bkdelux

I sold my Specialized Roubaix Expert two years ago after my wife had our 2nd baby, well now that things are smooth my bike riding time is readily available and it's time to buy a road bike. Man the specs look great on this bike, I know that I can't test ride but hell even if the fit isn't right I'm sure a stem change etc could make it right.

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...4_10000_202339

$999 for full Rival, crazy, and that includes BB and crankset, the BD bikes never have good BB's they always cut there...

Would love some feedback!

thehammerdog

if it fits it's a good deal..even includes pedal..nice...

bkdelux

Yeah, that's what I thought. I had a 61cm Roubaix so I'm thinking the 60cm will be the ticket, although the Roubaix was slightly too big. You think it's better to try and fit up? I guess it is, the other troubling thing is there is no standover height measurement...hmmmm

bermanfb28

roubaix is pretty relax geometry exp. i ride a 54 tarmac (perfect fit) and most likely would be more comfortable on a 56 roubaix so i would compare geometerys because if the 61cm roubaix seemed to big then 60 something else may seem way to big. just my .02

bkdelux

yeah, thanks, I already pulled the specs and compared going to try out this geometry comparison calculator and see if that reveals any more info.

mihlbach

Thats not a full Rival group..brakes are tektro. Everything else looks pretty generic. I'm sure the bike is fine, but I wouldn't buy this over a BD bike....they both made cuts to get the cost down. I've seen BD bikes for less that were speced better overall. You get what you pay for. Given all the options that are available to you on the internet today, its a good buy, but I wouldn't call it a crazy deal.

bkdelux

I can't find a better deal on BD than this? Their cheapest SRAM Rival bike is $1399...

sherpakid

Better buy to be had here - https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=SPECIALS. Check out the BMC Street Racer - they have a 60 cm.

mihlbach

Yeah, but that bike has a carbon frame (not high end, but known to be good quality), full Rival group, and much better spec overall. Its more expensive, but how do you know its not a better deal?

For all you know, the nashbar frame is a straight gauge brick.

abstractform20

the nashbar frame is not a brick.

ive seen several in person and know a lady with the 2011 womens version (105).

its an honest bike for the money.

Juan Foote

It looks a whole lot like a Trek 1. series. I love the "famous maker" tag, with no further description...just fill in with w/e?

I think the Gravity bike off BD that had the Apex for $500 shipped (now 6) was a tremendous deal for a friend of mine. I was very impressed with the finish and build quality of the bike for the price. BD has a ton of nice deals going on Al frame/C fork bikes with nice groups, and actually have "some" manner of name attached to them. IDK about you, but I think I would rather have a Motobecane than just to be wondering.

SlimRider

I say, do it!

echotraveler

save your money... is 1k REALLY your limit?

Here's my .02 the most important part on your bike IS THE FRAME. everything else you can change. This specific frame and many other out there aren't worth upgrading any component. for example this nashbar frame is worth less than a nice wheelset...and im pretty sure once you start riding youll want to spend money making your bike cooler, but you know what? its not worth it! ($200 frame with $500 wheels, followed bye a $100 short and a $60 jersey, and 100 dollar glasses....etc etc etc etc) saving now may be more expensive in the future

dont be fooled, buy a complete bike frame being the most important, components being not that important....if your a newb, you have no idea how dura-ace shifts vs 105....(sorry to call you a newb, but you deserve it for considering a nashbar bike! )

anyway ride hard!

mihlbach

I'm not surprised. I was impressed by a scattente xrl frame i bought from performance bike several years ago. Not the same frame, obviously, but the same company.

Juan Foote

Wow, this post is not glaringly elitist either. My apologies, I am not trying to insult you at all. It is a very pervasive attitude here on the forums that if you aren't spending "X" $, or if you don't have a "brand" down your frame that you aren't cycling right.
There is certainly something to be said for a name brand frame. It is worth more in resale relative to a no name frame. People will claim it is of higher quality, etc. but the fact of the matter remains that if you are on a budget and are looking to get the most bang for your buck you can skip paying for the name brand and get better components for it.

halfspeed

Why can't you change out the frame? I can.

mihlbach

This is the most nonsense I've read in weeks.

Andy_K 

+1

I've had several bikes that I drastically over-upgraded, but I enjoyed the nice components on the cheap frames until I later got a frame that was worth having them on. It works.

RollCNY

I built a bike around the Nashbar integrated aluminum frame (frame cost: $60). Put a few thousand miles on it, then swapped in the Nashbar frame with carbon rear triangle (frame: $120). Put a few thousand miles on it. Bought a BMC SL02 from CC, rode it a bit, and sent it back, because the Nashbar frame was SIGNIFICANTLY stiffer.

The Nashbar frame I used isn't for everyone, because it is built really short and tall for a given size. It is different from the one in this post, but if its made by the same "famous maker" but to more standard geometry, I would not consider it a worthless frame.

bkdelux

Well put, this is my philosophy! I can afford to buy a $5k bike if I want, but i don't want to. Ideally I'll buy some timeless frame and update as I see fit. The truth is I won't race, I'll ride in races, centuries, etc, but I'm content just enjoying riding a bike. I test drove a Salsa Vaya 2 and so glad I didn't drop 1700 on one, but for $999 hell even if I don't love it I've got some serious components should I score a nice Reynolds steel frame during my weekly garage sale haunts!

fa63

Take a look at this (if it fits):

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/.../liberty_x.htm

Doesn't look as cool as the Nashbar bike with the bright Orange paint job, but SRAM Apex works just as good as Rival (I have both). If you wanted, to upgrade to SRAM Apex cranks and brakes would cost you another $150, plus another $50 for the pedals so you would be looking at about $800 all together.

It was an even better value when they had it on sale for $500 (I bought one for parts, actually), but $600 isn't too bad either.

hueyhoolihan

it looks like it has a sloping top tube. pretty subjective as to where to measure i think.

mihlbach

Just because a no-name frame or bike has a lower resale value does not mean that buying one is more of a financial loss. Its resale value is still going to be proportional to its initial value. I have a Scattente XRL frameset that I paid $200 for and have ridden about 8000 miles. I could probably sell it right now for at least $100, probably a more. I'm not nearly done with the bike yet, but 8000 miles for a hundred dollars is better than I could have gotten with a name-brand bike. Even if I tossed it the dumpster right now I will have still saved money compared to buying a name-brand frame, riding it the same distance, then reselling it.

The Nashbar bike in question could be ridden for thousands of miles, then, sold or parted out on ebay, would still fetch far more than half of the initial cost. So basically, even if you decide the bike isn't good enough for you and you get upgrade-itis you it will have cost you a few hundred. If you bought a name-brand bike and decided to sell it you would loose a lot more than that even though the resale value would be higher.

bkdelux

I love the fact that this has no name, and I totally believe this is made in the same factory as the Treks, Specializeds, and Felts of the world. I'd even bet more if we had three frames together with nothing but paint, that everybody would be hard pressed to pick out the "nashbar" bike.

I love the sport of biking but hate the pretentious BS and brand freaks...just have fun!

mihlbach

It may or may not be, but even a single factory can churn out products of different quality. That said, aluminum frame technology is mature and very good frames are cheap to make. Nashbar would have nothing to gain by selling you a complete piece of junk. It certainly weighs more than a high-end aluminum frame, but its undoubtedly well made, even though there is disappointingly little information about it on Nashbar's website.