I am new to road bike and I saw two deals that look good. What do you think?

I am looking at purchasing a used road bike. One is a Cannondale R2000 CAAD4 (I don't know the year) for $500 or a Lemond Chambery OCLV (I don't know the year) for $700. The other option is I seem to see quite a few Specialized Allez in the same price range. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks guys!

The Cannondale is newer looking (maybe 3years old). The Lemond is probably 8 years old

I'll coment on the Cannondale: I have a 2002 R4000, it's a CAAD 5 frame so were R2000s - . That means your CAAD 4 must be older then that. here's the archive:
http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/00/cusa/...

The last CAAD 4 R2000 was 2000 so the Cannondale is 8 maybe 9 years old.

If in very nice condition it's a good bike - all Ultegra etc. I think it retailed for close to $2000 MSRP.

Other than what MR pointed out, I would never buy a used Cannondale. Their frame problems are legion, and if you don't know how it was ridden, well, safety could be an issue.

The Trek OCLV process (Trek makes Lemond) is tried tested and true, but most people that buy a bike like that tend to race it (or try) which can put a lot of stress on a frame. Kind of like buying a used Mustang or Camaro... you never know if it was beaten up.

Between the two, I would probably take the Lemond only because I would never trust a Cannondale under any circumstances.

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