I need to go faster
 

I have always been a mountain bike rider, and recently bought a hybrid bike to tackle the mean streets of Cleveland. Cycling has come back into my life as a fitness mechanism, sustainable option and most important, a mood stabilizer and I want to go faster and farther. I ride to work twice a week, and do 20 miles either in the morning or at night when I don't ride in, and I need more speed. I am interested in purchasing a road bike because I am ready to take my enthusiasm to another level. I have been on ebay, and have three local bike shops around me, and I am wondering...in my price range, what is the best value?

1. Someone please tell me outside of ebay about the value of the windsor/dawes/kinnebac bikes that are listed at half price and seem to have a good look and good components.

2. I would like to buy an American made frame.

3. My price range is $800 tops. Is there a bike out there that won't have me clamoring for another upgrade, road bike? Aluminum frame is fine for the price. I ride six days a week, normally by myself, but sometimes with another. I have good endurance, and have been stuck on the Fisher Cronus that is really made for a college kid. I like the frame, and the bike, but I don't need disc brakes and I only have nine speeds, which I didn't think would be a problem in flat Cleveland, but it is. My mistake.

I don't know much about road bikes and would be interested in knowing from someone like me, 6' foot, 240 lbs, what works best for the money.

Drop in to Clydesdale's/Athena's, we have many threads for >200 Lb riders, wheel specs, frame specs, the works concerning Road Bikes!

Matter of fact, I'll just move the thread!

In Cleveland, you have a wonderful advocacy group called the Ohio City Bicycle Coop. You might want to check with them to purchase a used road bike. That would stretch your dollar and allow you to purchase additional items for the bike.

When I was in Cleveland in May, I rented a Giant Cypress from OCBC to ride around town. It was a seven speed commuter bike, and I had no problems with climbs, even on a group ride out to the Steelyard Commons. It was great for riding through Public Square in rush hour. I'm 6 foot, 240 some pounds. So while those extra gears might be nice, I'm not sure you'd need them.

The Motobecane/Dawes/Windsor are all imported frames sold by a company named Bikes Direct. I've seen one of them up close about a month ago. The owner thought it was wonderful, but he did admit he had a problem with a bad wheel, which he sent back for an exchange. The bike looked solid, and the owner had ridden it for six months, but it had some very ugly welding on the tube joins.

In July '06, I bought a new Specialized Sequoia Elite on sale for $979. A really great bike for me, being 51, arthritic, heavy, but in good shape. Two weeks ago, I bought a 1995 Scott AFD303 road bike from a club mate for $175.

I now kick myself for buying the Sequoia, even tho it's a great bike, in fact a fabulous bike. I just can't believe I actually spent that kind of money when the Scott is so much fun for a fraction of the price. It's only a 7-speed but is faster, better on hills, has 170mm cranks that seem to be just right, and the lesser grade Shimano RSX works as well or better than the 105 group on the Sequoia!

Moral of the story:
Better to spend $175 and possibly make a cheap mistake than spend a grand, and wonder why.

Check your Craigslist FIRST:o

Yeah, I fully agree with jcm.

$175 late 80s Cilo that I picked up on the bay is a much better ride than the modern $300 Dawes that the fiancee picked up about 18 months ago. We sold the Dawes (she ended up with a $400, 80s Harry Quinn outfitted with 8 spd. Campy ergo that she loves) and, after a full tuneup, I'm riding the Cilo more and more often.

Be patient, do your homework, and buy used (and preferably local so you can ride it first). You don't get to test ride a Bikes direct bike and you still have to deal with set-up and tuning.

There's some great advice here, and I agree with The Historian, check out that local co-op. Getting back into it and wanting to stretch your dollar, I'd imagine that's by far the best way to go. That will give you a good bike to get started on, and build a good relationship with a good group.

Regarding bikes direct, a friend purchased several bikes from them recently. While they are of the higher end, I've been impressed with what I've seen. Saturday he rode his full carbon Shimano Dura-Ace equipped rig, and it looked fantastic. The frame looked as good as many carbon bikes I've seen at the shop (aside from the new Madones.. :)), and he seemed to be quite pleased. The other one I saw was the aluminum-framed SRAM Force bike, and that also was a beauty. As someone else noted, the welds on the frame are ugly, but so are the welds on my Trek FX. They both seem like very solid, capable, and good looking bicycles.

Anyway, moral of the story, watch for used. I keep trying to do that myself, but the whole instant gratification thing always bites me in the butt.

Looks like you're going to have to buy used. Hang out on ebay and Craigslist (you can use oodle.com to metasearch CL and other classifieds) until you see something you want.

In the meantime I'd go on a few test rides at the LBS and get a feel for sizing and how each brand fits.

You can get a new Trek 1000, Giant OCR-3 or any number of other good bikes in that price range. My first road bike was a Trek 1000. At that point I weighed about 230# and had no problems with it. The main advantage of buying one of these bikes over a bike from the internet is customer service. You can work with the LBS to make sure the fit is just right. Check out the Under $750 thread on the Road Forum.
I am, onthe other hand, fairly certain that no one makes frames in that price range in the U.S. anymore. No one makes components, except wheels, in any price range here anymore, and haven't for years.
I don't know if there were ever any derailleurs made in the U.S.. There probably were, but finding them would be very difficult. So the bottom line is there is no such thing as a bike made in America.
Cannondale puts big stickers on their bikes saying "Handmade in the U.S.A.". That means "part of this bike was made in the U.S.A. with materials from other countries, but was mostly made in China and put together in America by people who are from another country."
Get over it and buy the bike you like the best.

well, I can heartily recommend the Dawes as a good starter, lower end road bike... but will it stop any upgrade fever? I have one and use it regularly but I also was looking at the trek 1000 for more than double the price... I just haven't pulled the trigger on it.

It's been a while since I was there, but my father (also a Clydesdale) still buys his bikes at Eddy's. (depending where in Cleveland you are, Stow could be a bit of a trip for ya, though.) Back in the day, I used to get all my bikes there. Unless things have changed, they're good at matching bikes to purpose and price range, and fitting riders to the right bike.