jotconnor

I'm riding on a 30 pound, $300 (brand new) Dawes Lightening DLX. its a road bike but nearly walmart style. I've been riding alot lately, usually about 25 miles a night and the extra weight wasn't a big deal. The front derailer needs adjusting more then I would like but it gets me by and the area around my house has less then a 1% grade at most so nothing but the large chainring is needed. here comes where the bike, I think is holding me back, I went on a group ride of a 6,000 foot + mountain climb and it was very aggravating. After getting the front derailer adjusted before something happened and part of the way up I lost part of the chainring shifting and had to stop and ask assistance to adjust it again. on the few flat areas I was slighty faster then most but when it got to the steeps I was haveing to go to a taller gear and mash instead of spin like I wantedto. with as fast as I'm putting on mileage I'm looking for lighter weight (sub 22lbs at least) and bare minimum Tiagra components and maybe 105. the main bikes I was looking at are
Scattante R-560
Fuji Roubaix
the Schwinn fastback 27
also the motobecane Vent Noir has caught my eye but I have heard mixed reviews on the newer motobecanes, windsors, and the rest of the Bikesdirect product.
One advantage I have is having both a Performance bike and a spectrum cycles near my house so if I bought any of the above I could buy it from a shop.
Any opinions for a cyclist who, after 6 months of riding has decided he wants to put an investment into a good bike.
.
PS: I was looking in the sub 900 range

ccrnnr9

Im gonna put a vote in for bikesdirect IF you know what you are doing...if you do not have any clue how to maintain a bike, what to look for for fitment, or are dead set on having the insurance of buying from a local shop then that option is not for you. Otherwise it is the best option IMO. I bought my motobecane from bikesdirect and love it! more than 400 miles and no problems although I do need to tighten my bottom bracket!...its creakin at me

jotconnor

as far as bike maintanance I'm learning. I know basics of working on a car (I've installed suspension, installed turbochargers both upgrades and aftermarket and had the joy of rebuilding a 1999 VW VR6 motor) so tools aren't foreign to me. The sora stuff has got to go as well as the heavy wheels. I only walked into the BD associated shop once and although it felt more "LBS" then the huge performance bike 3 miles down the road at the performance the shop salesmen were actually alot nicer and seemed more willing to talk and hear my opinions and never even mentioned me buying anything. To be honest the guys at performance were some of the most friendly and honest people I have ever talked to out of about the 12 bike shops I have ever walked into.

DigitalRJH

FWIW.....Bicycling Magazine voted the Trek 1000 the best $700 bike they have ever ridden during their best of the best product reviews. Check out the article.

Ostuni

keep shopping and researching and test-ride as much as possible...

between performance and cyclespectrum you'll have a good selection...

all the bikes mentioned in your post would be a good choice imo - i don't think you can really go wrong with any of them, though you might have more luck with some than others...

you're in a good place: after six months you are riding regularly and logging good mileage and 'deserve' an upgrade...

of the bikes listed, the fuji probably would get the highest rating around here, and deservedly so - they are great bikes...

every scatt owner i've heard here is happy....

there are many happy moto and windsor owners on this forum (me being one of the happy moto owners), too, and on those bikes you might get more 'glamorous' components for the same money?

bottom line: while your results may vary, they're all pretty much the same! so again, keep researching, shopping, and test-riding, and let true love happen....

linus

woodcycl

+1

Given you have access to test ride these locally -- take each for a spin (more than around the parking lot if possible) ... make some notes on your feelings about each right after each ride. Then, compare notes. Dwindle it down to only 2 bikes ... test them again, notice components, wheels, etc. Make a final decision ... they are all good bikes and comparable for the most part!

Have fun! Buying a new bike is GREAT ... I'm looking at a Cannondale Team 1 currently and am in LOVE!

steel_on_wheels

Yay! new bike time!
I have a mercier corvus (as u can see in my sig) that I got from sprtymama on ebay. It has 105 and a carbon fork. From what I heard, Courtney Spratt/sprtymama is the wife of the person who runs bikesdirect.com. I dunno, anyway, they're practically the same. Seeing you have a Dawes, did you buy from them too? The corvus I got was the last of the inventory in my size, so I got it for $595 instead of $695! I really really really love my corvus. Just remember to get it COMPLETELY checked and tuned up. Since you're handy, it shouldn't be a problem. I would go with bikesdirect/sprtymama because you are one of those handy people who can benefit from their mail-order/lack of service good deals. The mercier corvus is solid, and the motos seem really decent too. Keep us posted!