reid2

let's say that someone just won $10,000 dollars in one of the state lottery scratch off games that he plays and is now thinking of what would be the best bike to buy himself for the money. i welcome all suggestions for frames, components, wheels, etc. thanks.

algarde

Buy a bike for me $5,000 each. Tis the season! I'd like a Cannondale Six 13 in a 52 cm please.

Grasschopper

No offense intended to anyone here but I find it a bit hard to believe that anyone playing srcatch off lottery tickets has nothing better to do than to buy a $5k bike. No other bills to pay off etc. Also I say $5k becuase you will loose about half of the $10k to taxes.

That said playing along with the game at hand - I will take one of these https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...PRODUCT.ID=132

reid2

just to let everyone know the bike and winning lottery ticket are not mine or for me. i have a entry level lemond bike and i am in the process of buying a triathlon bike, hopefully a felt or cervelo. the bike is for my best friend and he did indeed win $10,000 in the sc lottery game. as i am a fairly newbie to the cycling sport, i did not feel that i could give him a qualified answer to his question for a good bike that he would be happy with for a long time. btw, he is aware that he will have to pay taxes on the winnings.

Grasschopper

Cool for your buddy. As this is not hypothetical lets get some info. Does he currently cycle? I.E. does he have things like proper clothes, shoes, helmet, accessories? This stuff will add up.

reid2

yes he mountain bikes so all of his clothing is mtb related. he is ready to give up mtb b/c he said that he is tired of getting hurt all of the time. i gave him some of my performance, supergo, and nashbar catalogs to look at clothing. he currently uses spd pedals for his mtb and wanted to use them but i told him that i felt that look pattern cleats were better for road use. he is not the kind of guy to buy any type of entry level equipment b/c when he starts something he goes all of the way with it. his first mtb purchase was a $2500 santa cruz model. as stated before, i am a newbie, and as such i felt that i could get better information from some of you more experienced types. fwiw, he seems to think that his winnings were some kind of premonition and thinks that he needs to spend all of the money for his new road bike and goods. he already has rudy project glasses so he will not need glasses but everything else is open for suggestions. by the way, if his body type matters for bike selection, i would guess that he is about 6'2'' and weighs about 175 lbs.

Grasschopper

Well so it sounds like he will need a few road bike bits. I say spend a grand on getting that stuff and then maybe $2000-$3000 on a bike, you can get a hell of a lot of bike for that much. Colorado Cyclist has a smoking deal on a Litespeed Classic for $2400 right now and they have a lot of sizes. Key will be getting the right size so maybe spend $100-$200 on a really good private fitting. Then bank the rest or buy Christmas gifts or whatever. Anyway he can get a quality Ti or CF or Steel or AL bike for $2000 -$3000 probably no reason other than cache to spend more than that.

reid2

yeah i was thinking that maybe he could pay me some money for this investigation that i am conducting for him. i do not think that i have a litespeed dealer near my location but do you reccommed litespeed? any other brands as i am not impressed with lemond due to a frame crack that i am waiting to see if they will warranty. btw, it was not due to a wreck and i believe that it was due to a structural failure but they obviously do not. oh well, lemond is the only bike manufacturer that i will not recommend to him.

Grasschopper

I would be shocked if Lemond wouldn't take care of you. And if you are going to condem Lemond don't forget they are under the Trek umbrella with Gary Fisher, and Klein too. IMO Lemond is a good company but I digress.

Litespeed is a good one and go to www.coloradocyclist.com to find the deal on the Classic, it is like $1200 off or something. There are really just tons of good bikes for $2000-$3000. Is he looking for something to race or ride all day long? Basically he can get about anything and will have to choose what he wants.

reid2

yeah i know about lemond being trek owned as the lbs also sells klein. if they do take care of the frame for me then i will feel a little better about them but the owner of the lbs sold me on the lemond b/c he was bragging about their warranty. fwiw, when i bought the bike i was a fatbody(sorry, that's what we used to call guys like me when i was in the corps) b/c i had gotten lazy. now, i have lost 25 pounds and i am now at 6'0'' and 192 lbs. still need to lose a little more as i am trying to fit back into my 32 in jeans but am stuck at 34 right now. i realize the days of the 30 in jeans are past me. anyways i will tell him tonight to look up the litespeed and to check out the colorado cyclist webpage. thank you.

hoodlum

Better make sure your buddy saves a good chunk of that dough for Uncle Sam. Nothing worse than riding a 10k bike to a second job just to pay the extra taxes.

reid2

yeah he is taking taxes into account and we are using a sum of 5000 for the discussion.

clausen

Have to love Canada. You win it you keep it.

