Originally Posted by CrewFan

So I'm looking at upgrading my road bike to something a little more upright, and hopefully, a little smoother. I currently have a nashbar 105 (an older version of this one - Cavalo 105) that is fine, but it's geometry is a little more aggressive than I want and I can't get tires much bigger than 25 on it. I was looking at the Fuji Gran Fondo line of bikes and started to think about the following bikes:


Gran Fondo Classico 1.1


Gran Fondo 2.1


Gran Fondo 2.3


The Classico is their non-disc brake line of Gran Fondo's and the other two have disc brakes. Given that I don't ride much in the wet weather and we don't have a lot of hills, let alone mountains, in central OH, disc brakes are not a big selling point for me. But what I do like about the 2.1 and 2.3 is some of the vibration dampening technology that is included in the bike builds ( VRTech vibration dampening technology & wave seat stays), which the Classico line does not appear to have. I'm not sure these techs add all that much or if they are worth the extra cost. Both bike lines seemed fine on the short ride around the shop, so I'm torn. I'm also not sure the jump to the 2.1 is worth the $700 jump in price, but I've heard great things about the ultegra breaks that come on the 2.1 - Anyone thoughts?


Just a little about my riding style - I ride 20-40 miles a few times a week with a longer 50-60 mile rides on the weekends. I've started to enjoy longer rides and wanted something that is a tad bit more comfortable. I'm about 5'7 and 175, with a little long torso vs legs. I spend about 60% of my ride on the hoods and the rest in the drop. Any help would be great!



Thanks!