Originally Posted by
shawnzoman
What's up guys? I am new to the forum and in the last couple months have taken up an interest in cycling. I am a rather large guy at 6'6" 250 lbs. I have always loved bicycles and was interested in getting a nice mountain bike but my brother in law convinced me to look into finding a road bike since he does triathlons and wanted a riding partner. Well I picked up an 86 Cannondale bike a couple months ago for 200 bucks. It was a 25 inch bike (63.5 cm). The absolute only one I could find on craigslist in 2 months that was big enough for me and I had to drive two hours to get it. The guy told me it was an early 90's bike, I did the research on the serial number to find it was 1986 instead. It has Shimano 600 brakes, 200 GS derailers(?) and shimano down tube shifters. I got a new saddle for it, brake pads, tires and tubes and other accessories. I ride 4-5 days a week. I stick around 15 miles each ride. Anyways I love riding! It is tax time and I want to upgrade if at all possible. Finding another 64cm bike seems to be a tough task and I would like to keep the budget under 1,000. I went to a Performance store that was the closest LBS to me and they had no bike that was even close to fitting me.
My question. The down tube shifters are okayy, I would really like a more convenient set up on the bars. Would it make since to just upgrade the bike I have, or just buy a totally new bike. I found a 64cm Fuji Roubaix ACR 3.0 on Performance for 899 with tiagra components that I am leaning towards. Or should I just keep riding what I have and save some more $ ? Any suggestions or advice is welcome. Thanks!
There are four directions you can go, first is you can join the world of C&V or classic and vintage bicycles, finding a Shimano 600 Arabesque group for that Candy would be just perfect, one thing to note, frames from the 1970's and 1980's tend to run larger then more modern frames. If your mechanically inclined, and can learn a little about bicycle repair, it's a good way to go. Be warned though, you often end up with a lot of members in the herd.....
You can get the new bike, and sell the Candy, nice thing about old bikes, the values tend not to change much, you will probably get back, what you put into it. Larger frames can be hard to find, so you might even get a little more.
Third, and this is the one I like, get the new bike, slap a rack and a set of fenders on the Candy, and you have a great combination of the Candy as a nasty weather/commuter/grocery getter/going to town bike, where reliable DT shifters are ideal, and the new bike for kicking your brother-in-laws
.
Fourth, get the mountain bike you wanted in the first place.