elevenbikes

Hi everyone. I'm looking for a road bike on a tight budget. It will be used mostly for utilitarian/commuting purposes (distances of a few miles or less) but I also want to get into longer rides. I want a bike that is quality, but not so nice that I'm afraid to lock it up in San Francisco. I can't really justify spending more than $500 on a bike, so I've been looking for one used. I found a 2002 Bianchi Brava on Craigslist for $375, claimed to be hardly used. Is the frame on that bike decent? (I know Bianchi makes good bikes, of course, but the Brava is the bottom of the line.) I have a 2003 Schwinn Fastback with Tiagra/105 components and MAvic CXP 22 wheels that I could switch to the Bianchi, but am not sure it would be worth it. (The Schwinn is too big for me and I plan on selling it.) The only new road bike I could maybe afford would be the KHS Flite 220 for $550, but it has really low end components and it would be hard for me to justify spending that much money on it, especially after riding with the tiagra/105 mix. Any thoughts?

Randallissimo

The Brava frame is a good steel frame for the money. The only reason it's the entry level bike is because of the Sora entry level group.