Iron Chef

So did you ever buy a road bike? You were considering a buying your first bike in September. Thanks for your very informed opinion on road bikes.

phantomcow2

Giant is such a large company, trek is independant so buy them

Chucklehead

[QUOTE=IBRCJohn]...I'll be out loving my bike. QUOTE]

dude, gross.

Iron Chef

Sweet.... Good bike. Oh yeah! Sweet ride. American made baby....

BigFloppyLlama

Independent like Trek, Bontrager, Lemond, and Klein? Some of these responses are hilariously stupid.

nnewton123

I think you made a good decision. The black pearl carbon looks SWEET! Some think the frame looks too funky, but they are just haters.

IBRCJohn

Bah, I said I wouldn't be back in this thread, but what the hell

I read or heard somewhere that you won't benefit from aero type parts until you hit about 28mph. Well, just to make sure I reap the benefits from that sexy-aero seat tube, I plan to spend all my time on the bike above 28mph

CycleFreakLS

Terrible advice. Lance could have been on a Colnago, Pinarello, Giant, Cannondale ... it would have made no difference. He still would have dominated. Lance is/was the strongest rider on the strongest, best prepared, best disciplined team who's only objective is to wear yellow in Paris.

For somebody deciding on what bike to buy, what bike won the TdF (or Giro or Vuelta or Paris-Roubaix etc.) this is a non-contributing factor.

Regards.

Patriot

WOOHOO!!!!

I personally love that aero seat tube on the TREKs. So cool looking. For me, a slower rider, I would get one just for that. The coolness factor has it's personal rewards. I really like the traditional Trek geometry. It just looks more like a real mans bike. No offense to gals on here, but the Giants do look like womens bikes.
When I got my semi-compact frame, I was really worried about how much slope there was. Luckily there is much less than a Giant, because if it was worse than it is, I would have returned the frame, and bought something else.

I know it really doesn't matter much perfmance wise, but for me it is just personal taste.

iridebikes

IBR - Good call. Enjoy!

IBRCJohn

Oh, and now you guys have to advise me on pedals...

Speedplay Zeroe's
Ultegra SPD-SL
Time Impact Mag
or other? Look, Crank brothers?

Lemme know!

iridebikes

I like the SPD format. I use a Shimano pedal - cant remember the model. It is blue and single sided.

nnewton123

Ultegra spd-sl, I like them so much that I'm putting them onto my new campy-equipped bike.

Chucklehead

go with LOOK. they've won more tour de france titles...

iridebikes

IBRCJohn, don't get down and rub noses with this dog. He is not what this forum or cycling is all about. I have met hundreds of road bikers while out riding and all have been super nice and helpful. This forum has plenty of real cyclist.

orguasch

I am not a fan of Trek, But I will choose the Trek over the Giant

Chucklehead

wow. merry christmas to you, too.
that's a little rude. i wasn't trying to offend anyone. what's your problem? i haven't made a single negative comment(ok, maybe not helpful either) and you pretend like i just pee'd in your gatorade.
i wouldn't try to influence someone else's choice regarding bikes, and i'm not here to pay homage to any manufacturer. i'm sure trek is a fine company compared to what they used to be, but to say that they are any better than the next guy just because they're "designed and manufactured in the USA" is simply foul. the truth is, alot of products -- including bikes -- that are made in china or taiwan are made to a very high standard, and that really cannot be said about most american comapnies, bikes or not.
personally, my money would be spent on a kestrel or specialized. but it's not my money we're talking about, so who really cares?

LOOK pedals(including the shimano knock-offs) have more TDF titles than shimano. even WITH lance armstrong.

better?

CycleFreakLS

Like the choice between Trek and Giant, this has nothing to do with how many TdFs or Giros or Vueltas been won on what brand of pedal. This has to do with what type of pedal you need for the type of riding you do.

Do you need float?
Do you prefer double sided?
Do you get hot spots (i.e., cannot use a small platform pedal)?

If you need float, that rules out Time, Shimano, Look and others. Your top choice here is Speedplay.
If you prefer double sided, your choices are Speedplay, Crank Bros, Bebop, m2racer (uni-sided)
If you need large platform, that rules out SPDs (the mountain style cleat).

Having used the Shimano (Look style), Shimano SPD, and Speedplay Xs (nearly 20 years worth) ... my choice is the X2, primarily because of right knee issues. In fact, I'm so pleased with my X2s that I'm thinking of switching my Gary Fisher from SPDs to Frogs.

My advice is stick with a true road pedal with a road shoe. Unless you can spend top $, don't buy the top model (X1, Shimano "Lance", Keo, ...) because the model just below that generally is a better bang-for-the-buck buy.

moni

Hi,
Interesting commentary. Just getting back into cycling after a few years and am looking at the Giant Cypress DX and also the Giant Sedona. I realize these are lower end but think this may be what I need for now, i.e. hybrid, not much off road. I'm leaning towards the Cypress DX. Are there other things I should be considering when choosing the bike (aside from fit)? How would these compare to the Trek Navigator line? What kind of breaking system, gearing, seats etc. would you suggest? Is Shimano still the way to go? It has been a while. I would aprreciate any input. Thanks.

jonquser

Giant probably made the Trek frame anyway.

Mach5871

The 5.2 is a great choice. Congratulations! I actually have a 2005 TCR Composite Limited but I'm sure that I would enjoy the ride of the 5.2 just as much.