almost $200 more for similar components, it seems silly.

Just a quick fit question, I noticed when I was riding around, my knees came up a bit higher than I am used to. (or, maybe because of body position on the MTB I never notice it) Is this normal? (they don't come up to my chest or anything that extreme) Does this make sense?

 

[riverc0il]

If you are buying from a shop, they should make sure the bike is setup correctly for you (pretty much is the biggest reason to buy from a shop). Your contact with the bike is pedals, seat, and handlebars so those should be the three areas of potential adjustment: seat up or down, seat forward or back, or stem flipped or longer/shorter/different angle. They should be able to look at you on the bike and at least get things close.

You are going to be more stretched out (upper body) on a road bike even with relaxed geometry compared to a MTB. But your legs shouldn't be smashing into your chest. Have the shop take a look at your fit if you buy and they'll make sure everything is good (or they should if they are a good shop).

 

[BackLoafRiver]

If you are buying from a shop, they should make sure the bike is setup correctly for you (pretty much is the biggest reason to buy from a shop). Your contact with the bike is pedals, seat, and handlebars so those should be the three areas of potential adjustment: seat up or down, seat forward or back, or stem flipped or longer/shorter/different angle. They should be able to look at you on the bike and at least get things close.

Yeah, the tech looked at me, adjusted the seat up, and decided against swapping the stem around. He thought that if we had gone up a size, we would want to switch it. We didn't fuss with the seat forward or back positioning.

 

[andyzee]

My recommendations; if you plan to ride 50 or less miles go for the aluminum, light and stiff, the stiffness allows for efficient transfer of power, however on rides of 50+ miles, the stiffness of aluminum allows for the pain of each bump and hole you hit to be transferred to your body. For 50+ miles, I recommend Chromoly (not as stiff or light as aluminum). Or Carbon, love my carbon frame bike, light, stiff, but absorbs the road bumps and holes, setback, expensive.

 

[ts01]

2 points:

I've got an old 1985 Nishiki in the basement I can sell you :uzi:

If it fits, depending on which Nishiki, you could do lots worse. I commute 26 miles r/t on a 1984 Nishiki Prestige with double-butted Tange tubing that I've been riding since I rolled it out of the bikeshop in 1984. None of the original components but it's a great frame (now converted to fixed gear).

Unrelated to the Nishiki love: Obviously I'm fond of steel frames but my road and tri bikes have all been more recent vintage aluminum and there's no need to rule it out as I think it's the best value for money in the current bike market. The so-called harshness of alu frames can easily be mellowed out with carbon forks (most modern alu bikes have carbon fork), and running slightly wider tires (700x25), filled to around 100-110 psi instead of 120. Carbon frames are obviously all over now but you can get a better spec'd bik with alu not carbon with no significant weight penalty. And I've seen enough "catastrophic failure" pics of carbon bikes that I'd want a new high-end frame in carbon, would be leery of used and/or cheap.

 

[drjeff]

My recommendations; if you plan to ride 50 or less miles go for the aluminum, light and stiff, the stiffness allows for efficient transfer of power, however on rides of 50+ miles, the stiffness of aluminum allows for the pain of each bump and hole you hit to be transferred to your body. For 50+ miles, I recommend Chromoly (not as stiff or light as aluminum). Or Carbon, love my carbon frame bike, light, stiff, but absorbs the road bumps and holes, setback, expensive.

The one thing about carbon frame bikes and the ride/performance, and this comes from not just personal experience, but also from talking with and observing dozens of members of my local bike club (roadies, mountain bikers and cyclocross enthusiasts) is that once you go carbon, you're not going back to steel/aluminum

 

[mlctvt]

The one thing about carbon frame bikes and the ride/performance, and this comes from not just personal experience, but also from talking with and observing dozens of members of my local bike club (roadies, mountain bikers and cyclocross enthusiasts) is that once you go carbon, you're not going back to steel/aluminum

I agree with this 100%.
It's the reason why Carbon is selected by virtually all professional cyclists. When was the last time you saw a pro on aluminum or steel? 1995 or maybe even earlier.


