Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

Looking for suggestions on a new Bike

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Looking for suggestions on a new Bike

Old 12-06-16, 06:36 PM
  #1  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Quartz Hill, CA
Posts: 39

Bikes: Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Looking for suggestions on a new Bike

So I've been riding a Giant OCR3* for over 15 years now** and I'm thinking about upgrading. The local bike shops (of which there are two) appear to be locked into a specific brand so any advice I get is likely going to be geared to what they sell. And I'm not really clear on what I want. The Giant has been fine, I just have the vague sense that I can do better -- especially with a decade and a half for them to improve the engineering.

I'm a semi-serious rider. I get out almost every weekend and twenty miles is no big deal. But I don't do centuries (at least not yet), organized rides, or races. Some basic criteria.

# I don't do off road, but the roads around here are indifferently paved. Something that can't handle a bumpy surface or the occasional pothole is going to be a problem.
# It gets hot here. As in, until it hits three digits its merely warm.
# It gets cold here. Occasional freezing temps are to be expected (gotta love the desert)
# Wind and hills are a thing here. Especially the wind (< 10mph is "no wind today")
# The ability to mount saddle bags is a plus. I haven't actually gotten the current bike configured that way, but I keep thinking I should.

I don't have a specific budget in mind yet, but $1500 is easy and over $5k I'd really have to want it.
Any thoughts,
Kevin

* As fair as I can tell, this is Road Bike, generic
** Though at this point whether or not its the same bike is becoming a philosophy question (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus)
KevinSours is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 06:49 PM
  #2  
Senior Member
 
San Pedro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Kota, Aichi, Japan
Posts: 1,277

Bikes: 2011 Giant Seek R3, 2015 Specialized Allez Elite, 2017 Giant TCR Advanced 2

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 344 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Giant have some good deals; TCR Advanced and up or Defy Advanced are both really nice. Specialized has the new bike with that new kind of shock which many have said is nice, but really any bike company makes good bikes. You might want to narrow it down to which shop you prefer and then go from there.
San Pedro is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 06:55 PM
  #3  
On Your Left
 
GlennR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Long Island, New York, USA
Posts: 8,373

Bikes: Trek Emonda SLR, Sram eTap, Zipp 303

Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3004 Post(s)
Liked 2,433 Times in 1,187 Posts
I'm a big fan of the Trek Emonda. I have a SLR, but the SL6 comes with Ultegra and is a great value. If you're lucky you might find one on sale. I bought my SLR 2 years ago this month and saved 20% on a custom build.
GlennR is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:08 PM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
Da Reef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 349

Bikes: Tarmac, Allez Sprint, Nashbar beater

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 145 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
With that price range I think you should at least give this a spin:https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...rt-etap/128746

It is $5500 but comes w/ Etap and beautiful paint.
Da Reef is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:14 PM
  #5  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Quartz Hill, CA
Posts: 39

Bikes: Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
If there is an FAQ I missed please feel free to point me to it. But what is Ultegra, Ultegra2, 105, etc? It appears that it refers to standards or brands for components. But what do you get from pushing up the cost categories? What should I be asking about in terms of what components a bike comes with?
KevinSours is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:18 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
 
Da Reef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 349

Bikes: Tarmac, Allez Sprint, Nashbar beater

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 145 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Da Reef is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:26 PM
  #7  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Quartz Hill, CA
Posts: 39

Bikes: Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Be gentle, I'm a noob
KevinSours is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:28 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
mcours2006's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Toronto, CANADA
Posts: 6,198

Bikes: ...a few.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2009 Post(s)
Liked 405 Times in 231 Posts
Tons of resources on the web. You should really educate yourself first before posing a very generic and vague question in hopes that someone will give the answer you're looking for. And none of the #'s you posted have any relevance to your choice of bikes, except for perhaps the first, and even that's not a huge consideration.

Try searching road bike groupsets, groupset hierarchy, endurance bike geometry, racing geometry, cyclocross vs gravel vs road, etc.
mcours2006 is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:38 PM
  #9  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Quartz Hill, CA
Posts: 39

Bikes: Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
For better or worse my attempts to google for information was met with a lot of pages trying to sell bikes and precious little information on how they were different. I'll try some of the keywords you suggested. Thanks.
KevinSours is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:44 PM
  #10  
Kit doesn't match
 
GuitarBob's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 1,057

Bikes: 5

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 187 Post(s)
Liked 27 Times in 19 Posts
Originally Posted by KevinSours
But what is Ultegra, Ultegra2, 105, etc? It appears that it refers to standards or brands for components.
Those are a few of the component sets (groupsets) offered by Shimano. In your price range, those likely would be 105 and Ultegra, with DuraAce possible at the top of your price range. You might consider Ultegra, it's a fantastic group, thought 105 is dandy too if you want to save a few hundred dollars.

Originally Posted by KevinSours
But what do you get from pushing up the cost categories?
Lighter weight; functionality of the three groups I mentioned is pretty similar.

