TribalFish

Hi I am new to this forum and road bikes in general, but I was hoping to get some suggestions on which bike my Dad should get. So here is what's going on: My Dad has been taking spinning classes for over a year now and he has been trying to convince me to join since he started. I am a swimmer in college, but I cannot run because I have a bad ankle... he thought it would be good for my cross-training to do spinning instead of running on an elliptical. I am sick of running in place going nowhere, so I just got a bike instead. I got a Trek 1.2, which is one of the aluminum ones -it's perfect for me. He has seen me using it non-stop since I got it; to go to practice, work, friends houses etc... now he has decided that tomorrow we are going to go get him one. He will not be racing or anything, but he always gets invited to go with the people in his class on rides (they are very into biking). He will probably be using it with me when I am home, and for longish rides with those people, so it needs to be somewhat reliable. I would say per week he would go on 1 long ride and 2 shorter ones at least. Money is not an issue for him, but no need to spend crazy amounts of money on his first bike, he can always upgrade anyways. I was thinking he should get a Madone 4.7 or 3.1, they seem like a good choice for what he wants. I know he does want carbon fiber though. The local dealer is a Trek dealer, so I don't really know many other brands but we are open to look into anything. Any suggestions? thanks.

billykmd

I have a madone 4.5 but upgraded everything... mostly picked it because of the color preference, and I knew I would upgrade the crank and brakes. I would go 4.7 or 4.5 and not the 3.1 personally. Also, he can probably get a deal on the 2011 now that the 2012 are slowly coming out in the next month or two. I would probably see if he likes the new 2012 first before buying anything right now unless he is dead set on getting a bike now.

Gene465

Don't think they released the 2012 road bikes just yet, should be shortly though. For the price difference the 4.5 is only a hundred bucks or so more than the 3.1 so that is the no brainer there, the 4.7 is not that much better than the 4.5 think it has better wheels and crank and costs about 500 more. The SSR wheels are not that great at around 2130g a wheelset. Alot depends on his color preferences and whether he will upgrade anything on it after purchasing it. You guys don't ride the same size bike by chance do you? You may get an upgrade after awhile! I have the 2.1 red/black Trek and love it. Took awhile to decide on which bike I went with but short of going to one of the Madones I was happy with my purchase and keeping my costs down. Might be one in my future if I keep riding like I have been. Good luck on your selection. I tried to get either of my two sons 21 &19 into riding but they do not care for it. I do try to get the wife out on one of her bikes from time to time. Nice for the two of you to ride together!

Hunt-man

That 4 series Madone is a good bike. Lots of them are on sale now as well. Trek did have 12 month no interest financing going....