buy the bike at the one shop, have it serviced by the shop you like. wouldnt be the first.

P.S. That LBS that I'm in love with also happens to sell Ridley. I've been hearing amazing things about these bikes. The Orion frames are 24k "HM" carbon w/Ultegra groupo thoughout. Sounds interesting, I believe I'll go test ride tomorrow. Again, Thanks so much to everyone for their input.. even Doohickie. haha. Feel free to comment on Ridley bikes if you are familiar, I don't want to start a new thread. Also, is anyone aware of a thread for bike reviews?? I will continue to search through the forum....

THANKS!

Just remember, the people you talk to in a bike store are there to sell bikes. Most could care less if you get what you want, but want you to get what they have. All the groups are good. You wouldn't go wrong with any of them. The fit is really important, just like everyone is saying, BUT any shop that doesn't want me to ride their bike, won't get my business. That tells me they don't have time to waste on someone riding their bikes since most people are buying anyways. I'd say find a new LBS, but most are like this. I said most, not all.

+1 on this. If your a muscular 245 you probably won't loose a bunch of weight on the bike. So take a look at on the clyde forum and see what some of those guys say about these bikes and particularly the wheels that come on them.

for a second i thought nobody would bring a bundle of terribles idea to the table. thanks, bro.

for more great advice, tune in next week to see why we say no to condoms in africa, and also why visiting the dentist is bs!

why not just buy the bike somewhere else and then use fat frogs are your LBS? they won't get their feelings hurt unless you walk in with a Felt bike.

Not a bad idea if you don't trust your local guys or if you feel limited by their selection. I drove 120 miles each way to pick up my new bike today. One easy rule: don't waste your money on a bike that doesn't feel perfect to you (regardless of what the shop or we here say) - you'll know it when you find "the one" so be patient and don't drop the coin on something you don't completely love.

+1

Service really is worth it, and the experience you report with the other place is far below par. At 245, you're big enough that there are equipment considerations that should be made for your weight. But not with components. The guys you've been talking to are either untrustworthy or complete imbeciles -- I wouldn't do business with either.

Cycling is pretty heavily biased toward light people. Typical ~6' 3" pro riders (which are far from being typicall human beings) are around 180 lb. For example, phenom Taylor Phinney is 6' 4" and 180, and George Hincapie is 6' 3" and 170. Riders over 200 lb are affectionately and respectfully referred to as Clydesdales (Athenas for women). There is a Bike Forum here to discuss the issues of heavy weight participants in a sport geared toward lightweight riders.

https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...00-lb-91-kg%29

Bollocks.

I dont know for certain, as I dont have either of their investment information in front of me - but neither does the store monkey who told you that. So bollocks.

More bollocks.

Well, this one is a matter of more debate. Some people - including me - feel that a short ride doesnt tell you much, especially when it comes to bikes with similar geometries (say 73 head tube angle, similar trail). Others disagree.

I own 2 Ridleys. Love them. Now, I havent ridden a bike with a $5000 frame yet, but the Ridley Damocles is one of the nicest bikes I've ever been on. Rock steady on 70kph+ descents, and stiff/responsive/quick to accelerate like you wouldnt believe.

Definitely check them out.

V.

After your second sentence, I could not trust you. Good grief the stuff I read out here.

I work in a shop, specialize in road bikes...

Simply put, Giant is the only company I know of that takes raw carbon fiber, and base aluminum and makes all their own frames themselves from scratch. They don't buy tubes, they make them. What's funny to me is that Giant invented compact geometry and at the pro level had to file lawsuits against the UCI to get compact geometry recognized as legal. Guess what Specialized makes? Pseudo compact geometry....as do a large number of fother manufacturers.

Specialized, on the other hand has a company, Merida, that makes their frames for them. Now, there's nothing wrong with that. Merida is an owner of Specialized. But what I find comical is how little some shop people know about their business or their manufacturers.

BTW...on the Specialized R&D angle, they even use the term "system integration" which was lifted from Cannondale, including press fit bearings (BB30 which is not patented) and integrated headsets. Which is fine, but for a shop employee to hold them out as a shining example of cutting edge development makes me chuckle a lot. They spend a lot more money sponsoring multiple pro teams rather than cutting edge research. Which is fine and it's their way of getting their name out. Giant, on the other hand is the largest on the planet and does little advertising, sponsors one team, but sells many many times the bikes.

The Tarmac and Roubaix are wonderful bikes.

The composite TCR frame is very nice. I like it better than the old Alliance frame. As you move up the line, composite, advanced, advanced SL, the bike gets more reactive and stiff. The SL frame is their professional frame.

The Tarmac and Madone 4 are different frames. The Madone is in the H2 (relaxed) fit and the Tarmac falls into Specialized' Competitive Road class. The Roubaix is the endurance road bike, or the more relaxed club rider fit...similar in class to the Madone 4.

