Shoalwater

So I transitioned from mountain to road about four months ago and thought I would share my experience as it relates to purchasing a bike. I wanted carbon around the $2500 range. At the time I placed a lot of emphasis on cost..........$200 here, $300 there etc. Hindsight is also 20/20 right, cost becomes relative quickly........

Road Shoes 100
Pedals 150
Rack for Car 200
Jerseys 180
Bibs/Shorts 200
Pump 75
misc. 100

Total, over a grand and I know I missed a few things. So, bottom line advice, your new ride will last years, you will ride 150 times a year, and stare at it over 1,000 times a year every time you pass by it in the house..............

+Test ride a ton of bikes, don't be married to your lbs, they will still love you
+Buy the one that feels right, then dial it in
+Buy one that you fall in love with the looks, don't sacrifice on looks
+And if the one that fits you like a glove, looks awesome and it is a grand more than you wanted to spend, who cares, what is grand over 300 rides, nada.......you will never look back.


Take care.

BillyD

Sounds like sound advice to me.

celerystalksme

this is pretty much what i did...and know i've spent like $15K on bike and bike crap in the last year. not everyone can afford to do that. just cuz you fall in love with a parlee z1 doesn't mean you should get it.

i say keep a reasonable budget. i have a $7K-ish bike...another $6K-$7K-ish bike...sold a $3K bike...picked up another $4K-ish bike (being built right now)...have another $2k-$3K is bike...and have a beater $1K bike that i picked up for $250 used. the $250 bike is probably my most useful bike...cuz i use it on the trainer, i use it in snow, rain, mud...i use it to go to the corner store of snacks or groceries...i use it on some slow beginner level group rides that i join friends on...and i even used it on occassional nice weather training rides.

what have i learned? the best bike is the bike you don't give a flying fork about cuz you'll use it for everything!

my other bikes are for races, training rides, fast group rides, charity rides, or just making myself feel good about having a finely tuned machine beneath me.

patentcad

Road shoes for $100? That sounds like seedy, not Sidi.

lung

$100 for good shoes? Sounds like Bonktown

APKjuniorFL

Got mine for $40 and they work perfectly fine.
Unfortunately, they don't have rainbow and gold Sidi swirls on them.

BarryJo

Funny, that was the first thing I though, paying more for pedals than shoes isn't right.
Return the shoes, try on a pair of Specialized BG Carbons, and Sidi Genius shoes and decide on which one you like better.
Not sure what pedals you got, but you can get Shimano PD6620s for about $80 on ebay, the savings should cover the extra cost of the shoes.
Don't underestimate the importance of a good pair of shoes.

Shoalwater

With all the shoe talk...........may have missed the moral of the story!!!

BarryJo

The moral of the story is enjoy your purchases and ride the heck out of your new bike.
I started with a pair of $100 Nike shoes and got about 5000 miles out of them. They were fine.
When I finally had some extra $$$ last September I bought a new pair of Specialized BG carbon shoes and my feet loved me for them.

Hendley

These be wise words.

jrobe

"Buy one that you fall in love with the looks, don't sacrifice on looks"


It is a damn bike, not a girlfriend.

Shoalwater

You have more control over how your bike looks...................

BarracksSi

.... and weighs......

lechat

and after riding it you can wander away and do anything you feel like.

BarracksSi

And, when you're done, just lean it against the wall, where it'll stay quiet until the next time you want to ride.

And...


hoo boy, this could get bad quickly....

HigherGround

Plus it won't complain if you ride other bikes...

celerystalksme

i don't know...i swear to god my Look gets pissy the next time i ride her if i've been riding my Cervelo a lot...

JeffS

He said girlfriend, not wife.

Fat. grounds for a breakup, but not a divorce - or so the lawyer told me

Shoalwater

still a blast to ride even if their on the heavy side..............just stick with solo rather than group rides and races.

cantdrv55

And if you don't take it out for a while, it's all good.

jesspal

I have $40.00 shoes as well, my feet get tingly and have hot spots after long rides. After todays century I decided I was gonna reward myself with a new pair of shoes. Everyone in the peloton had Sidi or Specialized. The Shimano SPD-SL shoes i got were 40 bucks, that was a good deal. The shoes work for now.

caloso

I'd say go for it. It's always worth it to spend what it takes to be comfortable, especially at the interfaces: butt, hands, and feet.

jesspal

Yeah I paid for an expensive saddle, bibs, gloves($20 but good quality). The only thing missing is the shoes. Next pay check includes a bonus so i'll be browsing, I need size 49 and most places seem to stop at 48.