Ostuni

intended to buy a trek1000 and got a 1200 instead due to a great sale price...

do ~100m per week and hopefully will get taht to 150....

for my purpose - fitness riding, long weekend rides with a small group of buddies - the 1200 is great as is and there is no plan nor need to upgrade anything...

i think if i had got the 1000 my attitude would be the same with one exception: i'd go to clipless pedals...

with a relatively modest cycling 'career' ahead of me, i think the 1200 will suit my needs for many years...

all that said, if i suddenly came into a lot of money, i'd be sorely tempted to splurge on some sexy italian bike...

snowy

I just bought my first roadie in February of this year. Its the Specialized Dolce Elite. It was $1200.00, I love this bike. I haven't upgraded anything on this bike, it fits great, I did take it in cause I was having some back pain and they put me on a trainer and re-measured and brought the seat up about an inch. I'm very happy with my purchase and with the bike, as far as upgrading the components this is the very reason why I bought this bike. My bike has great components on it. Anyhoo, I will be buying another bike but this will be more for touring.

TheKillerPenguin

The only thing I really regret about my bike is the wheelset, but I probably would have upgraded that eventually anyway, even on a more expensive bike. Nah, I'm pretty happy with the amount of money I paid.

Edit: Dear god, and the saddle!!! But 'dales don't get great saddles until you start dropping 3K on em...

Summit

I bought my first road bike last December. Didn't really know what I would like, but took a risk and probably spent a little more than the average first time buyer. It has treated me very well for almost 4K miles with only a couple of saddle changes. I have now decided to upgrade the frame set. In the process of migrating the components as we speak.

Sigurdd50

Altho I rode road bikes (i.e. Steel frame bikes, Reynolds 531 from the 70's), I consider the purchase of a Felt this winter my first hardcore Road/racer bike.

I was ready to spend only 600 bucks, but came across a good deal (100 dollars more) for the Felt w/full 105/Ultegra, CF front and back. It romanced me. LIght fast, light fast... despite the fact that I never average more than 13.5 MPH and likely never will.

did a week tour on it and it was light and fast... but it is built for fast day riding not commuting/light touring, so at weeks end, I was hurting here and there (compact geometry).

So the research I DIDN'T do before I bought this first new bike in 25+ years was:
What kind of bike do I REALLY need?
Altho the road/racing bike is COOL, I discovered that I DON'T really need a super lite bike tricked out for speed (with no braze-ons for racks, etc)
What I really wanted was a dependable steel frame, forgiving frame, comfortable, to cruise around on, do day rides, supported tours, braze-ons for racks (I don't care for the clamp on thang) and go about 12-14 MPH.

As silly as it sounds, I am going to switch to a much more pedestrian Steel frame bike that is more suitable to what I need, and at a much lower price-point. If I had money to throw away, I'd keep the other, but I'd rather have a few vintage rides and one good contemporary bike than a fleet of new bikes (cyclo-cross/MTB, Touring, Racer, Fixie).

skinnyone

1)... Very
2)... A bit.. out of necessity..
3)... Yes.. but if I knew about the soloist I may be temped to throw in the extra grand...

tcoop25

I think this is some great advice. I mainly cruise at around 14 MPH as well, and like to go on longer rides. The Bianchi steel was perfect, and the components work great for what I need. Don't go and buy a bike that is $1500-2000 dollars if you are new to biking and don't plan on doing 500 miles a month at 20mph average speeds.

Sigurdd50

right
As ghastly as it will sound to some hard-core, hammerheads... I will be able to cover my needs for well under $550
and get the sweet feel of steel

But we are getting off the OP topic

bshow1

I bought my '05 Trek 1200 in April. I'm really very happy with it.

The only upgrade I've made is to replace the stock pedals which I hated with Shimano 520's which I love.

If I were doing it over, I might get a touring bike. But no regrets.

RC2

In crossing over from MTB to experimenting with road, I didn't know if I'd like road and want to stick with it, so I looked for a lower-$$ frame. I ended up with a specialized E5 ultegra, gently used, for a very fair price. After riding it for a year, I knew I'd evolved into a roadie, and that spending a few grand on a really nice bike made sense (and I actually liked the E5's fit and decent performance/ride enough to keep it for a couple yrs).

I think it absolutely makes sense to aim low with your first road bike. Let your tastes and knowledge about fit and frames grow for a year to two or three, and consider a greater investment when you feel you are ready.

