JC Cyclists.

I know some guys are really into heart rate training, but I figure at this point in my life, miles are more important than heart rate, power output, speed, or any other metric.
 
Last time I wore a HRM I was playing in a beer league hockey game. I maxed at 215 and sustained about 190. My resting pulse is about 45. I was a few years younger but I was also less in shape. I have to believe I can still get in to the 190s.
 
Okay JC cyclists, thinking of buying a new road bike and I am going to start test riding stuff this weekend. Right now I ride a Specialized TriCross Comp (Cyclocross frame), which is a great ride for my area since we have nearly 50 miles of great car free and smooth carriage roads. That bike actually performs reasonably well on the road with the tires maxed out at 100psi. That said, I have been itching for a true road bike for a while now. Will see how the test rides go, but I would love any general opinions on what is out there these days.

Details: I am a big guy. 6'4" 225. I am shaving off some pounds, but I doubt I will ever get below 215. 90% of my road riding is on National Park Rds that are in perfect condition. The other 10% will be on side roads with good terrain for interval workouts, but these are all mostly in good to excellent condition.

Bike interests: I have not decided on my final price range yet because I want to know more about the component groups. Part of me wants to go ahead and get Ultegra or a similar level SRAM, but the 105 group on my TriCross has been very good so far, so perhaps 105 or SRAM Rival is worth considering for my needs. In general though, I am thinking $2K-3Kish. My local shop is excellent and they carry Specialized, Trek, Serotta, Canonndale, and quite a few others that I am either not familiar with or are out of my range. They are also great at setting folks up with demo bikes for a number of rides and not hurrying the the choice.

Any suggestions on narrowing the field? I am eyeing a Specialized Tarmac frame right now, but that is only because I have really liked my TriCross Comp.
 
Quick additional question: What are current thoughts on the Cannondale line?

I ask because when I rode a lot nearly 20 years ago, Cannondale were not well thought of in many circles. I never had one or even rode one, but that stigma is still attached to the brand in my mind. The CAAD10 aluminum frame lineup seems kind of attractive. Lighter than many carbon bikes, as stiff or often stiffer, but 1/3 the cost. You can get a CAAD10 Ultegra for a little under $2K. Will plan to ride one, but I would love any thoughts on how Cannondale ranks these days?
 
Acadia said:
Okay JC cyclists, thinking of buying a new road bike and I am going to start test riding stuff this weekend. Right now I ride a Specialized TriCross Comp (Cyclocross frame), which is a great ride for my area since we have nearly 50 miles of great car free and smooth carriage roads. That bike actually performs reasonably well on the road with the tires maxed out at 100psi. That said, I have been itching for a true road bike for a while now. Will see how the test rides go, but I would love any general opinions on what is out there these days.

Details: I am a big guy. 6'4" 225. I am shaving off some pounds, but I doubt I will ever get below 215. 90% of my road riding is on National Park Rds that are in perfect condition. The other 10% will be on side roads with good terrain for interval workouts, but these are all mostly in good to excellent condition.

Bike interests: I have not decided on my final price range yet because I want to know more about the component groups. Part of me wants to go ahead and get Ultegra or a similar level SRAM, but the 105 group on my TriCross has been very good so far, so perhaps 105 or SRAM Rival is worth considering for my needs. In general though, I am thinking $2K-3Kish. My local shop is excellent and they carry Specialized, Trek, Serotta, Canonndale, and quite a few others that I am either not familiar with or are out of my range. They are also great at setting folks up with demo bikes for a number of rides and not hurrying the the choice.

Any suggestions on narrowing the field? I am eyeing a Specialized Tarmac frame right now, but that is only because I have really liked my TriCross Comp.
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I don't know what your price range is but my Madone 6.9 is the best bike I have ever ridden, Its like you are floating. I have all Shimano Duraace7900 components and have never had a problem. Its kinda hard to say unless we know what a price cap would be. Let us know man. Cervelo's are also good bikes but they are extremely expensive for what you get.


