Originally Posted by iherald
A buddy of mine emailed me yesterday telling me he wanted to buy a road bike. His budget is about a grand. I have to talk to him about what specifically he wants to ride, but what are people thoughts on the best type of bike.
I don't want to get into the whole "well, is the Trek X better than the Specialized Y", but I was thinking that he might be better off getting a good used bike, rather than a mediocre new one.
Craigslist seems like a good place for people who know what they're looking for, and want to fix it up. But that Canadian Cyclist Classifieds seems to be a good site. Any other sites where you might be able to pick something up locally (ie. go for a bit of test ride, and not spend an equal amount to the selling price on shipping).
2Wheels: Good seeing you yesterday!
In the $1000 range road bike you are prolly going to get no better than Tiagra equipment. Decent perhaps but not exactly durable. If I was going to spend $1000 on a road bike I would take some time and find the right fitting used bike. Canadian Cyclist is a good starting point although there are not usually a ton of bikes posted there. The upside is most of the folks who do sell bikes there are fairly serious cyclists so stuff is usually maintained/serviced properly and in good shape. Keep an eye on the used board at MEC...I often see some nice deals there. The biggest wear usually occurs on drivetrain and STI shifters so give those a good going over. I can never stress enough..especially on used...that if you find a Campy bike the shifters can be overhauled which can save big $ down the road. What size?