gmudder15

Hi everyone,

Need some help with a used bike purchase. I'm new to road bikes, and I'm purchasing one mainly for a sprint triathlon, and likely for further riding/getting into the sport from there.

I was hoping to spend around $500 for a nice used bike.

I can across this one: Louis Garneau Axis SL2
It's a large (I'm about 5'10"). Previous owner says its in great shape, approx. 2700 km since Summer 2016.

Can be found by Google: "Louis Garneau Axis SL2 Kijiji Toronto"

He's willing to do $500. Do you think I should pull the trigger?

Thanks!

seau grateau

Looks too big for a 5'10" rider.

gmudder15

Oh ya? I'll try it out. I'm probably closer to 5'11", but said 5'10" to be conservative.

What do you think about the price and bike itself?

NILS14

Just to give you a basis for comparison, I'm 179cm tall (5'10.5'') and ride a Specialized Secteur Sport 2015 size 56. I could likely ride a 54 with a longer stem and a long enough seatpost. I have long arms and legs. Looking at the geometry, it looks a bit big.

Best way is to try it. when looking at geometry, concentrate on stack and reach, it'll be less confusing. It certainly is for me.

$500 seems a bit high for a used Garneau with Sora, imo, unless it's in pristine shape, which it isn't because the rear deraileur is scratched on the whole length...

mcours2006

Sora-equipped it's probably a SL3. The SL2 has ten-speed Tiagra on it. For $500 it's not a bad deal. I assume you negotiated the price down from $675. The bike probably retailed for $1200 new, so if it's in good condition and it fits, go for it.

You can ask yourself, for $500 what could you get new today? Maybe something like this in your area:
https://www.brownssports.com/home/14...svelto-rc.html

But it's an 8-speed for more money.

draganm

no ones mentioned this yet, but you said you wanted to compete and the Garneau geometry is a very upright position, sport touring style frame. Great for you're lower back, but not great for racing. The Miele, weird name I never heard of, but that is the type of frame geometry that is more high performance competitive bicycle.
If you're doing Timetrials, you might even look for a TT specific bike? like this
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-road-bike/pe...ationFlag=true
keep in mind that this bike is not great for mixed group rides unless you like to go out and spend the day with other TT folks. I've sat in with them before and they will cruise at 28mph for hours, only out in the plains, very little climbing

Pizzaiolo Americano 

I know nothing about the bike but, miele means honey in Italian.

1500SLR

I hear this all the time but there is very little truth in the matter. The actual aerodynamic advantage has not changed significantly since Giant introduced the TCR to road racing in the mid to late 90s. It really has not changed. You make the rider more aero not the bike. All this crap about the advantage of aero bikes means squat in the real world, and this is among some of the best riders to have ridden a bike.

mcours2006

Miele was a local manufacturer here in Toronto. Lots of stores carried their bikes back in the 80's. I think they went bankrupt in the 90's, and were somehow bought out by a Quebec-based company. Their bikes are made in Quebec currently.

They are excellent value for the money.

draganm

what do any of those pics have to do with frame geometry? Most are photos of pro cyclists doing fast descents, which is a very short period of time and a very small portion of even a mountain stage relative to the rest of the stage,
A TT bike allows you to hold an aero position for literally hours on end without fatiguing your arms or lower back. Even that is beside the point really, my point was that the Garneau bike in that listing did not look like a racing bike. It looked very much like a tall head tube , long wheel-base touring bike. Really the OP should go and look at and ride both before buying IMO. Let him decide, TT bike or Fred bike
that's actually very rare, to have anything made locally versus shipped in by the boat-load from Asia. Well worth supporting

mcours2006

I had, and still have the same, bike that was made by Gardin--another local manufacturer. They too went bankrupt after the 90's. QC was a big issue with this company and Miele. Fortunately the frame I have is one of the 'good' ones.

goenrdoug

I say you whine about how you wanted a Tri-bike with aerobars and so on and how this one isn't really appropriate for that but you're time-pressed to get a bike soon, etc. and offer $425. You might even whine that the brand is unusual and you're worried you'll have trouble getting parts/support from bike shops on it...

Regardless, I say buy it. The size may be a TAD large, but you're likely in the size-range for it and could make some adjustments and/or replace small parts (namely the stem) to get it fitting decently. This generation of Tiagra is pretty nice and you'll be in a decent position to find good deals on 10-speed-only wheelsets down the line where everyone else is passing them over for 11-speed varieties..

Buy da bike!

mcours2006

To reiterate, it's not 10-speed Tiagra. It`s 9-speed Sora. Nothing wrong with it, but price should be commensurate with group level.

goenrdoug

I'll trust you as I haven't seen the actual ad -- couldn't find it. The OP said SL2, which apparently has Tiagra, so that's what I'm going by...

1500SLR

The ultimate thing it has to do with everything is to show you that even 20 years apart, even with modern bikes and techniques Pantani is slower the Froome and only Sagan is marginally faster than Pantani. We are talking about bikes made in the mid to late 90s vs now. My point is that if you believe there is any gains between aero bikes that riders ride in Grand Tour events vs. bikes that were produced in the most relevant condition at the maximum speed you will be traveling on a bike in real world conditions there is not.

Too many people buy into the "moaaaarrr errro" hype train and it actually means nothing in realiy no matter if it looks like the decals are falling off your Canyon bike or otherwise.

draganm

I don't know, don't really have an opinion on how far the TT bikes have progressed, I think they are lighter, but that is not much of an advantage on flat ground. All the "blading" of frames and such really looks like marketing.
I do think there is a very big difference between a touring bike and a dedicated TT bike though. Mt TT bike is probably 5 to 8 pounds heavier than my Carbon Road, but for cranking out a flat 20 mile maximum speed event the TT bike is easily superior. It might just be my imagination, but the people I ride with for lunch are never happy to see the TT bike.
I would not have expected QC issues with Canadian made, everything I own from Canada is very good;. The other side of that coin is things from China have gotten pretty good, maybe not up to par with the best western product but equal to many.

The original Ad the Garneau cruiser is gone, chances are the OP bought it. Hope he comes back and tells us what he got

1500SLR

There is a difference between time trial bikes and road bikes. That's a bit like comparing apples to oranges. For the average rider the difference between a touring bike and a road bike is a matter of seconds over the course of many miles. I ride a steel frame touring bike and a modern up to date aluminum road bike. Neither bike makes me any faster or slower. What you are seeing above is the difference between positions on a bike. This is what matters more. In fact the type of jersey you wear matters more than what type of bike you ride. A skin suit will also make you a few seconds quicker over many miles.

At the end of the day you can buy a $10-15k road bike. I've ridden a BMC TeamMachine. These kinds of UCI legal road bikes WILL NOT make you faster... It's all just marketing hype. You do not need an expensive aero bike.