But on buying a Bike. Tell him the same thing everyone else is told on this forum. Go get fitted, know what type of riding he's going to be doing and start doing alot of test riding.
As he is a convert from MTB like myself he might like a more comfortable ride geometry like the Specialized Roubaix or Treck Pilot series. Bianchi's also have a nice ride and available with campagnolo which some like myself prefer the feel of.
Another option would be to test ride, find out what components he likes and build it up, a little more expensive but he's got the cash.
Tell him to enjoy it.

Daily Commute

Don't forget lighting. He should look at getting a decent HID system if he's dropping big bucks on a bike he'll ride at night. You don't want to risk tacoing an $800 rim because you missed a pothole.

Edited to take out stupid attempt at humor.

SanDiegoSteve

No matter what, tell him to go to a good LBS, maybe a couple, to get a proper fit. He might wanta custom fit (hear good things about serrotas and sevens).

His roadie will feel a lot different than his MTN. Also, with the $'s, don't forget the other comfort stuff (clothes, shoes, etc.), and then there is the question of transportation and storage (including a workstand for cleaning and repairs at home).

Trogon

Custom - that way he has the only $5000 lottery funded bike on the planet. He'll never run into someone with the same bike at any event. No rack bike, no matter how expensive is as exclusive as a one of a kind.

These two are as exclusive as it gets:

https://www.vanillabicycles.com/

https://www.richardsachs.com/rsachs2.html

cjbruin

I think after $2-3K, you're not getting much more for your money. You can buy a good frame with good wheels and full Dura-Ace for that amount.

Check out: Cannondale, Specialized, Trek, & Lemond...ride 'em and pick the one you like best.

collegeskier

Here is what I recomend. https://www.ifbikes.com/frames2/ticrownjewel.shtml. Also note that the rate of tax on 10,000 is not at 50%. Actually note that in the US there is no 50% tax rate. For 10,000 you are not even close to the tax bracket but from the description the base income probably moves up a pretty high bracket.

The_Convert

after taxes, after all the other cycling garb, blah blah
you are probably only looking at a $2,000 bike. Anything more than that is frankly a waste, you don't want him to end up another CleavlandGuy

jimblairo

Nothing compares to a custom Seven. Only the folks who own one know this.

https://www.sevencycles.com

Iron Chef

I have read here about people doing this. I don't see why you should pay that kind of money for this. Is this only for cases where people want to mail order bikes etc.... then bring it into a 3rd party vendor to get it zoned in or do people pay for this at the same LBS where they buy their bikes?

At the LBS where I shop, if I go to buy bike they put me on a trainer and level out the front wheel. I clip in and the owner get measuring tape and plumb bob and when finished the bike is setup to fit and it doesn't cost anything. It is part of buying a bike from a quality shop. Am I just incredibly fortunate to have such a good shop or is this pretty much the way the bike business should be ran.

Thanks

53-11 alltheway

IF I had this amount of money to burn I would probably spend it on an Eisentraut custom steel frame with short head tube or a carbon Fiber frame and a cervelo super prodigy.

I would also find someone to build me some 50cm center-to center bars. (who know's how expensive these would be, but worth every penny I'm sure). Make that 2-3 pairs of these handlebars....for additional bikes I build.

Integrated headseat so that 50cm bars could be mounted as low as possible with above short headtube.

Custom made sharp angle stem...so bars could be very low.

Crankset....I'd buy a few different lengths 180,185,190,195 and have it all dyno tested.....complete with torque curves at different cadences.

I would also spend this money on top quality shop equipment (truing stand etc.)

geneman

Sounds like your shop treats you well. Is this because you reciprocate?

I think there's getting fitted and then there's GETTING FITTED. I've heard of fitting sessions lasting hours and involving power meters.

-mark

phantomcow2

ide go for a really nice carbon beast. Since i rode the one @ my LBS im hooked, at my age i wont be able to afford that and i probably will never buy it but hey if somebody wants to hand one over on a platter im open arms.

Iron Chef

I am pretty loyal customer I guess. It is a real good shop if you don't mind the wait. Getting work done can be slow depending on the time of the year. They have about 5 guys on staff all of them good. The youngest wrench is about 30 now. Sometimes they just get buried from all the business. After Lance won the last Tour de France the shop was really crazy.

The power meters sound interesting. Thanks