Originally Posted by
clink83
Lemme put it in a way you can understand. You're a runner right? Would you buy shoes online, sight unseen, without trying them on? Would you buy a motion control shoe if you had a normal gait just because it looks better? That's what your doing right now. If you're looking to put in long miles to build an endurance base for running a CAAD8 or other bike with race geometry is not the best choice. Plus, this time of year you can get a MUCH better bike than the ones you've listed if you actually shop around.
Like I said before, if you looked around you could get last years Specalized Roubaix with 105 components for close to 1000 dollars if you shop around, and that bike would fit your needs perfectly.
I have a Fuji Team, which i bought new for the same price that your LBS is charging for that Roubaix ARC. It's fairly similiar geometry wise, only with a carbon frame. I can tell you that's not a fun bike to spend 3-4 hours sitting on.
I don't buy the argument that buying a bike is like buying a shoe. You don't have bikes specifically designed based on the angle of pronation. If you're a regular person who's physically fit, I would be surprised if there is any bike out there that you cannot ride due to your physiology. And if there is, or if you know a single person for whom this has been true, please post details and links. As one of the LBS managers put it: all the bikes are the same **** with exact same components. It all comes down to variation in the frame. And often, the frames are very similar or even designed in the same factory without much variation.
So if anyone is claiming that there are certain brands that some people can't drive, I would ask for a scientific study on that. And yes, even when it comes to running shoes, there is a
lot of hype and consumerism. Being too gullible is not that great. I'm sorry for the diversion, but just had to address the numerous posts reiterating that some brands won't be a good fit for certain drivers. A bike is a bike. It is has many
adjustable parts (unlike a shoe), so if you don't like something, adjust it. And you can make an aggressive bike more comfortable. But you can't necessarily make a comfortable bike more aggressive.
My first question to you would be: where do you live? Because as I mentioned before, I live in Los Angeles. So unless you live in San Francisco or NYC, the deals that you get are not applicable to me because the prices are just high here. On the other hand, if you DO live in LA, then help a fellow cyclist and either post or PM me the addresses of good local shops. I am willing to drive maybe around 200 miles within the radius of LA. I know how to get a good deal and I have not been able to do that with the bikes - hence my hesitation to buy from LBS. And this is why I have come up with a list so I can call stores all over the place and ask them for prices without having to drive to each one. Do you have a better idea? More than 10 stores did not help. Some of the stores tell me that they can't even get me the CAAD10 or Via Nirone because they are not available (at least in my size) or will take months to get.
Thanks.