The Road Bike Thread
- Thread starter skitheWest.
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I_liketobutter
Active member
12981507:*rkp* said:Current build - going full dura ace 7400. Should be pretty fun
12981549:theater.thug said:
Two badass bikes
Been riding mine around SF the last two days. Re-fallen in love with it. Perfect beater roadie right now
louie.mirags
Active member
I was considering that, but after finding a good deal at a local bike shop I wouldn't recommend it. The local shop fit the bike to me, demonstrated routine maintenance and stand by their product. El Gato recommended bikesdirect so you can talk to him about that. The local bike shop has free maintenance for 60 days. Also, the bike shop said any time i need something fixed they will teach me how to do it if I want. I'm so happy I didn't choose bikesdirect because I would not have known the quality of my bike. Now i trust what I'm riding. I had to drive an hour to find a leftover bike from last year that was on sale for $550 from $700. It is a trek 1.1. I recommend looking around some more, but I don't know first hand about bikesdirect.
I_liketobutter
Active member
12982084:GANDALF said:
I think spending less than $600 on a road bike is a waste of money imo. You get so much more quality wise with things like shifters, derailleurs, and wheels (things that matter) when you go up a few hundred $$. Shitty shifting blows and it's going to make you hate your bike. Sure you can adjust it to be perfect, but 10 miles later it's going to go out of alignment and it'll suck again.
I'd try and stick with shimano 105 equivalent, AL frame and whatever for the fork. Also try and stay with 2x9 or 2x10. Three rings upfront is dumb.
The motobecane gran premio is an awesome bike for the price.
As far as bikesdirect.com and its been said in other bike threads, you get what you pay for in some respects. You need to know how to size yourself and assemble a bike properly when you order from there. Some pre-assembled parts are not installed correctly and it is up for you to determine that and reinstall it correctly. On one hand it's great if you can teach yourself and have a bit of mechanical common sense. On the other, it can be a disaster if you don't know what your doing and just say fuck it.
I_liketobutter
Active member
What their original price is, isn't relevant. It's like retail on skis or a car, but worse. Talking bike shop prices, under $800 is a waste. If you're worried about price, try and go used from craigslist. There's some ridiculous deals on there all the time. You just need to know your size.
The cosmetics on bikesdirect bikes is not perfect, you're correct. The real reason they are cheaper is b/c of assembly you yourself have to do. The wheels will not be true and may need to be tensioned properly. The hubs, headset, and BB could be to tight or loose. The front derailleur may need to be moved up or down. The rear might be slightly misaligned. etc etc. All of these things are easy to fix, you just have to know how. When you buy a bike from a shop, at least a decent one, all of this will already have been done and checked. They'll help you with fit and tune-ups for free as well
Others will say the frames are as good of quality in terms of welds and alignment. I'd say it's not enough to matter unless you're doing some serious riding and are looking to spend 1500+ where things like that start to matter a bit more.
The cosmetics on bikesdirect bikes is not perfect, you're correct. The real reason they are cheaper is b/c of assembly you yourself have to do. The wheels will not be true and may need to be tensioned properly. The hubs, headset, and BB could be to tight or loose. The front derailleur may need to be moved up or down. The rear might be slightly misaligned. etc etc. All of these things are easy to fix, you just have to know how. When you buy a bike from a shop, at least a decent one, all of this will already have been done and checked. They'll help you with fit and tune-ups for free as well
Others will say the frames are as good of quality in terms of welds and alignment. I'd say it's not enough to matter unless you're doing some serious riding and are looking to spend 1500+ where things like that start to matter a bit more.
theater.thug
Member
12981809:_yager_ said:
Team bike, so not up to me, we are using Dura Ace 7900 for the early season/spring while we are waiting for our Sram Red groups to come in. Those are firecrest 303s.
NinetyFour
Active member
Anyone here riding CX bikes? I'd like to build a CX bike that's a solid broken surface performer, enough so to tackle some singletrack. We have a really rad inner city 6K singletrack that I ride several nights a week and there have been a few people on CX bikes out there killing it and I'd like to take on that challenge to. I think it would make for a fun rig to toss around, on top of that it would be a drastic improvment over my Trek Cobia for riding around town.
12982620:I_liketobutter said:
Craigslist bike deals are pretty killer ever now and then. The thing is, when fitting a bike, you really need to know your reach - I honestly think this is the most important in fitting a frame. If you know that, you can know what your size range is.
Not every bike sized by seat tube will fit the same as others, or will be used in the same way. I'm supposed to be on a 56 or so, but I ride on a 54. It works well because I'm more flexible in the saddle and like a more nimble bike anyway for riding around the city and shorter jaunts rather than extended long trips.
I_liketobutter
Active member
12983302:NinetyFour said:
I really want to build a CX bike that doubles as the bad weather bike, but I just can't justify another bike space and $$ wise. I may take an old cheap gary fisher MTB of mine and try to throw some road wheels, CX tires, and a solid fork and see how it goes
MACAQUE
Active member
I have a Tarmac SL4 Sport. I fucking love riding. I used to ride DH/FR a ton but I slowly got out of it. I missed bikes so I bought a roadie to train/commute on.