Fit matters a lot. If it does not fit, you will have issues with the ride....knee, neck, shoulder, back pain for example. Numb hands...all these are symptoms of a bad fit. We have a system that we can show the rider specifically what works best. example....for some riders the Madone 4 does not work due to geometry of that bike and Trek in general. For some the Defy Giant (similar in style to the Madone 4 and the Roubaix) works, but for folks with longer torsos the TCR works better. It just depends.

You should ask to be shown why a particular bike frame fits you. And it's not a stick up to the crotch and whip out the calculator. Why? If I have two riders that are 6 feet tall, one with a 30 inch inseam (foot to sitbones not the length of your pants) the other a 32 inch inseam (obviously one has a longer torso requiring a different top tube length and thus a different size bike) they will not ride the same size. Bike fitting should be done by the length of the top tube, not the seat tube. The top tube length will translate into the bike's official size.

Hope that helps some.

From the perspective of a person that sells this stuff, the vast majority of what you were told is bs. Don't confuse yourself with too much research because after (as you said) two years of research (I can't grasp that) the questions and comments you have are basic ones everyone has.

Incorrect.

Correct.

Colnago make their C59 tubes by hand from pre preg carbon fabric and then assemble the frame by hand. There are a number of others that do too on their top end bikes.

1. In helping hundreds and hundreds of road bike customers, probably 9 out of 10 have no idea what they want. They don't know what to look for. Further, they come to a good shop to get help with that.

2. Indeed, the job of the sales person is to show the customer that at least one of the manufacturers they represent has a solution. I think that's called selling.

I can't "care less if they get what they want" if they don't know. This forum is typical of what I hear in the shop. The good news is most customers come in with an open mind and we help them find something that works.

I worry about budget and riding style. I tell them to buy in this order: Frame....wheels...components. I can't overcome an entry level frame with snappy components.

Almost all customers come in at the component level.

Look does too...but they are buying the carbon in sheets. Giant starts by making it all themselves. That's what I was referencing.

Trek Madone 6 frames are made in pieces, too. But someone else is making the pieces for them, the arrive in Waterloo and their assembly people take it from there.

My only point was that Giant does it all themselves.

Your comments are outstanding and you are as close to an expert on road bikes as we have on this forum.
The issue isn't just with the lack of knowledge that customers walk into a bike shop with...it also pertains to the expertise of the particular shop. Lets say you have exceptional knowledge. For every expert there is a dimwit selling bikes. I can site countless examples. If what the OP stated is really what the shop told him...truth is probably a bit different and something lost to interpretation...then the OP walked into a shop that doesn't know how to direct a new customer.

OP...you need to ride some bikes. Go to 3-5 shops within a 30 mile driving radius and test different bikes. If you are going to spend $2-3K on a bike which you need to for a mid to higher bike, your biggest decision will be to choose between a so called comfort geometry and a more std racing geometry with shorter head tube.
This is about your 'preference' OP...not a formula or what you are told by the shop. You need to test some bikes to see what level of drop your body can tolerate. The average newb generally doesn't like a lot of drop and why comfort frames make sense for those not intent on competing.

As to bike selection it honestly doesn't matter that much. All the top mfrs make great bikes. Fit is key. I like carbon so recommend it.
You won't learn about roadbiking in a short period...takes years really.
As to the comment about Rival not fitting big guys...utter BS. OP...you probably need size 62-63 cm center to top as you are a 95-98% size and that means you generally will need the biggest frame offered by most manufacturers. You won't need custom either in case you are wondering.
Happy shopping.

IMO, fit is extremely important, but it's not critical. By that I mean a bike has gotta fit or you'll have trouble, but there are a wide range of fits over which you won't. The most critical (smallest acceptable range) is saddle to pedal distance. After that, much of it is personal preference. For example, check my mountain bikes vs my road bikes. Fit's are all over the place but I can ride any all day. Same goes for rental bikes I've gotten on canned tours. And I don't think I'm particularly flexible or adaptable, especially since I'm pushing 60. Unless you have very unusual proportions, any mainstream bike can be gotten in a size that will fit properly with correct adjustment and selection of components. IMO, when it come to bike fit, there's a lot of voodoo, personal biases, and aesthetic preferences of the fitter being passed off as science.

I don't think you'd have to go that far. There are quite a few shops in Norfolk and the Peninsula. Have you tried those yet?

Just to add, I have a tall friend who has had a lot of problems with SRAM. He was told it's because of the cable length on the large frame that he has. I have no idea if that's true or not, but maybe that's what your LBS is referring to.

How big? The reason I ask is that I ride a 60 cm and have Red on one bike and Rival on the other and have no issues at all. I've sold a couple 62cm Caad 9 rival bikes without problems.

Maybe the rival vs 105 was about the crank/chainrings. Being a bigger guy, I get some flex out of the front rings on some models when powering up hills.

...or fact. Agree. At the end of the day its the rider who has to decide if the fit is best after exhausting all other fit tests by trial and error.
There is no so called ideal and really why the subject of fit on here is rarely agreed upon...we each bring our personal bias.
Good post.