Back in the saddle
 

Hey guys! I doubt anyone remembers me, I've been absent from the forum for almost a year now, mostly just due to school and other stuff going on. But I've started getting on my bike more and more the past month, mostly just for fun but doing grocery runs as well. Thankfully I work at the school I attend, so one less thing to worry about there!

But as I've put more miles on my Trek 3900, the more I realize that it might not be a bad idea to get a new bike. It still works great, but it's...heavy, to say the least. Probably in the neighborhood of 35-40 pounds with my rack installed. I also got to try out a friends' road bike (old-school Schwinn, before walmart got their hands on them) and actually liked the feel of it a lot.

Here's the thing, though. I'm on a pretty shoe-string budget as is. I put the trek up on craigslist for $300 but no offers yet. Now I know what you're saying, "Buy a used one on craigslist!" Unfortunately my local area seems to have one of two things going on:
-People only selling cheap department-store bikes that are beat to hell
-Super expensive rigs that I simply cannot afford, and/or don't fit my needs.

I did some research and stumbled across two bikes that caught my interest. The Giordano Libero 1.6, or the Vilano Shadow. Has anyone here used or owned these particular bikes? If so I'd really appreciate some info on my new road bike purchase.

Thanks!

-John

don't know but best of luck selling your current bike and getting your dream bike in the budget you're looking at. and i know what you mean. 35-40 lbs is a lot. a lighter road bike for commuting feels great. i would recommend bigger than 23mm tires tho. 25-28 sound about right.

welcome back!

Thanks folks!
[MENTION=168564]Snow[/MENTION]_echo: I had the same idea, leaning more towards 28 because the roads here are kinda crap, so I need a little more surface area if possible.

Sorry to dig this thread up again, but here's a little update:

I went to my LBS and talked to them about selling my Trek/putting it on consignment. Unfortunately they weren't up to doing that, considering that they could only buy it for around $120 if they wanted to make a profit. So I put it up on craigslist and a local buying/selling group for $200.

In the meantime, I've been researching some entry-level bikes that might fit the bill. I've got no problem putting one together myself and then taking it to the LBS for a tune-up, so bikes direct or amazon seemed like a decent option. Here's the ones I'm looking at:

-Windsor Wellington 3.0

-Vilano Shadow

-Gravity Avenue B

-Motobecane Mirage

Any input on some of these?