Originally Posted by
goldfishin
so what bike would you buy? it seems like i basically want a fast touring bike. the problem is i don't see many. the trek portland would be great but the wheels are just junk and it's way over priced (for my budget and for the cruddy wheels they put on it).
any recomendations for a road type bike that will fit wider tires, is light (that counts out the surly LHT. i don't care for the hubs on the cross check and i think a stock one weighs about 25lbs.), and has rack mounts (i really want some rack mounts!) for about $850 or less? i want at least 105 level shifting and cranks and the same level of hubs. i'd rather stay away from carbon fiber. forks should be steel. frames can be aluminum or steel.
any ideas?
all the jamisis seem to have tiagra hubs no matter how good the rest of the bike is.
trek uses crud wheels on everything.
know anywhere good to get a cannondale touring 2 for about $500 off?
nevermind. it has tiagra shifters and an octalink bb. the trouing 1 would be perfect but it's twice my budget.
single speed is out due to wind
My REI has 2 T800 (same as the T2) for $1100 for a small and $1000 for a large. That's at the Denver Flagship store.
As for the stuff you hang off the frame...wheels, drivetrain, etc...I always go with a mix of components. My T800 came stock with good stuff but I swapped everything out because that's what I do. I didn't do it for lightness but for durability. I have kept the Tiagra shifters and they work just fine and have for several thousand miles now. I also kept the Tiagra front derailer because it's a better triple derailer than the higher level stuff.
For wheels, I went crazy and got Phil's. I don't
need them ... a set of XTs would work just as well... but I wanted them. If you want good wheels, learn how to build them yourself. Except the wheels that come stock on my bikes, every set of wheels I've used for the last 20 have been ones I built. But stock wheels, even with fairly cheap hubs, can still run smoothly if they are adjusted properly.
And there's nothing wrong with octalink. I have it on 3 or 4 bikes in my garage and have no complaints with it. Same with ISIS. External bearing would be the way to go but I have to get some wear on the other cranks first.