Road Cycling - recommend on sub 1K bike w/ 30-34 rear teeth?

hello,

i'm fairly new to cycling, and i'm looking for a first road bike, in the $1000 range. looking for a performance bike geared with rear teeth in the 30+ range, closer to a mtn/touring bike... specifically for big hills and for pulling my daughter in a bike trailer. recommends... or do i need to put a custom bike together?

except for the rear teeth needs, i really like:

2005 Serpens LTD Road Bike
Trek 1500
lemond tourmalet
Cannondale 600

Just get the bike that you like & put a mountain bike cassette (11/32 or 11/34) on it. I considered this on my bike with a double, but got a triple instead.

hello,

i'm fairly new to cycling, and i'm looking for a first road bike, in the $1000 range. looking for a performance bike geared with rear teeth in the 30+ range, closer to a mtn/touring bike... specifically for big hills and for pulling my daughter in a bike trailer. recommends... or do i need to put a custom bike together?

except for the rear teeth needs, i really like:

2005 Serpens LTD Road Bike
Trek 1500
lemond tourmalet
Cannondale 600

A bike shop will usually swap out a cassette at their difference in cost when you purchase a bike. When we bought a bike for my wife, we had the shop replace the Tiagra 12-23 cassette with an Ultegra 12-27 for an extra $15. If you swap cassettes at the same level, it's usually free.

The problem you are going to run in to is that road derailleurs may not have the capacity to work with a cassette with that many teeth. You could also consider a smaller granny gear on a road triple but, again, you could run in to shifting problems.

You could also consider a touring bike like a Trek 520, Fuji Touring or Bianchi Volpe which use mixed road/mountain drivetrains. The drawback there is that they are more designed for long distance comfort and durability than high speed. Narrower tires are an easy way to improve things a bit, but lighter wheelsets would be costly upgrades.

If it were me, I'd build up a Soma Smoothie ES frame with Deore/LX derailleurs, SRAM cassette, Sugino crank, road wheels (Mavic MA-3/Shimano 105) and barend shifters. It would come in around your price point. Actually, I =am= building something similar on an old Trek frame for my wife.

Of course if you =do= get a road bike with mountain gearing, all the "real" roadies will call you a woosie. :)

ok, after doing a bit more digging, it seems pretty clear that what i'm looking for is a bianchi axis. seems to have all of my needs met, and it looks damn cool too.

thx for the input.

Are you planning on climbing the side of a building? :)

ok, after doing a bit more digging, it seems pretty clear that what i'm looking for is a bianchi axis. seems to have all of my needs met, and it looks damn cool too.

thx for the input.

It's 30% more expensive than you were planning on spending, though. :)

One thing to watch out for though, is that the 2003 model had a double and the 2004 has a triple. If you want a triple, a 2003 closeout (which will be closer to your price) won't be right bike.

wait a coupla months and get a last-year's model. can get some pretty ridiculous bargains once the season starts winding down. and on a lower-end bike you don't risk missing out on the yearly updates you see on the higher end stuff.

Trek 520, it is a touring bike, but has the gearing you want 52-42-30 up front and 11-32 in the rear. It should be available for right at $1000.

yeah, i know i said 1K.... but waiting a few months and getting a 2004 when the price drops seems like the best route.