OPC

I got my '04 Giro in April.
1. Yes, I'm happy with it.
2. Yes, I've changed the stem (110mm ITC? -> 90mm Deda Newton) and the pedals (MTB -> SPD-R)
3. Probably would have bought the Giro now, but the '05 San Mateo still catches my eye quite a bit. Campy AND Reparto Corso. Bling-bling.

I suppose the only thing I still have doubts about is the fit of the '04 bike. My '92 Eros is a 55cm frame and the '04 Giro is a 59cm. Both are standard geometry, but they can't both be the right size. Can they? I don't walk away from my rides in pain, but my rides are 25-30miles 4-5 times a week.

fishigan

I got a '05 Trek1000 and for upgrades I have put on X5's, and a Fizik Arione. I was going to do more but have decided that I will not upgrade this bike any further. (I'm not counting the comp. or cages and bottles and pack as upgrades) I will however buy a new bike in the spring and keep this as a back up. I opted to get the 1000 over the Lemond Reno or Trek 1200, simply because I wasn't sure if it is something that I would stick with. If I could do it again I would have put out the extra $$ for the Alpe D'Huez or maybe even the Chambrey, or even another brand of bike in that $$ range or slightly higher.
(I'll be doing that come April, so I have plenty of time to research the bikes.)
I have lost about 16lbs of fat and gained 3lbs of muscle. I have gone from doing (4) 3 milers a week @ 14.1 to (3) 20 milers a week @ 17.5 in just about 2 and 1/4 months. Plus a couple of 8-10 milers too.
Next week I'll start pushing that up a notch to one 25 and 2 twenties. So that I can get to doing 3 25-30 milers a week.
I hope to hit 1500+ miles for my rookie year. I also aspire to drop another 15 lbs by the end of Aug. One day soon I'll be hitting my first metric too. I'm trying to get there by the end of August. I'm more addicted to cycling than any thing I've ever been hooked on. I actually passed on a couple of fly fishing trips so that I could get more saddle time.
I eat better, feel better and have gotten back both muscle tone and mass because of cycling. It has become all consuming! Those friends that have not a cycle, they are dead to me.

clfjmpr44

Coming from a MTB background, I pulled what funds I could get together and bought a Trek 1000 back in 2000. I saw the nicer, lighter bikes, but I figured I should only dip my little toe in the pool to make sure the sport was for me before I made the big splash. Nothing worse then a beautiful high end bike collecting cobwebs and depreciating in your garage I say. Splash I did this past winter and I couldn't be happier. However, that Trek 1000 did everything I asked of it. It was perfect for me. The downside is now a buddy is trying to get into the sport on the cheap and wants to buy it off of me. I am having trouble letting go...
A

Ant

Good for you! I am in the same boat. When I first got my mtn bike 2 month's ago I could barely make it 1 mile. Last weekend I did 16.5 miles 2 days in a row on my Trek 1200. I've lost a lot of weight and feel so much better. Good to hear a similar story!

Newbian

Though I wanted to buy an '05 Felt F90 (they couldn't get my size during that time), I ended up getting an '05 Trek 1000... The only thing that I changed on it are the tires... I bought some that were thicker after my first blow out...

I would like to upgrade the pedals (I hate the "baskets" that it came with) but all in all, the bike still rides great... No complaints here...

RD Olivaw

I did the same with my Trek 1500 (purchased in late April) and I'm much more comfortable now. The Specialized Alias is what I ended up with.

Oh, and I love my 1500 so far.

jennings780

I bought my '04 Specialized Allez Elite in February.
On one hand I love it. I like it better than the other bikes I tested and have no complaints.

On the other hand, I do wish I had a better wheelset and ultegra - If I had it to do over I would probably go ahead and spend the extra dough on a Specialized Roubaix or a Cannondale R1000.

I don't plan on upgrading my bike anytime soon though. I will probably buy a nice tri bike in the spring (I've been eyeing the Cannondale Ironman 2000) I will probably still do most training on my Allez.

simplyred

So far it seems like I have spent the most on my first roadie... ~2000 US...
Not to flash my wallet or anything, so as a bit of a background:
I wanted a road bike for since July '04 [the Tour, Lance & getting in shape were prominent reasons] so I started saving EVERY penny I could for this...
I trained MY A$$ off for 9, 10 straight months w/ core training, weights & on a stationary/spinners [for about at least 2 hrs/day]... thinking about biking and making sure I deserved this machine...
I got a good job and BAM, the rest is history... I knew the second I rode my bike, that I had done the right thing in saving and training...