As far as the Cannondales go, I couldn't really say. Cervelo and Trek are the only two bikes that I know are hand made in the US or Canada. Great builds with life time warranties. A lot of other companys have sent their manufacturing over to China or Vietnam and for me I begin to question quality. Specialized are good frames that I believe re still made in the US. As far as bars and tubes I like Bontrager equip.
 
Thanks, it was hidden in the first post. I would like to stay in the $2K-$3K range. I don't think I can afford anything with Dura Ace, so I am targeting Ultegra.
 
These days, everybody is building both crap bikes and awesome bikes. You're unlikely to get a lemon based on brand alone.

I know its mountain, but I love cannondales rz 120, and I currently ride a specalized allez, and have owned a gary fisher marlin. All of these companies make cheap and expensive bikes.
 
jtrain609 said:
These days, everybody is building both crap bikes and awesome bikes. You're unlikely to get a lemon based on brand alone.
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Oh for sure. I was really wondering if anything stood out in the 2-3K range across any of the brands. I am planning on buying from my local shop so some brands wont be options, but they carry more than enough to suit me.
 
jtrain609 said:
These days, everybody is building both crap bikes and awesome bikes. You're unlikely to get a lemon based on brand alone.

I know its mountain, but I love cannondales rz 120, and I currently ride a specalized allez, and have owned a gary fisher marlin. All of these companies make cheap and expensive bikes.
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I think everyone knows that most companies build cheap bike and expensive bike but I would beg to differ on the crap part. Go to Cervelo's website, all of their bikes are top of the line, They don't sell anything else. Even Trek, While they sell cheaper intro bikes and the high end race bikes, builds great equipment. Most Trek products have life time warantees. I want to elaborate on the crap I was talking about. Companies that used to be great like Cologno, now ship cheap carbon parts to china to be glued together, Yeah you get a carbon bike but its not a very strong or well developed bike. Trek on the other hand takes time to put rocket science level engineering into the bikes. All of them. Most of the bikes are made in the United States, they carbon layups are put together with a level of perfection not many companies can mach. Then the whole frame is put under thousands of pounds of pressure and baked as one piece. It is a much stronger and well developed bike that gives where it needs to and is rigid where it shouldn't. I have had the Madone over 60 MPH on down hills are never feel out of control, it corners like a champ, handle rough roads with comfort, and it climbs like there is nothing there, an amazing piece of equipment.


For that price range you should check out the Madone 3, 4, and even 5 series bikes. You will really like what you see. Trek builds all of those bikes to fit your specific measurements. The cervelo RS, S3, and R3are also nice bikes. I have never ridden a cervelo but I have quite a few friends that won't ride anything else. The Specialized Tarmac SL3 is a great frame too but it never appealed to me like the Madone did. It would be interesting to see what you can build a Tarmac for, the SL3 frames start at $2100. It would be worth test riding them both if you can.

The one thing that Trek offers I really like it different frame designed for the the same bike. The have a Pro fit, Performance fit, and Comfort fit. What makes each different it the height of the head tubes. My local bike shop recommended the performance fit for me. I have no regrets. On long rides your back gets extremely tight and it gets uncomfortable leaning so far over that your body is parallel with the pavement when your arms are straight in the drops. The performance fit raises you up about an inch. Its enough that you get an extremely comfortable position when riding on the horns but can get extremely low, even parallel in the drops if you want to. I am 6'5" and usually between 180 and 190lbs, I love it. The comfort frame puts you up even higher, if you have a bad back its a good choice but will prevent you from getting as low when you want the speed. If you want any other info on Treks let me know. I can hook you up.

I really would like to try and get some of us together at some point in time to ride.

Anyone have an update on Chris Horner, I was flying all day and didn't get to see the race. MDT Sherraton doesn't have VS so I am outta luck.
 
