Moving up to road bike, suggestions!
 

Got the biking bug now and have been enjoying it since taking it up last July. I rode my first 40 mile event on my Trek 7.3 FX and survived but noticed I must have been the only one on a hybrid riding this leg. It appeared to me I had to work harder to stay with the road bikes. I am 6-2 and 255 and do work out but not your body building body at age 54. I really like Trek so I would like to stay with the brand. I wouldnt mind a metal frame with the carbon forks and seat post but I do no want an aggessive style of road bike. I have been looking at the Trek Pilot and 2 Series. Any comments on this is greatly appreciated on which bike is best for the bucks. Thanks

Don't not look at other brands. there are many, many nice road bikes at or below that price. And there are a number of less full-out race-wannabe bikes too, which tend to have a bit more relaxed riding position, longer wheelbase (more stable, more comfortable to ride when you're tired), take bigger tires, and will take fenders, racks, and which are more useful for people who don't race. (They also tend to come with rider gear ranges, which is nice for those of use who aren't super-fit.)

What other brands would you suggest to look at??? I like your comments.

I have the Trek 520 it is sooo sweeet. I also like the surly LHT. Not for racing, but great for comfort. IMHO they deserve a look.

See what your local dealers have. Pretty much everyone that isn't a super high end racing brand makes a bike for what the Pilot sells for. The particular not-race wannabe bikes I was thinking of were things like the Trek 520, surly's Long Haul Trucker, the RaleighUSA Sojourn, there's a Kona something or other; there are doubtless others. they're mostly steel, on the heavy side (no heavier than your 7.3, though).

Really, the way to buy a bike is look at, and ride, as many as you can.

ride all types of brands and models, as others have suggested try touring bikes, cross bike and road bikes. see which fit best and is most comfortable.

you haven't told us what you want to do with the bike, except to go 40 miles with less effort. do you plan on riding centuries?, race?, tour?, just ride 40 mile organized rides with less effort?.

I use different bikes for different events. I will use a standard road bike for regular riding and for supported tours. I use a touring bike for loaded touring. I use my mountain bike for runs to the store. The reason I use a road bike for supported tours is that I am not carrying a load and I feel that it is faster than my touring bike (and it is).

I see that you didn't want an aggressive style of road bike but wanted carbon forks and carbon seat post, why? these are normally features for aggressive style road bikes.

You may not want a road bike but try some entry level road bike just to see how they feel, you may change your mind.

Also do you have a budget in mind?

This one:
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Or this one:
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The Jamis has a Reynolds 631 frame and carbon fork. It's slightly relaxed geometry should make it very comfortable, but it should still be fast.

The Masi... well... just because it's so damn sexy.

There's nothing wrong with the touring-type of bikes that some of the posters have mentioned, but if you really want to keep up, you need something with road gearing (IMHO, YMMV.) Something like these or a CX bike would work great. BTW a CX bike would also be a great commuter or light tourer with its ability to take fatter tires, fenders, and a rack. (FYI - Masi also makes the Speciale CX. :innocent: )

Thanks Guys for all the responses...My buddy and I just got into this and really not looking at competion riding but riding distances with comfort but increasing speed. Looking for comfort and speed and we realize that an aggesive style is not what we are looking for but a road bike with comfort and faster then our Trek 7.3s. We are looking at spending in the $1500 range. Hopefully that gives you more imput.

Cannondale Synapse
Specialized Roubaix
Felt F Series
Trek Pilot

This category of bicycles is known as "performance road." They offer a little more upright riding position (longer head tube) and the geometry is more for comfort than speed. These bikes are for long days in the saddle and are designed to absorb road vibration. However, these bikes are "raced" in the professional road ranks in races such as the Paris-Roubaix (portions of the course are on cobblestone.)

I like road bikes that have eyelets at the rear forks, this is for placing racks on the bike so I can do overnight tours, so I think that I would look at cross bikes since these will feel more like a road bike but give you more flexibility.

Also noone mentioned Giant Bikes, they have some really good bikes. Look at the Giant Defy entry level road bike in your price range.

I have the LHT and it is very comfortable on long rides. However, it is heavy so I'm not sure I'd want to do long rides with a lot of climbing (the same goes for the Trek 520). For flat rides or downhill the weight doesn't matter...

I recently made the switch from a Trek hybrid to a road bike. I went with the Cannondale Synapes over the Specialized Sectuer Elite. I'm 6'4" 295lbs. I liked both equally but chose based on the service of my bike shop. Free tune up for life.

