Sad to hear so much crap being laid on a new rider. I wouldn't trust a thing they said or did from this point on, especially when it comes to service. I wouldn't step one foot in the door again.

+1

What road bike can you buy for $300? Even Walmart road bikes cost more and the GMC is junk.

unless you hit craigslist and I don't think that's what's being suggested.

Fact is that all the name brand bikes are good. It is just a question of frame material components,sizing and weight.

I am not sure of your price point at the $1,200 +/- level it is hard to beat a Cad 10 with 105. It is Alum but light and a lot of bike for the money. They use third party brakes and cranks, but is great bike for the money.

At $2200+/- I would look at Scott because they tend to include a full group, including Shimano or Sram cranks and brakes. Scott carbon at the $2000+/- price point is lighter than most of the others. This bike is a nice set-up because it has light carbon frame, good group and light wheels :
http://www.ubcbike.com/store/product...cm---Black%29/

To me it is a question of finding the best fit, quality group and weight at a given price point. If I was getting a road bike I would want 2011 105 or Rival. Rival costs more but weighs less. 105 may shift a little better?

Thank you guys so much, that's exactly why I came to this forum.

the most basic mtb with a steel frame hard tail I've got is about that price.

I found that comment laughable at best.

I agree 1-3 = BS and 4 has some truth to it.

But again I'll say it...you're not getting a Tarmac SL2!!! You're getting a Tarmac ELITE (or COMP)...the only thing the SL2 refers to is the mold of frame to distinguish it from this years SL3 molds that are being used in the higher end tarmacs. If you were getting a Tarmac SL2, it would be a S-works SL2 flagship bike from 2 or 3 years ago (I don't remember when the SL3's came out). Sorry, just my rant...carry on

Oh puhlEEEEEZE....another "expert" heard from:rolleyes: Why do so many of the posters here in BF jump at the chance to be a d*ck? I am assuming you actually KNOW the OP and have actually seen him? Give me a break.

As for the shop...I agree with many of the other posters. I have found that any brand name road bike in any given price point will not differ much. As far as the importance of a test drive, it all depends on whom you ask. A test ride around the parking lot is not going to tell you much at all....maybe just give you a basic feel for shifting, and I would be insulted if that is all the shop offered. A proper test ride can tel you many things, especialy if you are a new rider but do no tbe too discouraged if you cannot tell a big difference be6tween one bike and another similar one. I think you have gotten some good advice from the guys in here. One thing I would also consider is if the shop would swap out saddles for you. The first road bike I test rode years ago would have given me a very pleasant test ride had I had a different saddle than the stock one (I ended up buying the bike anyway and tyhe shop did eventually swap out the saddle for me.

Cheers,

Brian J.

1-3 are BS
4 has been debated here, there's clearly limited value to a test ride.

According to the BMI chart it's just barely obese. He could be a bigger built guy and just be overweight. Or he could just barely be obese but still lead a moderately active lifestyle. Either way I don't think I'd tell him he's well on the path to diabetes.

And I'm usually pretty hard on people about this stuff. Give him a year on the bike and he'll probably be in a healthier range. And he could still eat himself into diabetes without the weight.

Good god. There was a painful thread not too long ago about BMI - does this need to be rehashed? The long and short, from a study by the Mayo Clinic (ie, a group of people that you are NOT smarter than) - BMI is a useful tool to monitor the health of a population, but it is NOT a useful metric to assess an individuals health.

On the fit, just get something close to start with, make sure you are comfortable.

If you have not spent a bunch of time on a road bike, your fit after riding 6 months, 9 months, etc. is going to be drastically different as your flexibility and position change. A basic fit will get you close. Once you have a year or so of riding in, re-visit your fit.

On the weight, you are way, way too heavy (some would say fat) to be a competitive cyclist. Almost all of us are. I think my ideal cycling weight at 6'1" is around 150 lbs and I don't ever want to see that. Your weight will quickly be a limiting factor if you ride hills. You can only build power so far and then need to work on the other side of the equation. Just ride and enjoy for now, but don't be suprised if you start watching your like a teenage girl at some point. It's a cruel aspect of cycling. Luckily, you can quickly drop a lot of weight riding a bike. If you like having a muscular build, it can actually be hard to maintain if you're riding a lot.

