Triaxtremec

Hey guys, I recently purchased a new Specialized Sirrus Sport hybrid and really enjoy it, but after a month of riding it I think I made the wrong purchase. I only do road riding, no trails at all, so I figured I'd ride my hybrid for the rest of the year and get a road bike over winter. Not the cheapest mistake but oh well. Looking to spend right around a $1k, I'm 5'5" 185lbs. Been looking at the Motobecane Sprint for $999 from bike direct. Any thoughts?



https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...e/sprint_x.htm

dcf

I rode a Sirrus for about 5 years... went to a Cannondale Synapse

My feeling is... the bike is only part of the picture.... another important part is the fitting & support, which you won't get much of (if any) if you do mail order.... there must be some good bike shops in your area, where you can get a professional fitting (included in price of bike), makes a huge difference... as well as ongoing support, adjustments, etc (which you'll probably have to pay for if buying mail-order)...

When i got new cannondale, bike shop owner spent a long time swapping out seat post, adjusting everything to optimize my riding position... as well as doing several episodes of derailer adjustment, as the (new) cables stretched out (causing shifting to go haywire)

Looking at Specialized web site, Secteur Sport Triple is $1010... there's lots of stuff to look at

kh6idf

I'm in the same category, been riding a hybrid (Marin Fairfax) since last November. I am riding 100% on the road, for increasingly longer distances. I will eventually switch to a road bike but I am still enjoying my rides on the hybrid. The Cannondale Synapse is on my short list of road bikes to test ride when I get ready to make the switch.

achoo

If you're intent on buying an internet bike:

https://www.neuvationcycling.com/bicycles.html

X-LinkedRider

I completed a Flatbar Hybrid to a drop Bar Road bike successfully and have not regretted it yet. I have the equivalent to the sirrus or the globe in the Giant FCR3 flatbar. I don't see what the big deal is in just converting, but some people really don't like the effort. I do MOST of my own wrenching, so the conversion was no problem from that point.

fogrider

if you really know how to turn a wrench, buy online. if you want support, buy from your LBS. most local shops have good sales and most offer pretty good service. note that with a road bike, fit is more important. I'm not sure how happy you will be with discount bike after a few years...but that might be the snoob in me.

Triaxtremec

i've never really worked on a bike but I have worked on cars and motorcycles so I don't think it could be to difficult to adjust the bike. Are their things I can do myself to properly fit myself to the bike if i were to buy online?

bobthib

Lots of good advice here. I have to really agree with dcf on fit. A GOOD LBS that will take the time to do what he describes, AND has the expertize to actually know what to do is worth $200 or so. And it is vital to a good road bike experience, IMHO.

I bought a bike on line (BD) and did lots of research in advance. I got the right size bike, but being a noob, I didn't understand the importance of fit, or just how many adjustments there are on a road bike. Finally after all the elite riders in my club kept prompting me, I broke down and got a pro fit. John at Racer's Edge in Boca Raton uses the Retul computerized motion capture system. Most importantly he has done thousands of fits.

It made a huge difference, and he made only a few key adjustments.

Fullforce

Buy a Specialized Tarmac, and don't look back.

Beaker

This does sound like the alleged BD shill posts that you used to see here. Assuming it's not, then going from a hybrid to an online purchase would be the next big mistake you'd make. I've nothing against the bikes, don't get me wrong, but when I made that switch almost 3yrs back, it was useful to go and test ride bikes, and more importantly have someone I could work with to improve fit and get mechanical adjustments made periodically. As you ride more and more, your fit may need tweaking. Althought it'll be more $$, it's money well spent, at least until you've ridden your own road bike for long enough to buy your own bike online and do your own maintenance.

Triaxtremec

Rode the specialized Allez Sport Compact today, really impressed with it. Love to save some money but you're right i'll need the expertise of the LBS for this purchase.

cappuccino911

i would take some measurements of your existing bike and gauge what size bikes direct bike to get. FWIW, I had the giant rapid, which is the latest and greatest version of another posters FCR. Its a flatbar and served it's puropse great but I quickly found myself wanting even more speed and to be "racy" I ended up getting the motobecane grand sprint frame only from someone and building it up with parts from another project and by buying a few things from ebay. I got tektro brakes for $23 shipped, a lightly used ultegra rd for $40, bars for $20 and I only paid $150 for the frame, fork and stem from an ebay seller who stripped the group and sold the frame. At the end of the day I have a bike that is a full 5lbs lighter than my Rapid and is noticeably faster on all of my regular routes that I time out.

I will say that yo ushould probably keep the flatbar if you have any utilitarian use for it. I plan to put rack and fenders on mine and use it for bad weather and for my commuting around Manhattan to and from clients. The rack will let me load whatever equipment I need to bring instead of lugging it in a back pack on my racing bike which is quite uncomfortable.

Triaxtremec

I'll probably keep the hybrid for when I go riding with my wife and family but when I go out for my long rides with friends and myself I'll use the roadbike. I would love to save some cash and get the motobecane but I'm going to need all the help I can get to get properly fitted. I do sales for a living and one thing more than any that pisses me off is when someone buys stuff online then comes to me to figure out how to use it. So rather than doing that, it's money well spent to keep the LBS guys liking me as well as getting me set up properly, not to mention they run the local rides as well.

Triaxtremec

Any other recommendations to look for?

cappuccino911

quite frankly figuring out what frame size you need is quite easy to do. it's the fine tune of the fit that you really need help with. I still say go with the Motobecane because you will save $1000 vs the same bike at an lbs. Then you can take it to the lbs and have them finish of the fit. worst case scenario you will need to buy a stem from them that will be marked up to maybe $50 tops and then you will pay them for the fit and still come out saving a ton of money

Triaxtremec

What frame size would someone that's only 5'5" typically need.

cappuccino911

probably 52cm but there are other qualifiers there. you just bought a bike you said and it sounds like it fits pretty well, what size is that? the one thing is a lot of these flat bar hybrid type bikes have "compact" geometry so the measurements are a bit different and don't always equate to what a true road bike would measure out at but it's still easy enough to figure out

lphron

I'm in the same situation. marin hybrid just researching and riding I see the online bikes and they seem like such a good deal. SEEM TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. So I think it may be with the disconnection for local service.

cappuccino911

you will find plenty of debate on here about bikes direct but it seems that the haters are just angry people that paid a lot of money for a name brand bike. not everyone needs "service" not everyone needs a "perfect fit" if your only casually riding every now and then. and quite frankly, the haters never address what is so bad about actually paying for lbs service. your bike would need an awful lot of servicing to make up for the price differences.