Road Cycling - Road Bike Reccomendations PLease Help

Hi, I am looking for my first road bike. I'm 15 years old and I have a mountain bike which I have been riding on the road while I save up for a Road Bike. I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good bike for me to buy. I am looking at the Trek 1000, I want something fast and something that I can grow into.I don't want a bike that I will only ride for about one year and then get bored because my skill level has gone up. I am on a very tight budget so i don't think I can buy anything past $900. I know I have some pretty tight specifications but i would appreciate any help.
Thanks a lot,
Lawty

Hey there,

there are so many good road bikes out there. I am fond of the Specialized Allez, I have one myself and they are pretty good rides when you are on a budget and cannot spend thousands of dollars. You don't have to have a 2004 model either, vist your local store and see if they still have a 2003 model sitting around. If you can, try to get your new bike fitted, the money you dish out for that is well spent.

Good luck and welcome to road riding.

If you look at the big ones (Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Giant, LeMond, and the like) you will have a nice selection to test ride, all at competing prices. It looks like you are going to be looking at bikes with a 105 groupo and a choice of compact or traditional frames, mostly butted aluminum and some carbon parts.

If you are still growing, your best bet would be the compact design with the slopping top tube as they are touted as fitting a wider range (size) of riders. Or so the industry would have me think.

Only a test ride will tell you which is best for you.

I agree with Ehenz. At your price range, you should shoot for Shimano 105. In have heard that Giant has a nice bike with Shimano 105. It doesn't have a great frame but it is perfectly good and the price is decent. Remember most of the performance comes from the rider not the bike. The difference between Shimano 105 and DuraAce is small enough that the better rider on 105 will beat a guy on DuraAce virtually every time. Shimano 105 used to be called "entry level racing". This means that it was good enough equipment to work in races without putting its riders at a disadvantage. I knew various people who raced on Shimano 105 because it was cheaper to replace when they crashed and took out their deraillers and stuff.

Hi, I am looking for my first road bike. I'm 15 years old and I have a mountain bike which I have been riding on the road while I save up for a Road Bike. I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good bike for me to buy. I am looking at the Trek 1000, I want something fast and something that I can grow into.I don't want a bike that I will only ride for about one year and then get bored because my skill level has gone up. I am on a very tight budget so i don't think I can buy anything past $900. I know I have some pretty tight specifications but i would appreciate any help.
Thanks a lot,
Lawty

All the major brands have bikes in your price range. In fact, for a few hundred less - more or less - you can get a very good Giant OCR3 or Lemond Nevada City.

At your age I would assume that you are still growing. I know I was at 15. I would look for a decent used bike instead of spending a lot of money on a new bike. The odds are that the bike you buy today will not fit you in 6 months to a years time.
If you want "new" I would look at buying a fairly inexpensive frame that fits and equipping it with the components you want. My son recently did this and ended up with an all Ultegra equipped bike for less than $800. At least with this course of action you will have a great set of components that you can transfer to a new better frame when you outgrow the bike you are looking to buy.
I believe the frame he got was from Performance but am not quite sure.