$10k budget for a new bike
 

Friend of mine is ready to get herself a new (and expensive bike). She's not a racer. Recreational cyclist who does a lot of social rides. She wants a very light bike, and "endurance" like ride. Frame must not be flashy (minimal or hard to see decals. It can either be bought complete, or get the parts and I can build it up. I'm thinking Al wheels (at least the rim). Budget is set (she has the money to spend), so no need to look for cheaper bikes that will suit her needs.

So far, I was looking at:
Project One Domane
S-works Roubaix
C'dale Evo Black

10k budget? Anything for 10k must be good. If I were to spend 10k I would want customised...including the paintwork like the Trek project ones.

Colnago C59 with Campy EPS and Fulcrum Zero wheels.

The C59 is light, stiff and comfortable.

If she does not want "flashy" look for a C59 with the PR99 color scheme.

I am partial to the Yamaha R6 in that price range. But you can't go wrong with the Kawasaki ZX6R either. The Honda and the Suzuki lack soul...

Wow! I want to be her friend, too! ;)

Any of those bikes sound OK. There might be questions about how these frames might fit a woman (or HER!) and how well they will perform for endurance (long century rides, etc.) Women, for example, tend to have longer legs/shorter torsos than men. So the frame geometry might be off. For the money, I would not take any chances. I would get her on a full custom carbon or titanium bike that fits her like a glove. Also, going custom will completely get her involved in the process with personalized fitting to build a frame specific to her body and riding style/goals, choosing personal color schemes, plus specific components (smaller ergo levers, women specific saddle, suitable crank arms length, handlebar width for her, etc., etc.) Does she plan on traveling with her bike to Hawaii, Europe or other places? If she is, she might be interested in a frame with S&S couplers, so she can easily fly with her bike. What I mean by all this... She needs to feel 100% this will be HER bike at this price range. Also, there is no reason to top off her budget. You should be able to achieve all this for much less without cutting corners. No matter how much money she has, she'll appreciate it.

Companies to look at: Calfee, Serotta, Linksey, Seven, Rodriguez Ti. Look for companies that show TONS of experience working with women and long-distance, if they are not local to you (how quick and responsive they are, easy and nice to speak on the phone?, etc.)

I'm very excited for her and her commitment to cycling!

If you are a true friend talk her out of it.

Somebody needs to find the video of the dentist crashing his Colnago. Ten Grand on a bike for a "recreational" rider is the kind of excess that the bike gods will fix.

Get a $3000 bike and give $7000 to a worthy charity.

http://www.mcipollini.com/en/biciclette I love these bikes..

What a great problem to have!

I wouldn't start by picking frames until you know what fits. You have to start with fit to determine geometry, and work from there to select from appropriately sized frames. If you start by picking a frame, you could easily end up with an idiotic looking high stem, where getting the right frame would minimize the spacer stack and make for a better look.

So, start with a full Specialized BG 3d fit from the best fitter in your area. Then narrow down appropriate frames and pick one. You should probably look beyond those manufacturers -- check out Competitive Cyclist for some beautiful high-end frames. And you should try to see the frames in person. What is her aesthetic? You said not-flashy - but that can be curvy carbon or classic titanium. A lot of recreational/sportive types like ti, though it is heavier than carbon. Personally I can't stand the way those "zertz" things look on the Roubaix, though the frame and geometry is otherwise good, so that ruled out that frame for me.

Forget about off the shelf bikes, you want to pick each part yourself.

Pick individual parts based on a combo of weight and functionality and aesthetics. She'll need to pick a groupset, I picked based on hand comfort, others may have other primary criteria (weight, electronic, etc). Pick wheels, maybe two sets, an AL set for climbing and a carbon set for flats. WHat stem and bars will be partly determined by fit considerations.

With that budget, I would get tubular wheels, since she can afford to have someone glue her tires when needed.

If it was me, with that spec: Scott CR1 SL (b/c geometry is good and I don't like the aesthetics of the Ruby or Trek, which are my other geo. choices, but I didn't review really expensive frames, so there might be something else out there), DA Di2, Zipp carbon short/shallow bars, Ritchey post & stem, Enve System 3.4 and some other light AL wheelset, specialized Ronin S-works saddle Your friend would probably want SRAM Red instead of Di2 since it's much lighter.

You can get other lighter stuff (look at Fairwheel bikes & weightweenies for ideas), but at some point you sacrifice durability, comfort and functionality for weight. There's a good thread on here called something like "Putting my bike on a diet" - look at Soloist Assassin's bikes, he really goes full weight weenie.

Have fun and be patient with the process, to get a fantastic result!

Or, use the process above to get a truely fantastic bike with one wheel set, spending $7000, and go on a $3000 bike vacation.

for that money I would go with a full custom build

Bill Holland would be my go to guy. Being from San Diego his reputation is beyond reproach and has been building custom bicycles for cyclist from all walks of life for decades.

The exogrid technology matches titanium with carbon

http://www.hollandcycles.com/

With that kind of budget it would be criminal to buy anything off the shelf.

Pinerrello or Colnago. Look on Competetive Cyclist. They provide a lifetime guarantee on everything they sell.

+1. Nachoman rides one I believe.

Thanks for the help so far. I'm trying to get her more involved in the process, but she's lazy lol. I'm still trying the custom angle tough. Unfortunately, where we live, there's aren't many high end shops here. Of my 5 bikes, I only got one of them locally (cervelo during the sale last Jan). I'm pushing to a nice FireFly bike but she want carbon.

She does prefer the look of modern frames. She doesn't like the classic frame look. She wants a bike that doesn't look like an advertisement billboard. She does have a short torso for her height. I'll get her fitted too before picking out a frame, just starting to look what's out there for that $. I'm used to the $5-7k price tag lol

It'll be awhile until we actually get the bike. No rush especially for the money she's ready to spend. I want to make sure the bike is absolutely perfect and what she wants.

+1

A $10,000 bike will be functionally identical to a $3000 bike.

I'd also say that if she doesn't know exactly what you want, then there's no reason whatsoever for her to drop $10,000 on a single bike.

A-friggin'-men.

http://www.cannondale.com/2013/bikes...ouble-crankset

Without question. Road one of these and they are out of this world.

Olympia Icon. :thumb:

Cue the guys who can't afford a $3,000 bike. They'll be suggesting she spend $1000 and donate 9000 to charity.

I would find the biggest LBS in your city and shop there. As much as anything she needs to like the look of the bike and it's easiest if she sees them in person.

Forgive me if it sounds insulting, but isn't flash the only quality difference that $10K buys? Does she want ostentatious but not flashy, something that say's "money" without being in your face about it?

That is quite a massive blanket assumption.

does your friend have any sisters?

+1000

Sure hope she's at least an experienced rider. Go full custom else it'll be like spending a few grand on a suit not tailored specifically for you.