Road Cycling - New Road Bike

Hi All,
Been doing a lot of reading of this fab forum. Now my question:

I am planning on purchasing a road bike (first in 10 years) for serious fitness riding, no plans to race.

I have narrowed it down to the following:

Giant OCR 2 - Tiagra mix
Trek 1200 - Taigra mix, carbon fork
Cannondale R400 triple, CAAD 4, Tiagra-Sora, carbon fork(I think)

All are about 1200 CDN (800 US)
Now some qualifiers, I know Shimano 105 is the recommended minimum group but it is outside my self imposed budget.
There seems to be little love for the Giant OCR's here. It has the best group mix but no carbon fork, would the Trek 1200 be better as it has a carbon fork? Seems the Cannondale is the least bang for the buck?

I have ridden all three and really did not have a preference, alas my indecision. I plan on riding this bike for the remainder of the season and if I stick to it I will purchase a shiny new bike next summer (maybe a Klein Q or Trek 2300)

That way I will have a good foul weather bike as well. Is this a good plan or better to step up and just get the better bike.

Any thoughts on the 3 bikes and other general comments would be appreciated.

Ken

I have an OCR 1 and I think its great. The fork is made of a composite material though, unlike the cro moly fork of the OCR2. I dont know how much of a difference that makes. I would advise against buying new if you arent sure you are going to stick with it and if you are going to buy new next year anyway go with a used one. Ebay has great deals. Check your bike store for used ones or even 2002's if they have any left, normally at a considerable discount.

I will still choose the Cannondale over the two bike, with Aluminum frame and carbon fork, wou cannot go wrong on this one

I'm not a big Giant road bike fan, but that is one person's opinion. Many people swear by Giant.

I like Cannondale's lower line of bikes, even if it is the least bang for your buck. However, I don't think you'd be wrong choosing the Trek either.

To bad you cant go through supergo.I saw the 2002 R400 for $599.

I have a 1999 trek 2300 purchased new (carbon frame fork with some aluminum mixed in) that came with ultegra componets this pass week I changed it to dura ace a big improvment in shift accuracy anyway dont buy a bike now and another one next summer save your money for the best you can afford and pick a bike up at a garage sale for 100 bucks for now. You will be better off in the long run. Ps when you save up buy it online . MAC NYC.

Thank you for the input so far. Please let me know any other thoughts around these particular bikes or comparables if you have some experience.

You recommend not buying this now and buying the better(expensive) bike right away, do you not have a second bike for foul weather, lousy roads?

Ken

I had a Trek 1200, then a Trek 2200, they are great bikes. I have gone back to riding a steel frame, but I still have my 2200 frame. Cannot go wrong with a Trek, I think it is the best of the 3 you have mentioned.

May I suggest a Specialized Sequoia?

http://www.specialized.com/SBCBkModel.jsp?san=03SequoiaSport&bl=road&my=2003

It seems to fill your needs at a cheaper price.

Originally posted by Resident
May I suggest a Specialized Sequoia?

http://www.specialized.com/SBCBkModel.jsp?san=03SequoiaSport&bl=road&my=2003

It seems to fill your needs at a cheaper price.

Actually for the same price as the Sequoia Sport, you can also get the Allez Sport 27 (http://www.specialized.com/SBCBkModel.jsp?san=03AllezSport27&bl=road&my=2003) which has better components. Don't get me wrong, the Sequoia Sport is a nice bike but unless you're really digging the special handlebar, adjustable stem, suspension seatpost and secondary brake levers, I'd go for the Allez because it has 9sp Tiagra (105 rear der.) vs. the 8sp Sora group on the Sequoia. The geometries do differ though so be sure to try both to see which fits better.

Yep, my recommendation would be the Allez Sport. It's got a better bang for the buck (unless the Sequoia would be better for your needs, as Khuon mentioned). I would suggest the Allez or the R400. If nothing else, at least the CDale is the only one made in the USA.

I have an Allez Elite. I absolutely love it. One of the best values for your dollar in quality and components in my opinion. I did quite a bit of research and everything kept leading me back to Specialized.

I was able to find a specialized allez last summer for $650. Definately a work horse of a bike, a bit numbing on long rides, but thats the nature of the beast (aluminum frame). I have upgraded to ultegra from the original tiagra components, definately a great investment. Its now my beater bike and foul weather trainer. I just got my hands on a '03 381i with record gruppo, you wanna talk about a ride...

PRODUCT: Road Bicycles - Specialized Bicycle Components Inc., of Morgan Hill, Calif., is voluntarily recalling about 4,000 Specialized 1999 Allez and Allez Sport model bicycles. The model "Allez" bicycles are blue and the model "Allez Sport" bicycles are orange. These bikes were sold through authorized Specialized dealers from October 1998 through June 1999 for between $1,000 and $2,000.

Specialized looks interesting, will ride it this weekend thanks for the recommendation.

More thoughts?

Also experience with Devinci - Silverstone/Millenium
or
Guru - Flite?


Cheers
Ken

I'm the kinda person that pretty much becomes obsessed with any new hobby. Once I determined I really needed and wanted a new bike to participate in triathlons, I submerged myself in research. Tri Bike or Road Bike? Steel or Aluminum? All of that. One thing that I wholeheartedly believe in is that you can definately benefit from larger companies who have both a "pro" quality series of bikes and a series of "serious" bikes below that. Take a company like Specialized for instance who have their S-Works program. This is where the esoteric and innovation takes place. it doesn't make sense not to incorporate that technology, or at least that which crosses over, to the models below to at least some degree. I think you really benefit from the "trickle down" effect if you will. I'm a Financial Analyst and I look at this kind of stuff everyday, so I can back up the theory in general terms. I looked at so many bikes, rode a bunch, talked with a crap load of people. I just found that Specialized met all of my needs.

Originally posted by mac is speed
PRODUCT: Road Bicycles - Specialized Bicycle Components Inc., of Morgan Hill, Calif., is voluntarily recalling about 4,000 Specialized 1999 Allez and Allez Sport model bicycles. The model "Allez" bicycles are blue and the model "Allez Sport" bicycles are orange. These bikes were sold through authorized Specialized dealers from October 1998 through June 1999 for between $1,000 and $2,000.
That's good info but not the full story. The recall was for a faulty stem, which seems to be rather common in the industry (Trek and Cannondale are just two companies that have had similar recalls recently).
http://www.safetyalerts.com/rcls/cpsc/pr/99/99145.htm has the complete text of the recall.