Here We Go Again!!
 

Situation - Girlfriend needs a bike.

Problem - She put me on a budget. We found a great '01 Lemond Ti bike for $1600.00 (new). It's been sitting around the shop for years. It was perfect for her in every way except price.

Requirements - Budget of $800.00. Bike must be comfortable enough for long rides, making a pure aluminum frame not a good idea. Have at least 105 components.

I already have the seat and bottom bracket, so that doesn't need to figure into the price.

Anyway, with that said, this was a pretty good find on ebay. For $145 it's got carbon stays and will fit very well.

I picked up a set of Performance Forte Titan wheels for $150.00 at the local Performance shop. So far it's looking pretty doable, as long as Nashbar and Performance decide to do some more 20% sales.

With a little Ebay shopping, you could land a whole bike for $800 and not have to do any wrenching......

What fun is that though?? :D

Comfort was the biggest issue, and that included getting a bike that fit, which seems unusually difficult for her (Please don't tell me to look at WSD bikes. I'm going to slug the next salesperson that suggests it. They fit her horribly). So, while being able to pick up a bike for under $800.00 would have been no great issue, replacing all the components that would potentially need to be replaced (i.e. stem, seat post, etc) would have quickly added up. Plus since she enjoys long distance rides, I wanted a frame with carbon stays on it.

Then again, it just might come down to my incessant need to tinker. :D

I need a find like that for my wife; maybe I should more time searching ebay.

That's why we are here. Off the shelf= boring, but probably makes more sense :D