Hey everyone, I'm just starting to get into road biking and have about a $1000 budget for my first bike. I did a tour of every LBS nearby to do some research and got some recommendations. I suppose the easiest way to do it is to just go by bike.
2004 Cannondale R600 - $969 - The shop was kind of sketchy, but the bike was in excellent condition and was available in my size.
2004 Cannondale R500 - $855 stock - $1065 for 105 groupo minus shifters - Both of these shops were very helpful, but the selection was very limited as one offered Trek/Cannon and the other Cannon/Specialized. They're also a pretty good hike from where I live.
2005 Jamis Ventura Sport - $900
2005 Jamis Ventura Comp - $1100
- This was the best shop I went to, salespeople were very friendly and invited me to ride with em on their weekly runs, in addition to seeming very knowledgbale and low pressure. Said to feel free to come by for advice even if I buy elsewhere so they'll probably be "my" LBS regardless of what I buy.
Giant OCR1 - $1000 - Borderline "comfort" bike?
Giant TCR2 - $1150 - A little out of my price range but was recommended very heavily.
Trek 1200 - $870(?)
These last three were other options I found, but they didn't really catch my eye from a price
erformance ratio. I basically list them in case in my inexperience they have some enormous perks that I didn't understand during the sales pitch.
I'll be biking mostly to get and stay in shape without having to do anything as mindnumbing as jogging or anything aerobic at the gym (stationary motion sucks). Odds are I will eventually join a club, do some local races, maybe even a triathalon.. however I'm wallet-limited on this purchase so my biggest priority is a good frame with respectable components. In short, if there is a driving reason to go with one over the other in spite of having say Tiagra instead of Ultegra, I'd like to know about it. To me the R600 almost seems like a no brainer, but I'd rather do some homework here than regret my decision in a few months.
Thanks for your time and let me know what you think!