Not to be argumentative, but I think it's the Felt "Z" series that's the more relaxed. If I'm wrong, sorry...and please edumacate me. Also, Giant Defy is rumored to be a good value.

The gearing on the LHT and the 520 is designed for long rides, hauling a lot of stuff, and the potential for a lot of climbing. Touring bikes may not have the zippy front end handling that a racing or sport-touring bike has, but they are plenty comfortable for a long haul. Quite a few riders in my randonneuring club use touring bikes like the 520, LHT, Novara Randonee and Fuji Touring on very hilly rides of 300km or longer.

I've had the Giant Defy 2 for a week now, it's a great bike for the price point. It does have a more relaxed geometry for a more comfortable ride over distance. Giant bills it as an entry level bike for century rides. So far I'm enjoying it, its comforatble and fast (enough for me :))

Yep, you're right.. it's the Z series that is in this category.

While touring bikes like the Surly LHT and Trek 520 are very comfortable, I'm not aware of any touring bikes that come with a carbon fork as the OP mentioned. I have a touring bike (Rocky Mountain Sherpa 30) and it's great for carrying a load and commuting but, I would take my Cannondale Synapse on a long ride over the touring bike. The touring bike has it's place on long rides also, but that would be if the roads a little rougher or unpaved sections, or if I plan on riding in the rain since the touring bike has full fenders and mud flaps.

I purchased a Roubaix a couple of months ago - I love it. "Relaxed" ride has taken away 75% of my hand numbness I was getting on my mountain bike. Furthest I have been is 32mile but I am a newbie and working on dropping weight. Im down almost 20lb in 3 months due mainly to this bike... :-)

I have a Trek 7.2 FX, and now have a Trek 2.1 on lay away. It's on lay away because anytime I buy a bike I have to buy 2, that's what my wife told me, and well, she gets one of them :P

Salsa Pistola might fit the bill.

I don't know that a LHT or Trek 520 would necessarily be faster than a flat bar bike like an FX...they're not really built for speed.

The Trek Portland might be a fun choice to have a look at as well. Steel with disk brakes and road/touring geometry

I read the OP's post and half way through it had to check if it was a post I wrote a couple of years ago.

I ended up with a Novarra Safari for touring. I then moved to a Surly LHT. The Safari is a good bike for trails and road and I decided I am not interested in the trail tour. The LHT IMHO is more of a straight road touring bike.

You may find though that what you have would do what you are now asking a bike to do for you with some modifications. Check out the Hybred forum here. There are a couple of threads about people that really changed their FX series of bike.

Thanks for all your comments...So many things to consider on a new ride. I am swaying more toward a Felt Z series or Cannondale Synapse. But havent had the oppertunity to ride either yet...Then the Giant brand is someting to consider. I am going to see what I can get for my Trek 7.3 FX and if not enough money to satisfy me, I might put a set of drops and adapt to a more of a road bike riding position...maybe add a carbon fork. The most important thing to me is to find a shop that I can ride each model and get a good idea of how each bike rides, the comfort, and ease of gaining speed.

Converting is not going to be cheap. For the price of this conversion, you could find a really sweet used bike, maybe even less. And then you will have two bikes to ride, not just one. I buy quite a few nice used bikes. One other great advantage of used is if you buy right, you can get your money back out of the bike pretty easily when you find something better, or go a different direction.

For the price of the bottom of the line, entry level road bike from a bike shop, I have a 2003 Colnago Master Lite (full Ultegra 9 speed) with a Columbus Gilco frame, and a 1987 Schwinn Prologue (also full Ultegra 9 speed) with a Tange Prestige frame. The Colnago was bought ready to go (it sat on the local Craigs List for about ten days, so its not like I scooped it up), I did do some work on the Prologue (price includes what I paid for the upgraded drivetrain, Prologue was bought off ebay). I do my own work, which made improving the Prologue fit within my thrifty limits.

While neither of these two bikes are set up as Clyde friendly, there are plenty of Clyde friendly bikes out there.


+1 Not sure a touring bike is going to give you much speed advantage.


thrifty bill

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At 255lb special care should be given to your wheel rims strength.
If you are choosing between a "Cannondale Synapse" and a "Specialized Secteur Elite" as previously mentioned; then you'd better go with the latter as it has stronger wheels...
There should be no worries for the frame :)