Road Cycling - help me select a bike

hi folks,please help me pick a bike for long weekend rides and some exercise! i have about 1200 to 1400$ to spend and am looking at a marin san marino and a bianchi volice, and am considerinc custom building with a reasonable priced italian steel frame. has anyone out there got any thoughts on my two picks? also please give sugestions on reasonable frames in steel thank you all!!

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hello

Kevin,

Out of the 2 the Marin is a better bike. If you go custom for a steel frame price will easily double. Also you may just buy a frame and piece it together. This way you get exactly what you want as many times you may not choose lenghts for many items when you buy a complete bike like Marin or Bianchi. That is why piecing it together is always the best method.

Feel free to contact me at www.bullteksports.com (http://www.bullteksports.com) as I can reccomend many great buys.

Whatever you do. Please do not be persuaded by a sales pitch or be forced into buying what the shops has on the floor if you do not like or it fits you. Many people fall for this and end up with a bike they dislike.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kevin:
hi folks,please help me pick a bike for long weekend rides and some exercise! i have about 1200 to 1400$ to spend and am looking at a marin san marino and a bianchi volice, and am considerinc custom building with a reasonable priced italian steel frame. has anyone out there got any thoughts on my two picks? also please give sugestions on reasonable frames in steel thank you all!!

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Kevin
A friend and I have been looking for a new road type bike for about six months and we feel we have found the best value for the buck. This bike also has geometry that is comfortable for long rides and the frame is 853 steel tubing. The bike has Ultegra Groupo and other high quality componets. The bike I am referring to is the Schwinn Super SL. There are 4 models of Super Sport but the SL is the one. It lists for $1795. but we have seen it as low as $1595..its a great bike. Check it out at Schwinns Web site. Dare you to compare feature for feature and find a higher quality bike for the money.

Not certain how to reply correctly. I just deleted a message from Kevin asking about advice on a bicycle to purchase.

I bought a moser pro, italian steel. The Frame was about 950 bucks but well worth the money. Campy Veloce groupo, Mavic open pro wheels, cinelli bars, Selle ti saddle, conti 3000 tires, Look p156 pedals for about $2100.
It is very forgiving, yet very fast, a delight to ride. Trouble is, the only distributor in N. America is ERA/Red Rose imports. Do not go there to buy the bike, but have your shop order a frame, unfortunately they are the only distributors for Moser in N America. This combo could of course be modified, made cheaper using 105s, cheaper tires,... You can't go wrong, in my opinion. It just has to fit, or else no amont of money will buy you what you want...
Good luck, if you have not purchased already.

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moser fan

so it's been roughly seven years since kevin posted this. does anyone know what he ended up buying?

Sometimes I hate the search function

I believe he won a couple Giro's and several Tour stages on his volice, but was bumped off in '05 or '06 for ratting out his teammates for doping.

I may be thinking of a different kevin, though.