Road Cycling - opionions please

I am looking at a road bike finally. The lbs owner and I are doing some trading so......... I am looking at 2 bikes specifically: 64 cm trek 1200 or 61 cm lemond nevada city. I am in kansas so my riding will be on small hills or flat land the worst thing is the wind here. I own a trek 7100 already and I am impressed with it. Any way any opinions you might have or insights would be great.

Well, unless you are more than 6'2" tall, the trek is too big. Even then, you'll need long legs...

I have ridden both and by my measure trek mesures teh frame from bottom bracket to the TOP of the seat tube. the lemond is measured from bottom bracket to the middle of the top tube. Last night i went and rode a lemond tete de course ( I believe it was ) with full campy record groupo in 61 cm frame. man it was light and fast and sweet fit was damn near perfect other than things like bar height. But it did have a harsh ride. the lbs guy Ken says I will get rid of that with steel so I am leaning toward the lemond.....

If you rode a Lemond Tete De Course and thought it was harsh do not even consider an aluminum bike. The Tete De Course is a titanium bike and my experience with titanium is they give a much mellower and less harsh ride than aluminum. Maybe you should consider a Trek 5200. They are carbon fiber and give a very light neutral ride.

the 5200 is quite outside my budget nice bike but way to expensive! I am looking to spend in the neighborhood of 1000 max

Mostly an MTB kind of rider, but I made my first venture in the world of road biking this last summer when I picked up a Nevada City. After several hundred miles (Didn't get the bike until partway through the summer because I was just short of what I needed) of on the road training for my MTB races I have only good things to say. The components certainly aren't the top-of-the-line goodies, but they work fine for my purposes. The ride seems fine to me from my limited experrrience on aluminum vs. steel framed road bikes. Several of my rides were 50+ milers and after getting used to the new position on the road bike from my normal MTB riding position I felt no discomfort and the bike fit great. I believe there was also a cannondale in my price range (800-900). There were several other bikes that I looked at also. I ended up getting the Lemond for just over 750 or so because my family decided to get into cycling at the same time, so we ended up getting a deal on buying 4 at once. I couldn't beat the price for the components and frame from what I had seen.
-Moab

Avoid opi-onions at all costs. Regular onions are bad enough, but opi-onions, dear God do they give you bad breath.

Kidding.

The size of the frame is the measurement of the length of the top tube. The Lemond geometry will put you stretched out more for the same size frame as the Trek. If your budget is $1,000, my best suggestion at this point for you would be to test ride a Lemond Alpe D'Huez. If you like the ride of that steel frame, it would be a much better bargain. I got a Trek 1000 for my first roadie, with Sora Group, just like the Nevada City. The Shimano 105 group on the Alpe D'Huez is the best bang for your buck, and can be upgraded at replacement time to Ultegra, if you wish. I think the Alpe D'Huez would cost you about $1300. The extra $300 would be nothing at this point, compared to a bike that could possibly last your lifetime.

HA! I got my alpe duez for $999. granted its a double and it is from 2002, but it is soo freakin smooth. If I was paying full price though, I think I would have gotten the Buenos Aires, b/c it has an exellent bang-buck ratio. It is $200 more, $1500 dollars, with the same frame, but ultegra parts spec instead of 105. However, that is out of your price range. ask if the LBS has any 02s lying around. Those are a good value.

Nemo, if that titanium frame with a carbon fork felt harsh to you, it's because you're used to a hybrid with suspension parts and fat tires. All other things being equal, the differences between a steel frame and a ti frame of similar design will be extremely subtle compared to the difference between either of them and your hybrid.

It's the narrow, high-pressure tires that you're reacting to more than anything else, I expect. Having more of your weight on your hands than on a hybrid may contribute something to the sensation of harshness as well.

You should also be aware that the Tete de Course's geometry is somewhat different from Lemond's other racing bikes, particularly in that the chainstays are even shorter.

RichC

Originally posted by Dchiefransom
The size of the frame is the measurement of the length of the top tube. The Lemond geometry will put you stretched out more for the same size frame as the Trek. If your budget is $1,000, my best suggestion at this point for you would be to test ride a Lemond Alpe D'Huez. If you like the ride of that steel frame, it would be a much better bargain. I got a Trek 1000 for my first roadie, with Sora Group, just like the Nevada City. The Shimano 105 group on the Alpe D'Huez is the best bang for your buck, and can be upgraded at replacement time to Ultegra, if you wish. I think the Alpe D'Huez would cost you about $1300. The extra $300 would be nothing at this point, compared to a bike that could possibly last your lifetime.

unfortunatly this lbs is quite small the only roadie they have in stock is 56 cm trek 1000. that is way to cramped for me. the bike i rode was the owners personal bike and when i said harsh I meant you feel much more road that I am used to. It worked smooth as glass however. quite light and fast.Also due to size having any of last years road bikes is out of the question.

Originally posted by Dchiefransom
The size of the frame is the measurement of the length of the top tube.
:confused:
For a LeMond or Trek, I believe Nemo is correct... frame size is specified by BB to Top Tube (CC or CT) length.

Hey Nemo...

Sheldon Brown has a great article about frames and the materials that they're made of.

Frame Materials (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-materials.html)