Mjt6762

I'm just entering college as a freshman this year, and I'm living off campus and I am looking at getting a bike for commuting to and from campus as well as to and from classes and what not. I also consider myself pretty active, and I run and swim multiple times a week, and I can easily see myself getting hooked into using biking as a fitness element and for just enjoyment going on long rides. I would also love to get into doing triathlons, and who knows how much I could get into cycling..which is the problem.. because really, who knows? What I am positive about is my commute to college and my active lifestyle that would allow a decent amount of riding. I'm looking at trek bikes, and compared the 1.5, Madone 2.1, and the Émonda S 4. I've pretty much ruled out the 1.5 because how close it is to in price and how much more you get out of the 2.1. The $1650 for the Émonda is basically my absolute limit in terms of $. It's seems to be the beginning point for carbon bikes, and good beginning price at that, and the lightweight aspect of it is what realllly attracts me, thinking about moving it on and off the transit, up stairs, and more importantly riding the thing, climbing hills, being more efficient and not killing myself on the way to class in a heavy mountain bike. All this said, is the Émonda even a start point I should consider, or would you suggest starting with a bike at a lower price point, and then maybe upgrading to carbon in the future? Thank you for your help!

Garfield Cat

Many colleges have a bike club and they are the one's who know the particulars. Some even have triathlon clubs. Contact them.

obed7

Theft on many campuses is a huge concern. If that is the case where you will be attending, a junker for class and a nice bike for your after hours and weekend rides might be considered.

GlennR

My son is pretty hard core when it comes to cycling and triathlons and he used a "crappy" bike for his commute from his off campus housing to classes. His reasoning was it needed to be locked outside so it would be exposed to the rain and snow. And if it did get stolen, it was no big loss. He saved his "expensive" bikes for training and competing.

He attend SUNY Geneseo and they did have a Tri club. He also joined the Livingston County Bike Club and was very active.

When he graduated and went to Columbia for his masters he used his "crappy" bike to commute to his student teaching assignments since it was faster than using public transportation.

You can find cheap bikes on CL, garage sales and at police auctions. I'd suggest get one and save up for the bike you want for pleasure and sports.

geehue

What he said. A shiny new Trek Emonda (well, in my case it would have been a shiny new Velo Sport Prestige, but I am old) parked outside in the town I went to university would probably not have lasted the day.

Tim_Iowa

I agree with the others. A brand new carbon bike will be a theft magnet. Even if you lock it up well (with a lock that weighs as much as the bike), a frustrated thief may just vandalize the bike out of spite. I see that around college campuses; a well-locked bike left overnight just gets trashed instead of stolen.

I suggest you get a decent used mountain bike or hybrid for commuting, and a nice bike for races and club rides. Keep the klunker locked outside, and the nice bike inside.

As for the race bike, the ones you listed are quite nice. But I believe you'd get a better value on the used market; many folks are replacing their 10 speed road bikes with 11 speeds, so there are deals to be had.

Look for a bike co-op in your college town; they'll have workstands and can teach you how to do bike maintenance.

youngbull

a carbon bike for school sounds like a very bad idea to me.