Road Cycling - Whither a new bike? And which one?

I'm a bike messanger and general enthusiast thinking of doing some touring in the near future. I'm currently riding a 20-some-odd year old Supercycle Medalist, which apart from breaks (getting a pair of 105s used from a friend) and bottom bracket (replacing ASAP) is all new parts. A new drive train and SPDs put it near a new bike in terms of preformance, yet still maintain the "slightly less valuable than a dead cat" appearance, which can be bloody useful at times. As much as I love the thing, there are some things it just can't do, and I really wouldn't mind something better.

So right now I'm looking at the Specialized Roubaix Comp. My favourite bike shop has a fairly good price on it, and as I'm working full-time and still living at home, the money isn't a huge issue (no clue how long this condition will last, however). A friend just found an old racing frame and if it isn't quite impressive I'll probably move to something bigger.

I'm tending toward the Roubaix for several reasons, because of the low weight, compact/carbon frame (which ought to take off at a fairly amazing sprint), full ultegra setup (might cut down on my weekly bike shop visits for parts), and the carbon frame, which'll bring about a smoother ride whether the "Zerts" actually work or not. It'll be used mainly for longer distances, occasionally for work (when I feel like it, but not too regularly for fear of the elements and thieves).

My questions are:
- How much additional bike will I get for the money, compared to something in the $1200 range?
- Is there a better bike out there for touring? How would this hold up on a LONG ride (like...several thousand km)?
- (I know this'll start a fight...but...) I like the Shimano shifters for the simplicity and the ease of use from drops or hoods, but would Campagnola shifters, with their ability to clear most of the gear range in one sweep, but more of reach for the thumb, be better?
- Niether of these are standard, but should I go for froggleg break levers (I'm quite used to the old ten-speed double levers which cover the whole bars) or aero-bars?

My questions are:
- How much additional bike will I get for the money, compared to something in the $1200 range?
- Is there a better bike out there for touring? How would this hold up on a LONG ride (like...several thousand km)?
- (I know this'll start a fight...but...) I like the Shimano shifters for the simplicity and the ease of use from drops or hoods, but would Campagnola shifters, with their ability to clear most of the gear range in one sweep, but more of reach for the thumb, be better?
- Niether of these are standard, but should I go for froggleg break levers (I'm quite used to the old ten-speed double levers which cover the whole bars) or aero-bars?

What type of touring are you planning on doing? Credit-card touring and/or supported tours (where a van is carrying all your stuff) require very different setups then self-supported tours (where you load everything into panniers / trailer and haul it all yourself).

I've done a fair amount of the week-long supported tour variety, that generally cover 400 -- 500 miles over five or six days. Any decent-quality road bike can handle those. I've seen people do it on hybrids, although I sure wouldn't recommend it! The comfort level of your bike will be determined by fit far more then anything else.

I've never used Campy components, just: because I've never had a bike that came with Campy. My take on touring parts is twofold
a) Your chances of the local bike shop in the middle of nowhere (which is where things seem to break) carrying Shimano components is probably higher then them carrying the necessary Campy components. I've always done organized tours that have a mechanic along, but even they are somewhat limited in what they have in terms of parts. -- again, biased somewhat towards Shimano, simply because it's more popular. They have to play the odds!
b) In all the tours I've done, I've never heard anybody say that they needed higher gears. I've heard a lot of people wish for lower ones. Shimano has the benefit of their MTB componentry working (to some degree) on road bikes, which gives you the option for some really low gears if you're doing a mountainous tour.

Don't put frog-leg brake levers on a road bike! They just look awful. I've never had them, and I've never wished I've had them. I've heard they compromise the stopping power of the "regular" brake levers, but I couldn't explain why.

Aerobars? I've always ridden in seriously hilly / mountainous terrain, where aerobars become weighty hood ornaments. They might be useful for the extra hand positions they offer, but if you're touring -- half the fun is looking around anyway.

what price are you getting on the roubaix comp?

it sounds to me like you know plenty enough to make your choice.

i'm going to start sounding like a broken record, but my friend just got this bike from these guys and is well pleased. comfy Reynolds 853 frame w/ full ultegra for $1095 shipped with no tax:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/legacypro.htm

nows def the time to test ride a bunch of bikes in your size if you can so you get a feel for different brands and their fit for you. it's likely this bike purchase will last ya so it's good to satisfy your curiosity by riding a comparable trek or bianchi or felt or whatever the shops in your area carry.

good luck!

If you're going to use the bike for work I would avoid carbon and aluminum... I just don't think it can take the pounding that steel can. Same if you are doing any long distance touring.

nows def the time to test ride a bunch of bikes in your size if you can so you get a feel for different brands and their fit for you. it's likely this bike purchase will last ya so it's good to satisfy your curiosity by riding a comparable trek or bianchi or felt or whatever the shops in your area carry.

good luck!