A friend just bought a full carbon Scott road bike with Shimano 105 for only $1500. It was new but a leftover, year or two old. There are deals out there if you look around.

 

[andyzee]

The one thing about carbon frame bikes and the ride/performance, and this comes from not just personal experience, but also from talking with and observing dozens of members of my local bike club (roadies, mountain bikers and cyclocross enthusiasts) is that once you go carbon, you're not going back to steel/aluminum

Yep, for sure. When I went from aluminum to carbon, I couldn't believe the difference.

 

[riverc0il]

It's the reason why Carbon is selected by virtually all professional cyclists. When was the last time you saw a pro on aluminum or steel?

The last time that happened was probably the last time a sponsor offered a free top end AL bike to a pro.

And if "what the pros use" was the only factor in decision making, we'd all have cassettes starting at 11 and 53/39 double chainrings.

Just sayin'

 

[marcski]

The last time that happened was probably the last time a sponsor offered a free top end AL bike to a pro.

And if "what the pros use" was the only factor in decision making, we'd all have cassettes starting at 11 and 53/39 double chainrings.

Just sayin'

You already know my position on this, Riv.

But, it's not only road anymore, carbon mountain bikes are becoming pretty standard on the circuits as well and my LBS carries a good number of them from different companies.

 

[mlctvt]

I can't comprehend why someone would ever "choose" an alumimum bike over a carbon bike if the price was no different. As Dr Jeff indicated "once you try it you'd never go back."
but price usually is much more for carbon. I still ride 2 aluminum bikes although they do have carbon forks,an aluminum cyclocross bike and our tandem. I'd love it if both of these were carbon but carbon tandem frames start at about $6K and go to well over $10k. The "average" fully equiped carbon tandem is about $10K. Price is the only reason I still have aluminum bikes! If I did it again I would have waited on the cyclocross bike and saved up the extra $500 for a full carbon frame. I can't stand riding that bike on any ride over 50 miles, it's just so punishing compared to carbon.

I don't think I'll ever buy another bike that isn't a full carbon frame.

 

[BackLoafRiver]

Update

Pulled the trigger this morning. Went with the slightly more expensive Tarmac Elite. After riding the Defy more I decided I liked the fit better on the Tarmac. The guys at the LBS were awesome! They threw in some tubes, the cage, and a few other things. Nicest guys at Center Street Cycle in Brunswick. The owner is salt of the earth and the tech who helped me, a kid named Jay, is the bee's knees.

Took it out for the inaugural ride. 18 miles in 1:10. Nothing overly hill-y. Beautiful, scenic ride. I can tell that I am going to really enjoy it.

 

[marcski]

Nice looking ride, congrats and enjoy!

 

[mlctvt]

Great bike.
I'm sure you'll be glad you upgraded.

 

[andyzee]

That is sweet, thought you said you don't want to spend. :lol: I'm sure it will serve you well. can't beat Carbon Fiber, OK, maybe titanium. Word of advice, be careful with the frame, CF doesn't take kindly to good hits on the side. Good luck, nice choice!

 

[BackLoafRiver]

That is sweet, thought you said you don't want to spend. :lol: I'm sure it will serve you well. can't beat Carbon Fiber, OK, maybe titanium. Word of advice, be careful with the frame, CF doesn't take kindly to good hits on the side. Good luck, nice choice!

I didn't want to shell out the extra $$ but I had some come in I wasn't planning on. Turns out, it was well worth the investment.

I haven't really had longer than an hour and a half to ride. Yesterday was my longest by far, 19.4 miles. I was hoping to hit 20. I am just a hair shy of 50 miles which doesn't seem like much (since most seem to ride 50 in a single ride) but I am pretty ok with. When I get longer to get out I will shoot for 30. My next ride I am shooting for over 20.