I appreciate what biking has done for my discipline and state of mind... it has brought more to my life than any other action I have been capable of doing...
Looking back, I wish I had the bike sooner... but the wait has been agonizing but very rewarding...

-Peter

Foureyes

I bought a steel Bianchi Brava about a month ago and am very happy with it. I wanted steel because of the smoothness of the ride and that eliminated about 97% of the bikes in my price range (sub $750). The Brava was an easy choice over the Jamis Satellite because the Brava had clipless pedals and a (old school) threaded stem that was easily adjustable. Being new to road bikes I wasn't sure what my ideal riding position would be and this allows me to experiment. Most people who give up road cycling early on seem to do so because of the harshness of the ride and awkward riding position. The Brava seems to be a good solution to both problems. The down side is it's a bit heavy at 24 pounds (58cm). Can't have everything, I guess.

slacker_express

First "real" road bike was a mid-1980's Univega Supra Sport (bought new). I still have it and someday I will clean it up and take it out for old time's sake. It is stock except for seat, tires, and tubes. I remember buying it because I could stand over the top tube. Not even a test ride!

First real, real bike was a 2003 Lemond Tourmalet bought new last year as a leftover. I rode a bunch of bikes in the same price range and this one felt the best, even though it was a little on the big side. After riding it for a couple of years, and actually learning how to ride a bike like this, I think I would have been better off with a smaller bike.

Anyway, I ride it whenever I have the chance (3 kids all playing sports makes it hard to find enough time). I have replaced the seatpost (very adjustable Salsa), saddle (inappropriate, but *very* comfortable Brooks B17N), stem (80cm), and recently Shimano 105 cranks and associated Bottom Bracket only because I had a slight wobble in the Tiagra cranks that bothered me.

I see no need to get a new bike anytime soon as it does everything I need, but I can see myself doing it for no reason at all.

lisitsa

Interesting that most people on this post have actually started off with a reasonably high-end bike and had numerous upgrades, rather than started with sora.

I started with a new trading post sora, and am very happy with it. Haven't changed anything yet, but might change the rear wheel in the far far future, because I heard wheels give a huge benefit.

Moonshot

2rodies had it right, buy a little more than you can afford. That is, if you are serious about cycling.

I started my modern era of cycling with a 1992 Trek 2100/Shimano 105 (bought new) and went to a 2300 then a 2500 ( five carbon tubes!) and within a couple of years I was riding a Trek 5500 with full Dura Ace. I would have saved about $700 or so if I'd bought an OCLV at the outset. I have no regrets though and have many good memories about each of my bikes.

never

I bought my Allez Elite just a couple of weeks ago and everything is still stock. When I bought the bike, I was also looking at the Specialized Allez Expert with Ultegra 10 components. The Expert was on sale at $1000 off, but my lbs didn't have my frame size. I looked at a couple of other bikes that were more expensive than the Allez Elite...a Cannondale and a Wilier. I didn't like the feel of the Cannondale at all but the Wilier felt as good as the Elite, plus it had Campy components which felt much better than the 105s on the Elite. The main thing was the price difference...I just couldn't justify spending that much more on the Wilier. Because if I did, it would mean less money for the MTB.

Since I've gotten it, I love riding the Elite but I don't see myself upgrading anything unless it is absolutely necessary. For me, XC/singletrack and the MTB is the main focus and therefore where most of the bike money is going to go. Plus I go through parts a lot faster with the MTB so I need extra cash for that side of my addiction.

CardiacKid

I, like alot of people on this site, like to tinker. I bought a Trek 1000 a week ago. I first removed the reflecters, then flipped the stem, now I'm planning my upgrades. I will probably start with the pedals.
This is one of the things that attracted my to cycling. Its hard to tinker with a pair of running shoes

SnowyL

I have a Cannondale MS 800. I've replaced most of the stock parts to date, but this is my 3rd triathlon season & during the first, I needed a simple bike with no aero shifters that I could safely manage. I've upgraded different parts as I've needed to & will always like my frame, most likely.

Now I wonder what it would be like to ride a carbon bike. Would it make that much difference in my ability or comfort? I won't ever know b/c I've spent enough in upgrades not to ever rationalize getting a different bike.