Commuting - Thinking of selling my commuter and buying another one. Please advise.

I need a second opinion on this, and I think the commuter forum will have some very good input ... especially because I'm talking about a bike whose main job is commuting. It's secondary job is running errands that involve locking the bike up.

My commuter now is a Novara (REI) Element, a cyclocross bike with drop bars, disc brakes, and the ability to take wider tires than I'll ever want. I've got a rack on the back wheel. The bike has mostly Tiagra and SRAM equivalent components these days. It's had some mechanical problems, a couple of which have almost caused me serious injuries, and there are original parts left on the bike ... so I don't trust it, feel like it's a death trap.

Coming home from a date Sunday morning, I went by a bike shop in the neighborhood with a used Cervelo out front. Stopped to check it out, and it's a 61 cm alu Soloist, with Ultegra 6500 (53/39 and 12/25), a carbon fork and Neuvation wheels with bladed spokes. They want $1,000 for it, but offered me $500 for my Novara, and said they could either write the sale up for $500 + old bike, or pay half the sales tax for me. Also, they'd let me keep my (SPD) pedals, aerobars, cyclocomputer, and lights from the old bike, most of which would go on the new one.

My road bike is a Cervelo R3, and I adore it. But I won't lock it to a rack, and the used bike is metal, so I'll be comfortable leaving it downstairs at work. The Soloist is no R3, but it's much better than my Novara. I'd gain some fun, have a bike that handles better, and I'd be more confident on it, plus I'd go from a ~32 to a 19 pound commuting bike. For $500, which I'd like not to part with.

I commute in the clothes I wear, mostly wool. The rack is nice for groceries and such, but that's not an every day concern, and I can use a backpack.

Are you worried about fenders? Also are you sure you want to lock it up during your time at work?

If you want the Soloist, then buy it. You don't need us to tell you what to do.

You already know what your Novara will do, and what it won't do.

It's possible to commute on a full blown road bike, just a lot more work and headache.
Yet on the other hand, a light, quick handling bike is much more fun to ride.

That's a tough choice. The Cervelo is likely to be more of a theft magnet than the Novara, but perhaps only marginally so. You may miss the disc brakes in the winter. You'd probably be limited to 700x25 tires. You may have to use race-blade type fenders. Also, I hate selling bikes because I always feel like I'm losing money in the process. I'm not sure if the how much better 6500 Ultegra parts are than 4500 Tiagra, if at all. Despite the numbering, the Tiagra is a generation newer and benefits from some trickle-down.

That said, last winter I sold my 35 pound Muirwoods 29er and bought a disc fork for my Kona Jake, bringing it to ~25 pounds with rack and fenders. The difference that made for my commuting experience was outstanding. I had been using the Jake in the dry weather anyway, and riding the Muirwoods was beginning to feel like a chore. I don't regret that change at all.

Overall, it sounds like a new commuter is definitely in your future. You just need to decide if this Cervelo is the one.

Thanks for the advice so far! I'm almost not worried at all about bike theft at work. For running errands, this is more of a concern. I've seen people leave full carbon bikes on their car racks and kayaks on top of cars in the parking lot here. The carbon fork worries me a bit, not so much because of theft, but the idea that someone else might drop their bike against it while parking.

I'll definitely miss the disc brakes when it rains. I'll also give up the ability to do much off road riding, although that's not a commuting concern. I'm more concerned about the loss of a rack than fenders.

My commute is almost entirely uphill, both ways. ;) I was a little disappointed that the Soloist doesn't climb like the R3, but it's much easier going up hill than on the Novara. I'm hoping that translates to me being less sweaty when I show up.

I asked for advice at a different LBS, a Cervelo dealership. They said it's a good deal ... about their competition.

Here's my current bike:
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=219611&d=1316623772

And the new one looks more or less like this:
http://www.cyclingforums.com/image/id/360596/width/525/height/525/flags/LL

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/cervelo/cervsoloshape.jpg

That's a sweet bike. It doesn't exactly scream "commuter" but it does seem to be saying "ride me" pretty loudly. Moving to the top of a steep hill was the thing that spelled the end of the road for my Muirwoods. I just didn't want to be that strong. ;)

The link is broken to the image of your current bike- but still I would stick with the old bike if your primary use is commuting (the new bike is sweet though). It sounds plenty capable of what you need it for. What exactly has happened on your old bike that makes it feel like a "death trap"? A good going over seems like it would take care of that unless there is something majorly wrong with it. Can you do a rack and fenders on the new bike? If it was me I would probably be drawn in by the shiny new object, but in the end I would probably stay pat.

1. Lighter bike means less effort, which possibly yields less sweat- except when you lose the rack mounted bag and put one on your back. This can be addressed, however, with the acquisition of a properly sized (TBD) Carradice bag.

2. Put the rack over the wheel, instead of on it (2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence of the OP) and the performance of your current rig will improve exponentially. ;)

The cervelo looks to be more of a Time Trial bike geometry with a pretty steep head tube angle. I definitely would not want to ride that commuting, but that's just me. What were the mechanical problems with the old bike? Is it more that you are wanting less of a bike that screams "commuter"?

1. Lighter bike means less effort, which possibly yields less sweat- except when you lose the rack mounted bag and put one on your back. This can be addressed, however, with the acquisition of a properly sized (TBD) Carradice bag.

2. Put the rack over the wheel, instead of on it (2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence of the OP) and the performance of your current rig will improve exponentially. ;)

+1 on the Caradice setup!

What exactly has happened on your old bike that makes it feel like a "death trap"? A good going over seems like it would take care of that unless there is something majorly wrong with it.

(1) One day, coming down a hill, the chain came off and wrapped around the crank arm like an anaconda. The pedals refused to be turned all of a sudden, but I managed to coast to a stop. The chain rings were bent, and needed replacing ... along with the chain.

(2) On the way in to work, coming down a hill at almost 30 mph, the back wheel locked up on me and swung out underneath me. I don't know how I managed to walk away from that one, but I was sure I was about to lose some teeth, and I was pretty shaken up for a few hours after that. The freehub seized up. The chain also jumped. I'm not sure which caused which.

(3) The RD hanger snapped three weeks ago, and the RD came off the frame, still in the chain, and jammed between the chain stay and spokes. The rear wheel locked up again, but I was only going about 15 mph this time, so it was less terrifying.

(4) The front fender introduced some toe clip I've never dealt with before. In a turn, I bent the fender, which folded up and got pulled by the tire until it became a brake, and crashed me. It wasn't horrible, and was entirely my fault ... but it adds to the bad taste in my mouth.

I've replaced: the frame, rear wheel, RD, cassette, chainrings, chain, and probably more stuff than I can remember at the moment. But the front wheel, brakes, brifters, fork, seatpost, and bars are original. I put 4,500 miles on this bike, and got it used. I don't have a specific reason to think any of the original stuff left will fail ... but it would be consistent with the bike's desire to kill me. There was a guy in Seattle whose front brake locked up suddenly, sending him to the ER. I'm somewhat worried about the brakes. I'm a person who worries about stuff in general.