Right section?

Ah. Well, I know <little on bikes. Recently, I've been looking into a nice road biek to ride around with. I'm on vacation right now, and I was nosing around a biek shop. I came apon a Raleigh Intriuge 2.0? ,and I was wondering weather it was worth the $915 price tag. THoughts?

Wow.

that's too much, bro. WAY too much, I'm pretty sure.

Might wanna invest in a new keyboard

A quick google search says that's about $300 too high.

I lied. That was for the 1.0.
The 2.0 is about $950. (sorry)

First off, sorry about the typos in the first post. I was typing it on a blackberry. Go figure.

Now that we've AGREED that my price is correct, would it be good for a first road bike? What differences are there between this and a Raleigh Grand Sport, considering that the Sport costs $300 less.

The differences are in the components on the bike. Shimano components (shifters, derailleurs, etc.) come in several different levels.

Complete crap (Numered model names found on big box store bikes)
Sora
Tiagra
105
Ultegra
Dura-Ace

The intrigue 2.0 has Tiagra level components (with a 105 level rear derailleur) which are decent for a beginning bike. The Grand Sport has Sora level and a really low level front derailleur and a Tiagra rear derailleur.

I personally wouldn't get the Grand Sport. I can't comment on the Intrigue's frame, because I've never ridden one. I do have a Raleigh Competition that I love. Try out the Intrigue and some other similarly priced bikes as well. At $915 this bike is not low priced or on sale so don't feel rushed into buying it or anything. Shop around and get a feel for road bikes. Buying the first thing you see is something you don't want to do. ~$900 is a good bit of change and you don't want to end up making a bad purchase.

I'd also like to add that modern Raleighs don't seem to be very popular on these boards and you're not likely to find many people here who have experience with this particular model.

I have a 2003 Grand Sport that I got from Craigslist for $150. For that price I love it. I would not buy one new though.

Thanks Xr, that helped a bunch.

Yeah, I had noticed that the gearing system was Shimano. In the past, none of my trek Mt. bikes held up well with them. Of course, theres always the probability that they were the crappy parts, but either way, the de-railers would knock the chain off the gears when shifting to 1st and not going far enough when coming to 3rd. if I ever had any problems with the gearing system, how difficult and expensive would it be to replace it with a different system?


As to why I'm interested in Raleigh- I live in it. No, not the bike. I live in Raleigh, NC. What a novelty.

Post Script- Whats wrong with the GS? Relaibility issues? Horrible ride? Anything that I could fix? I don't mean to sound cheap, but when your a teenager with little to no disposable income, buying anything over $500 doesn't make you feel good. Its like giving away your soul.

For that price, I bet you could find a nice Trek 1200.

I wouldn't buy the Grand Sport because I wouldn't be caught dead riding those components. It sounds harsh, but it's true. Once you start getting involved in cycling, you will realize that bikes are status symbols for some people. What you're spending on a bike right now is what people will pay just for a set of wheels, myself included.

But aside from status and having "bling," if you do end up enjoying cycling you would probably end up regretting that purchase if you can afford better. The components on the Intrigue really are worth $300 more.

At the same time, don't be intimidated by bike snobs. Buy what you can afford and ride the hell out of it. It's just a bike.

*edit*
Don't buy a Trek. Everyone and their brother rides a Trek.

I personally like the Cadent series of bikes from Raleigh. My wife and I have matching Cadent 2.0. We are in our early to mid 50's so the slightly more upright riding position is really comfortable for us. This is the easiest ridiing bike I have ever been on. It solid and turns on a dime and leaves 9 cents change but its not squirelly. Has the carbon fork and seat post. I put a Brooks B-17 on mine and its da bomb.

I have a Grand Sport.I love it.No regrets.
I would tell any beginner to get one or the OCR3 from Giant.Rides great.Love the carbon fork.

Yeah, I know what your talking about.... I'm gonna go on a tangent about Airsoft now.

So,its kind of like, the product may be only marginally better, but its hardcore cyclist pay the premium becuase its status symbol. Like, I would pay $900 for a Systema M4, versus $120 for a knockoff CYMA M4? The Systema might only last a bit longer and perform a bit better, but its a status symbol. Correct? By the way, I'm not a redneck.

Of course, there are always going to be parts that are vastly apart from each other in terms of quality and performance.



Anyway, I'll manage to scrape up to $950 for the Intruige. But, after I exhaust the Intruige, what bike in the 1-2k range should I look at?



Post Script- GAH! I realized my local bike shop only carries Treks. Crap. But, they have brand new 1500's on sale for $900. Yay or neigh?