Road Cycling - Tough Choices on New Bike

I'm facing some tough choices on buying a new bike (or not). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

CURRENTLY:

Riding an early '90's Diamond Back Master TG w/ 105 group. Shifters still on the down tube. Well maintained. Not a huge # of miles b/c I didn't ride for about 5 yrs. in the mid-'90's.

RIDING:

Typically once/wk. around 10-30 miles. I do about 1 longer club ride per month and 3-4 big rides per season (MS150, Ride for the Roses, www.okht.org, etc.).

POTENTIAL PURCHASES:

Initially I was trying to get a full 105 bike for less than $1000. I now know I can easily do that w/ some of the options (Mercier, Fuji or Motobecane) from www.bikesdirect.com. I can probably also barely get that done at a LBS (Giant OCR1 or Specialized Allez Elite). However, recently I've been trying to see if I can/should spend a little more and get Ultegra group and/or Trek bike. Best results so far are either next step up at Bikes Direct (~$1000) or a 2001 Trek 2300 that an LBS still has left in his shop and has marked down to $1400.

CURRENT THINKING:

I think the 2001 Trek 2300 for $1400 may be my best bang for the buck. Don't really like the style, but the Diamond Back is PINK, so style is obviously not the most important thing to me. I really don't know, however, if I want to spend that much, though.

Any thoughts? I'm afraid my "paralysis by analysis" is going to lead to me riding the Diamond Back for another full season (not that that's necessarily a bad thing!!!).

Paul

http://www.feltracing.com/f50.html


http://www.feltracing.com/framestart_images/f50_big_03.jpg

$1199

I have the F65. $999 FULL 105.

Unfortunately, the website indicates no Felt dealer near the 'Nati. Columbus is apparently closest.

Is the Trek 2300 a good fit, in terms of frame size? Welcome to the BikeForums, by the way :)

The biggest difference between the 105 and Ultegra is the weight and finish. When it comes to the bike well that is a different story. I own a Fuji and a Specialized both are good bikes. I would buy the best frame in you price range. You can always upgrade the groupo latter.

Or......this year buy a good frame, swap parts, and next year buy a new gruppo for it. Lots of real nice steel frames at that price, and even a couple of Ti frames. You could even look at used bikes. I drool over lots of used bikes that are just a little big for me. My dealer has a Campione in great shape for $500, other than being 4 years old, it looks sweet. One of these days a short guy will trade in a nice road bike; and I'll have one set up for fast rides, and the other with big tires for long slow rides.

Try www.bicyclebuys.com www.bicycleblowout.com www.bikeswholesale.com

I'd recommend against the Trek-even the new 2300 with their super-duper proprietary alloy weighs more than the Allez Elite. Ride all your options and see what bike you are most comfortable on and which shop seems like your best fit as well.

JPA here's my useless 2 cents. You said two important things in your post; 1) "I didn't ride for about 5 yrs. in the mid-'90's". and 2) "Typically once/wk. around 10-30 miles. I do about 1 longer club ride per month and 3-4 big rides per season.

First off you seem to ride on and off, now your on, but for how long? Second you only ride 10-30 miles a week; a more serious rider would put in at least 100 a week. So why buy a new bike if your old one is running just fine? In fact with the kind of mileage you do you should be able to ride that bike for another 15 years-at least!

So the question is do you NEED a new bike? My answer would be no! If you start riding regularly and more than 100 miles a week and have been doing that consistently for 5 years or more then the need may arise. But the other question is: do you WANT a new bike? That is a question that only you can answer. If you have plenty of cash laying around and want to buy something with it that is not even needed, then do it, after all it's your money.

Sorry, I do not mean to insult you, and hope it did not come across that way. I am hoping that you see reality of your situation a little clearer and therefore make a better decision. I ride a 20 year old bike with over 80,000 miles on it and I ride and average of 350 miles per month not including the once a year 158 mile one day trip I take; but it never breaks down so why would I want to replace it? Not saying that since I ride a 20 year old bike you should also; but just saying put more miles on your bike you now have before investing in another and not put much on it either.

I got two bikes for sale,2000 cannondale hybrid and a 2003 felt Sr 71,a flatbar roadbike.

jpa2825: I'm in the same boat as you are. I've been debating for the last couple of months whether to get that Fuji, Motobecane, Felt, or Bianchi, OR stick with my 12 year old Raleigh. This bike used to be purple (which I didn't like) so I took off all the components and had it painted by a local body shop. This is how I learned to work on bikes, btw. I ride about 150mi/wk and still love my old bike. I think I'll keep looking (because it's fun) until I find a great deal on a great bike that absolutely knocks my socks (and spandex) off. Goodluck!
:beer:

I can see where the old bike might not have the gearing for the hills around here compared to newer bikes. Seems like most riders want triples for the hills and they're riding 9 or 10 spds.

If its new components you want you could upgrade the wheels and components. Then get a nice frame later.

Kathi

Check out GVHBikes also they have some good deals, was just looking at the Colnago Classic complete bike for $1395