#1 is crazy!! if it were me i would find a new shop to buy my bike! honestly Rival is one step above 105 i would compare it more to ultegra and apex to 105. now whether or not you like sram to shimano is another thing all together. i would most likely say they wanted to sell you what they had on the floor.

as a new rider you should really find a bike shop you can trust. the bike you picked out is a fine bike though.

First as all the others have said 1-3 BS 4 Agree. Now to the above response. Kudos for being a new member and having a. a good question, b. an ability to articulate well, and c. a good sense of humor while dealing with a derisive comment. Welcome aboard and keep that sense of humor if you plan on frequenting this site :)

This is the best bike shop I've ever been at anywhere if you make it to DC. They carry Specialized plus Cannondale, Cervelo, Pinnarello, and Wilier. They also are in the Tidewater area but the slecetionis bigger in DC for test rides.

http://contesbikestores.com/

Also if you want the perspective of a big guy, talk to this store

http://contesbikestores.com/

The owner is a big guy (so big he sits on a stool so he doesn't imtiminate customers) and is an Inronman competitor

http://tribonzai.com/

Your entire initial post seems like you have horrible LBSs all around you.... I suggest you move and look elsewhere completely or stop walking through their doors, slack-jawed and drooling with 100 dollar bills falling from your gum line.

OK...

First, because they are and when confronted with a lack of knowledge one behaves badly. Even on an anonymous bike board.

Second...if the bikes don't have a lot of differences, then why is a test ride so all important? It's not except for the shop person to test fit. You are contradicting yourself with your comments.

Test rides have been beaten to death...so here's what I do...I like to get (within the bikes that fit) two different types...like say a TCR carbon something and a Defy carbon something (if the Defy's shorter top tube will work) and have them ride them. I'll tell them what to expect, have them take both bikes over our rough riding area so they can experience the different feel for that, and solicit thier feedback. I can get that done in about 20-30 minutes. Riding the bike longer than that won't give you much else.

Saddle swap....no, because customers alway seem to want to "trade" for an Arione or Antares. We will take the existing seat off, reduce the bike price for that, then sell you another at a discount. You can bring your won seat in if you want to do that and I'll put that one on, but I'll only do that on a higher end bike.

There's a reason why so many bike shops have gone out of business.

I can ride a new frame for maybe ten to 15 minutes in our lot and get all I need to know. Sprint it a few times, take it for some handling moves, quick turns etc...ride it at a tempo speed, hit a few bumps, done. That's all I need to know. I can walk a customer through that same process and they never leave my sight and the bike does not turn into a used one in a few days.

Quite possibly the stupidest comment I've ever read on BF.

I think there's a real value in this for people not sure what style they want to ride. Whether they can make the decision in a short ride or need a bit longer is up for debate, but I think this is valuable for those who don't know what they're doing (and those who know less probably need a bit longer than those more experienced to feel what the differences are).

You beat this to death in a prior thread. Your shop is cheap. I've glad the LBS I've brought bikes weren't like that.

No matter what you say, most buyers want a long test ride on the road before buying.

You've polled them? LOL.

BTW...how many customers have you sold road bikes to? How many people have you spoken with relating to a sale?

None.

My all time favorite pastime is having people who have no concept of a particuar subject provide opinion and advice. It's why the internet was invented.

It must work. To be a top 50 shop in the nation with only two locations, something must be working.

...chuckling...

Yeah, cause selling bikes is rocket science. :rolleyes:

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

I grew up going to the original Conte's when old man Conte was still kicking. And by grew up going to, I mean it was 6 blocks away and we would ride our bikes there all the time. All his kids worked at the store. Things may have changed for the better, but good googly moogly I will never set foot in a Conte's again.

Being successful in sales in any competitive market is tough, very tough.

But most importantly...did you get the color that you wanted?