I have flat pedals on her right now because I didn't feel like walking around in bike shoes after riding to class, but I'm looking for a solid shoe/pedal combo. Any advice? My dad has some old Shimano XT pedals that were on his XC bike that he'll let me use. Should I buy shoes for those or would something else work better?
louie.mirags
Active member
What app do you guys use to track your rides? I just started using mapmyride. It works pretty good. Any other apps out there that track more stats? The stats are always fun to look at.. Maybe we can start posting our maps if the rides are sick and/or we want to share riding spots.
NinetyFour
Active member
12986301:MACAQUE said:
Do you have a cycling shoe already?
NinetyFour
Active member
12986301:MACAQUE said:
Do you have a cycling shoe already?
I use Strava to track my rides, pretty cool app that compares your segments to other peoples which is awesome and frustrating.
I have been using my dads Raleigh from 1980 but looking at treating myself to a Mekk Poggio. Full carbon frame with Shimano 105 groupset for around 1300 dollars-
I have been using my dads Raleigh from 1980 but looking at treating myself to a Mekk Poggio. Full carbon frame with Shimano 105 groupset for around 1300 dollars-
Strava is the shit in terms of cycling apps. I like how you can set up mini races to compete against other cyclists etc.
I used to be bang into my cycling but have been a lazy bastard recently. I signed up to a 60 mile ride and have donee next to zero training... Should be interesting.
I used to be bang into my cycling but have been a lazy bastard recently. I signed up to a 60 mile ride and have donee next to zero training... Should be interesting.
Amgen tour of California going on right now. Freaking awesome having one of the premier cycling tours right in my backyard.
Went to the Sacramento stop today. Doing the Folsom time trial tomorow. Kinda neat.
Went to the Sacramento stop today. Doing the Folsom time trial tomorow. Kinda neat.
NinetyFour
Active member
12987531:MACAQUE said:
There area few different ways you could go about this. Firstly you could use the Shimano XT's with a specific cycling shoe for more serious rides, then use a street shoe with build in SPD cleats for daily use. Something like these guys:
Or you could keep your regular street shoes, then buy a specific cycling shoe along with a dual purpose pedal.
I don't think you could just get away with a street shoe that has the SPD cleats if you're looking at doing some longer, more dedicated trips. If you're just bashing around the city they would likely be fine though.
12987694:Balto said:Had a nice day in the saddle today, anyone else?
Also, anyone have any recommendations for quality brands to look at for a new kit? Plenty familiar with the big names like castelli and hincapie to name a few, but haven't found something quite right yet.
Have a look at Rapha, they are high quality but fairly expensive however very popular in the UK
*TURBONERD*
Active member
No straight pictures of my Neuvation, so here's one with me too.
will_powder
Active member
12987694:Balto said:Had a nice day in the saddle today, anyone else?
Also, anyone have any recommendations for quality brands to look at for a new kit? Plenty familiar with the big names like castelli and hincapie to name a few, but haven't found something quite right yet.
I buy Chinese fake replica jerseys and shorts! Love em. I can get 3 sets for the same price as one brand name set
louie.mirags
Active member
12992160:Australopithecus said:
That shit is so hott right now that there's dozens of articles and how-to videos via a Google search.
12992135:will_powder said:
Yeah right, you know Thomas isn't one to buy knockoffs
Onetoothwilly
Member
going through a tough time right now summer is coming up and my dad sold my road bike
*TURBONERD*
Active member
12982772:theater.thug said:
Do you ride for school, in particular as part of ECCC?
Holy score.
just picked up some Time RXS carbon pedals and a pair of barely used Adidas Adistar road shoes for 8 bucks at a thrift shop.
just picked up some Time RXS carbon pedals and a pair of barely used Adidas Adistar road shoes for 8 bucks at a thrift shop.
theater.thug
Member
12995368:*CUMMINGS* said:
I do ride a bit of collegiate, but I am in the SECCC. Furman University.
Brocka_Flocka
Active member
12976880:Balto said:
You sir, have a nice ride
Brocka_Flocka
Active member
One option is to purchase a cross bike and just put road tires on it for the summer. Then you can use it for cross in fall which will put you into amazing shape for skiing.
*TURBONERD*
Active member
12996687:theater.thug said:
Bummer. Well, should you ever end up in NH or ME we should ride. What class are you?
You guys see this new fangled SRAM electronic groupset? Completely cableless. Bissel devo team has been testing them out at the Tour of CA.
*TURBONERD*
Active member
12996861:DingoSean said:
I saw one a couple years back at my local bike guy's house, but I don't recall if it was SRAM. It was amazing.
I_liketobutter
Active member
Badass, so clean looking
I love GCN. I saw their crew in Sacramento.
theater.thug
Member
12996852:*CUMMINGS* said:
Well I live in Massachusetts so I'm around there. Just finished my freshman year. Were you at nationals in richmond?
*TURBONERD*
Active member
12998986:theater.thug said:
Hahaha I wish. I won D class for ECCC but that's my limit haha
12998998:jpastor said:
I live in Concord, albeit until I move to Oregon for work for the summer June 6th.
louie.mirags
Active member
An awesome way to explore NYC! And even free parking weekdays at Fort Lee Historic Park right before the George Washington Bridge of anybody is interested.
*TURBONERD*
Active member
Reynolds Assault Carbons lightly used for 650 as a full wheelset from my local dealer. Thoughts?