Yeah go waste the LBS's time and make someone getting paid squat fit you to a bike and let you test ride a bike you have no intention of purchasing, so you can go buy a bike from some online retailer that gives you no service or support. Great advice. :rolleyes:

:: boze gets mildly flamed and feels the need to justify himself (while at once demonstrating that he doesn't really value his free time) ::

an LBS is a great source for test rides and knowledge but at least in my city they don't sell bikes that are priced competitavely. a lowpay sales dude has to understand better than anybody how important it is to stretch your dollars when you make a big bike purchase.

the thing i like about that sort of online purchase is that you can do your homework and beat the system. seely can post sarcasm and as long as it's not too harsh we won't report him, but the important thing is this: you can't get a new Reynolds 853 bike with full Ultegra for $1100 out the door from an LBS anywhere - period. a noob shopper might not know that it's an option to get a bike any other way - or might not know how trick a bike you can get for that money. There are some bikes like the Bianchi Vigorelli or the Jamis Quest that are within $200 to $400 of that price (pre tax probably), but not at the stores we were shopping and they're built on a 631 frame too.

and seely, please get off my back. at least i'm trying to help the poster. you can spare all of two sentences to take a shot at me and yet you're going to take the moral high ground? c'mon dude - ease off.

For $1399 I can get you a FULL Ultegra bike with Carbon FSA cranks, carbon fork and Ritchey components top to bottom at my shop, plus we give you a years mainenance, a free tuneup, and if anything breaks/goes wrong we take care of it. Warranty claim? Come in and we will swap out the broken part, probably while you wait, and send it back free of charge. You get no or minimal downtime. You know what, I can even come down on the $1399 a bit. Did I mention the frame has full double pass welds, and the whole bike is about 17.5lbs-18.5lbs (depending on size of course)?

Is it really worth it to buy online? Do you really think telling someone to buy a bike online, with no service warranty, no free tune ups, no free maintenance and no local support is GOOD advice?

I should also mention that different manufacturers measure bikes differently so a 57cm Bianchi will not necessarily fit like a 57cm Schwinn or a 57cm Mercier Internet Bike.

Is it really worth it to buy online? Do you really think telling someone to buy a bike online, with no service warranty, no free tune ups, no free maintenance and no local support is GOOD advice?

A friend of mine bought a bike off eBay. She got a great deal on it. It was even a Bianchi and a very nice hybrid. So what's the problem? Well, she liked it well enough as a hybrid but...


It didn't fit her. The frame was too large and her seatpost, saddle and stem (adjustable) were at some rather extreme settings.
It wasn't what she really wanted. She only had the bike for 4 months before the craving for a roadbike caught up to her and she started shopping for a roadbike.


The only saving grace in this whole story is that the bike is big enough for her mom who she says shows some interest in getting started riding and the bike gave her a sense of what she really wanted out of a bike. So off we went bike shopping. I took her to some LBSes and she test rode every bike each had that fit her criteria. Each shop sized her up and tried to fit her properly. The employees at each shop paid attention to her comments, made adjustments and generally worked with her to make sure she was accurately getting the right impressions from each bike. They even asked me if I wanted to ride some of them so I could discuss with her my impressions too. She didn't buy a bike that day but did come back with a wealth of information and a week later went back to the shop that most impressed her that also carried the exact bikes she was most interested in. Although several shops carried the same bike, she did the smart thing and picked the shop that offerred the best service. The one thing that really grabbed her attention was that they offerred free tuneups for the life of the bike. They also gave her a 20% discount on accessories. And the price on the bike she got was not that much more than what she could have gotten through online retaillers. If you were to add up everything in terms of service and weighed in the savings on all the things she purchased that day against what you could find online, you'd end up clearly with the LBS on the winning side.

The price of the bike is not everything and this is more so the case for newbies. I dare anyone to find an online retailler who can match the support of an LBS. My FBS which is actually not the same shop my friend bought her bike from (although she did agree they had great prices... they just didn't carry the bike she wanted) has given me more in terms of freebies and pricebreaks on subsequent things than I ever could have saved by shopping online for the bikes in the first place. I am talking hundreds of dollars a year.

- Niether of these are standard, but should I go for froggleg break levers (I'm quite used to the old ten-speed double levers which cover the whole bars) or aero-bars?

The new MTB-style aux/cyclocross levers are much better than the old suicide levers on those old ten-speeds. I personally don't have much use for them but some people find them very useful if they're riding a lot from the tops. The only drawback is that once you start adding those and lights and computer and maybe a bell then you start running out of handlebar real estate pretty quickly which limits how much usable space you have left on the tops. I know plenty of riders who are happy with them. The best ones are the Paul Component ones. The Tektro and Specialized units are cheaper but also of good quality.

If you want a bike for extended touring carrying camping gear, then check out a prime example, the Bruce Gordon BLT. This is setup as most experienced tourists would choose. The standard "production" touring bike, the Trek 520, needs a makeover before it is tour-worthy.
For hostel style touring, where you dont carry camping gear, then you can ride something lighter and faster. You still need fittings for rack, fenders, etc, and clearance for decent sized tyres, but you can use long caliper brakes rather than MTB style cantelevers.
Racing style road bikes are suitable for weekend trips , supported touring and ultra-light hostel touring, but you will have difficulty carrying luggage for extended trips.
Most touring bikes (except Canondale) are made in steel because steel is easy to build in small workshops. It is also durable, comfortable and easy to repair, should you have a quality bike repair shop to hand.
A carbon bike may survive a long tour, but the material has not really been proven in touring bikes. Specialised do make the Sequoia, which is a fairly good light-tourer.