The biggest recommendation I can give is to get out and ride many different bikes. Better bike shops will even let you demo a bike for an extended period of time for a fee. When I purchased my last bike I had my heart set on a certain model and brand but after riding it I couldn’t stand it and ended up getting a bike from a brand I had barely heard of because it fit me so perfectly. As far as which component group you go with I would highly recommend Sram, there is just so much bang for your buck especially with their Force group set.
 
Brian29 said:
The biggest recommendation I can give is to get out and ride many different bikes. Better bike shops will even let you demo a bike for an extended period of time for a fee. When I purchased my last bike I had my heart set on a certain model and brand but after riding it I couldn’t stand it and ended up getting a bike from a brand I had barely heard of because it fit me so perfectly. As far as which component group you go with I would highly recommend Sram, there is just so much bang for your buck especially with their Force group set.
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I have only ridden shimano products. I am on the 7900's now so it doesn't get much better. The only difference I know exists between the way both systems work is in the shifter levers. On the Dura Ace, I move the brake lever in to shift one way and move a smaller lever behind the brake lever in to shift the other way. The SRAM works by moving one lever varrying amounts. You will probably also find that one fits your hand better. Shimano products tend to be a bit lighter and you can actually find them for cheaper than sram if you look around. You can't go wrong with either so it is really up to personal comfort and preference there
 
Thanks folks. I have heard good things about SRAM Force as well as Shimano Ultegra (Dura Ace as well, but that won't be on bikes I can afford). I will also be sure to test ride what I can in the Trek Madone line.

The shop I have here is really quite good. A friend of mine started this process last summer, and he had different demo bikes for weeks at a time and has yet to buy anything. I have been reading up, picking his brain, and now throwing the question out here just to gather as any opinions as possible as I start the process myself. The first thing I need to do is decide if a good road bike is really a good choice for me. I really like the Cyclocross ride for my area, but there is something undeniably attractive about a swift road bike. Still, I might jump on a few and decided that it just inst enough of a jump to justify the expense right now. Will report back after I ride the first demo.
 
Brian29 said:
The biggest recommendation I can give is to get out and ride many different bikes. Better bike shops will even let you demo a bike for an extended period of time for a fee. When I purchased my last bike I had my heart set on a certain model and brand but after riding it I couldn’t stand it and ended up getting a bike from a brand I had barely heard of because it fit me so perfectly. As far as which component group you go with I would highly recommend Sram, there is just so much bang for your buck especially with their Force group set.
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+1, I have SRAM Force and love it, it's just about on par with Dura Ace as far as weight and performance but costs as much as Ultegra.
 
Acadia said:
Thanks folks. I have heard good things about SRAM Force as well as Shimano Ultegra (Dura Ace as well, but that won't be on bikes I can afford). I will also be sure to test ride what I can in the Trek Madone line.

The shop I have here is really quite good. A friend of mine started this process last summer, and he had different demo bikes for weeks at a time and has yet to buy anything. I have been reading up, picking his brain, and now throwing the question out here just to gather as any opinions as possible as I start the process myself. The first thing I need to do is decide if a good road bike is really a good choice for me. I really like the Cyclocross ride for my area, but there is something undeniably attractive about a swift road bike. Still, I might jump on a few and decided that it just inst enough of a jump to justify the expense right now. Will report back after I ride the first demo.
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Man oh man do I want a cyclocross bike.
 
Brian29 said:
Man oh man do I want a cyclocross bike.
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It really is a great mix. We have close to 50 miles of perfect carriage roads in the national park here, but the paved park loop road and road up Cadillac mountain are sweet road rides. This one bike does a respectable job on the road, and one of the fastest things on the dirt.
 
Grab an extra wheel set with some slicks and you're good to go. The new Cannondale cross bikes look pretty slick.
 
A good cross bike with two wheelsets is a good option, and there are times I wish I had done that instead of going for a straight road bike. Unless you're racing, you probably won't care about the speed difference, and you can use disc brakes, which I miss.
 
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