Road Cycling - Choosing a bike...

Friends,

I'm in the market for a road bike, and I'm not having a lot of luck shopping locally. I live in a Texas college town and there is very little road bike interest here.

I'm 57 years old, retired, in pretty good shape, and looking for a bike to ride recreationally. Twenty years ago, I put in a lot of miles on a Motobecane road bike that I've since given to one of my sons. It's hard to say precisely how much riding I would be able to do, maybe 30 to 50 miles a week (I hope).

Locally, I have a dealer who sells Giant and will be getting some '03 OCR 2's soon. This is a generally appealing bike; I'm not familiar with the new geometry, though. Any opinions?

I think the dealer told me that they'll sell for about $830; I want to stay under $1,000, in any case.

I'd like to buy from a local shop, but I'd also like to have more choices. I've been looking at eBay lately, and I see a lot of Fuji's there. The Newest and the two Roubaix models have some appeal.

I'm equidistant from Austin and Houston; I could go shopping there if it made sense to do so, I guess.

Any thoughts on my situation will be appreciated!

Resoman

The road bike market is loaded with bikes in the $1,000 range. I'm surprised that in a college town there isn't a larger selection. If you're interested in a quality bike from a not-so-well known frame builder, but a great bike and a better value, check out FELT. We started carring this brand and it now outsells our Cannondales and our LeMonds.

I think their web address is www.feltracing.com, if not do a google!

L8R

a2psyklnut -

Thanks for the tip! The FELT bikes are very good looking (nice website too) and the F65 model seems very well suited to me. It costs $1,000, which is my absolute top limit, but it looks awful nice...

There's a dealer in Houston who expects to get some in soon and will email me when they're in stock.

Gary,
Texas

Originally posted by Resoman

I'm in the market for a road bike, and I'm not having a lot of luck shopping locally. I live in a Texas college town and there is very little road bike interest here.



That's... surprising.

Don't buy a bike mail order. After 20 years away from the sport, you need to be properly fit to a new road bike. Minor annoyances to someone in his 30's can become cause for knee surgery for someone in his 50's.

A shop that doesn't specialize in road bikes is not going to understand how to fit a road bike. So the first thing you need to do is find a roadie bike shop. One way to do that is to find a roadie and ask him. Better yet, find a bunch of them. Does that college have a racing team? They'll know where you should go.

Fit is more than just checking for crotch clearance. Most people have never ridden a bike that fit them properly; when you do, it can seem like it's easier to just keep going than it is to stop and get off the bike. those 50 miles a week will become 150 miles a week without you realizing it.

There are a lot of fine bikes in your price range. Bianchi, Trek, Cannondale, Giant, Specialized, Jamis... the right one is the one that fits best. Some have longer top tubes, or more aggressive seat tube angles. Some are designed more for all-day comfort, some for stiffness in the sprint. A good bike shop understands these issues and can actively help you zero in on the right frame. Then they'll work with stem extension and rise and with saddle position to get you comfortable.

As for your specific question about the Giant, it's impossible to know whether it's right for you because Giant's approach to sizing is unusal. They make only a few frame sizes, and a very wide array of stems and seat posts. This makes it easy to get an "ok" fit, but geting a perfect fit is mostly luck. These bikes handle and ride very differently depending on how extreme the adjustments are. A larger frame with shorter entensions will be a whole different experience from a smaller frame with longer ones.

The three most important things about a road bike are fit, fit, and fit. Don't get hung up on price or "features." Focus on fit. Read up on it (look at www.peterwhitecycles.com, www.sheldonbrown.com, and www.coloradocyclist.com for information about various issues and approaches to bike fitting).

Good luck!

RichC

Originally posted by Resoman
I'm 57 years old, retired, in pretty good shape, and looking for a bike to ride recreationally.
I'm also 57. About 3-1/2 years ago I did the same thing. Looking for a road bike for recreational riding and exercise. After about a year I was hooked. :o

I noticed that Valley Cyclery carries Trek and Lemond. Both make great bikes. If they don't have any road bikes in stock, they should be able to do a bike fit and order the bike of your choice. They can then make any adjustments (saddle height, fore-aft, stem length, etc.) after you've ridden the bike for a few miles.

You might also want to go to http://www.wrenchscience.com/WS1/UserSizing/guest1.asp
for some fit guidelines.

Good luck. Let us know what bike you get.

Resoman,
If I might be so bold I'd suggest you head over
to Lance Armstrong City (aka Austin) as there
are some really nice road oriented shops there.
I've been to a few when I did the Ride 4 the Roses
(expect to see you there next year!).
I'll post the names as they've slipped my mind
for now.
I strongly agree that mail order is NOT the way to go.
Its better to support LBS even if it is a 3 hour drive.

Marty

Listen to LOTEK (aka HITEK), Go someplace where they have enough bikes that you can find the one you want, in the size you need. If the LBS does have at least 15 or 20 road bikes, go somewhere else.

Don't buy a hybrid, they are a LBS way of selling you two bikes. Read the threads in this forum.

And not expect to ride 30 to 50 miles a week after a month or so. At your age within two months you will be riding 30 to 50 miles a day with no problems. Just ask this forum.

Marty and I will see you next year at the Hotter than Hell and the three of us will do the hundred!

WELCOME TO THE ADDICTION

Originally posted by 1oldRoadie
Listen to LOTEK (aka HITEK),

Marty and I will see you next year at the Hotter than Hell and the three of us will do the hundred!

aw jeez, do I have to change moniker just because I'm now
running ergo (it is 10 years old?) the only new post Y2K
component is the headset and how Hitech is that?

one thing, the wife (no moniker yet) will be doing the 100
so its at least 4 of us.
I know we should do a mass BF start!

Marty

Originally posted by 1oldRoadie

And not expect to ride 30 to 50 miles a week after a month or so. At your age within two months you will be riding 30 to 50 miles a day with no problems.
WELCOME TO THE ADDICTION


That's assuming you have time to devote to it...

I wish I did............:(

Resoman,

You mentioned the Fuji Roubaix models on e-bay. I ride Roubaix-Pro. It has a steel frame. The plain Roubaix model is aluminum. I like the steel.

I bought my bike in Dallas at Jack Johnston's Bicycles on Garland Rd. at the south end of White Rock Lake. The great man himself fitted me. He's retired now but hangs out at his former shop sometimes.

Eric