When you say saddle bags (that are, um, bags that attach to the saddle ), do you actually mean panniers? If so, narrowing to only those bikes that have 'braze ons' that can support racks is going to eliminate a lot of great options. If you're going to tour, then you want to look for touring bikes, which look much like typical road bikes, but are different in important ways. If that's only a remote possibility, I'd say forget it -- use your current bike for that instead.
GuitarBob is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:51 PM
  #11  
Senior Member
 
mcours2006's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Toronto, CANADA
Posts: 6,198

Bikes: ...a few.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2009 Post(s)
Liked 405 Times in 231 Posts
What brand do the LBS carry? Unless you have reasons to not patronize those brands there's nothing wrong with getting a bike from them. YOu'll get the added benefit of technical support and a chance to build good relations with them which might prove to be useful later on. They can certainly help you answer many of your questions. Once you have some options from them then you can ask more specific questions here to get some unbiased comments. My suggestion is to just go and talk to your LBS first. There's no commitment to buy.
mcours2006 is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 07:59 PM
  #12  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Quartz Hill, CA
Posts: 39

Bikes: Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I intend to buy local if it makes sense. I just don't want to get locked into the house brand because that's what they carry. Unless brand doesn't actually matter that much and pretty much every line is equivalent. The one I prefer carries Trek.
KevinSours is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 08:01 PM
  #13  
Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Quartz Hill, CA
Posts: 39

Bikes: Giant OCR3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by GuitarBob
Those are a few of the component sets (groupsets) offered by Shimano. In your price range, those likely would be 105 and Ultegra, with DuraAce possible at the top of your price range. You might consider Ultegra, it's a fantastic group, thought 105 is dandy too if you want to save a few hundred dollars.

Lighter weight; functionality of the three groups I mentioned is pretty similar.
This is pretty much gold. Thank you.

Originally Posted by GuitarBob
When you say saddle bags (that are, um, bags that attach to the saddle ), do you actually mean panniers? If so, narrowing to only those bikes that have 'braze ons' that can support racks is going to eliminate a lot of great options. If you're going to tour, then you want to look for touring bikes, which look much like typical road bikes, but are different in important ways. If that's only a remote possibility, I'd say forget it -- use your current bike for that instead.
Mostly I occasionally go shopping while I'm out and somethings get more than easily fits in the backpack. But its a nice to have not essentially. Will do some research on touring bikes though to see if that's more what I'm looking for.
Kevin
KevinSours is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 08:10 PM
  #14  
Senior Member
 
mcours2006's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Toronto, CANADA
Posts: 6,198

Bikes: ...a few.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2009 Post(s)
Liked 405 Times in 231 Posts
Most carbon bikes do not have eyelets for racks and fenders. If you're planning to ride it for commuting and have both these features then you're probably looking at an aluminum or steel, or titanium.

In any case, if your LBS carries Trek, you could do worse than looking at a Domane or Madone, perhaps a 5-9 with Ultegra Di2 for around 5K (like maybe 3500 USD).
mcours2006 is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 08:13 PM
  #15  
Senior Member
 
lsberrios1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Atlanta GA
Posts: 2,844

Bikes: '13 Spech Roubaix SL4 Expert

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 297 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Here is your bike. It's almost as fast as a pure road bike, more comfortable, capable of going on gravel and you can put a rack.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/men/bikes/road/adventure/diverge-expert/119015

It's carbon and it has ultegra with hydraulic disc brakes.
lsberrios1 is offline  
Old 12-06-16, 08:18 PM
  #16  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 4,401

Bikes: Bianchi Infinito (Celeste, of course)

Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 754 Post(s)
Liked 104 Times in 77 Posts
Originally Posted by KevinSours
I intend to buy local if it makes sense. I just don't want to get locked into the house brand because that's what they carry. Unless brand doesn't actually matter that much and pretty much every line is equivalent. The one I prefer carries Trek.
Once you start talking about $1k+, there aren't really any bad bikes. It become more about personal preference, for how you want the bike to ride. Some people want a race focused missile that loves to be pushed hard, others want an endurance bike that smooths rough roads and eats miles.

The Trek Emonda and Domane both get excellent reviews and you should definitely test both.

Get the bike you fall in love with. If the bike doesn't feel right after 20 min test ride, move on to the next. There's tons of great bikes out there, find the one that speaks to you.
gsa103 is offline  
Old 12-07-16, 06:54 AM
  #17  
Senior Member
 
mcours2006's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Toronto, CANADA
Posts: 6,198

Bikes: ...a few.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2009 Post(s)
Liked 405 Times in 231 Posts
Originally Posted by lsberrios1
Here is your bike. It's almost as fast as a pure road bike, more comfortable, capable of going on gravel and you can put a rack.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...-expert/119015

It's carbon and it has ultegra with hydraulic disc brakes.
mcours2006 is offline  
Old 12-07-16, 07:26 AM
  #18  
Senior Member
 
WhyFi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
Posts: 39,505

Bikes: R3 Disc, Haanjo

Mentioned: 353 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 20791 Post(s)
Liked 9,436 Times in 4,663 Posts
Originally Posted by lsberrios1
Here is your bike. It's almost as fast as a pure road bike, more comfortable, capable of going on gravel and you can put a rack.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...-expert/119015

It's carbon and it has ultegra with hydraulic disc brakes.
+1

This is along the lines that I'd recommend, as well - I'm all about the Adventure/Gravel category. Jamis also has the Renegade Expert, which is carbon/105-level at $2700, though many manufacturers are offering something similar. Pop on some 35c with some knobbies if you want to want to get off the beaten path a bit or put on some 28c or smaller slicks if you're going to primarily ride on pavement (and those 28s will help with the indifferently paved roads). On top of that, they're generally equipped for racks for touring/hauling. Good stuff all the way around.
WhyFi is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Mayberry32
Road Cycling
7
08-22-15 08:51 AM
bike3500
Fifty Plus (50+)
9
04-26-15 05:20 PM
ghlu
Road Cycling
14
09-01-14 08:15 PM
Redfire
Road Cycling
25
02-11-13 01:36 AM
iheartbacon
Living Car Free
12
09-15-12 03:25 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.