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| *Vultures Knob>>>Road Bike |
I'm looking for a good race bike in the $3000 dollar range that i can compete with and suggestions? |
i am looking for a bike in the $3000 to mebe $4000 range that i can compete with in the road racing circut im see there are alot of brands out there like trec and ciocc and other but i dont know what to get. i have been training with my cheap mongoose for a few years now and i can hustle through a 25mile run so im looking to step up, any help would be great. First, I would forget an "off the shelf" bike. Yes, there are some pretty darn good ones out there but for the kind of money you're looking to spend there is an alternative to "cookie cutter" bikes. For the same or LESS money you can spec a bike and get exactly what you want instead of something that somebody else decided was best for business. Here's what I would do considering that you are a new racer but still need excellent performance: First, look at a good frame that will last you through at least a couple of component upgrades. This means you should forget carbon fiber and aluminum and look at steel, magnesium, or titanium. Considering your price range,steel and magnesium are going to be your best value, and out of those, magnesium would be a good choice. http://paketa.com makes some excellent Mg frames that include a carbon fiber fork and headset. They are extremely light, very strong, and super comfortable. If there isn't a Paketa dealer near you I think they sell direct. Stock geometry and color will cost about $2000 and custom geometry is about $2400. Lets stick with stock geometry for now. Next is the gruppo. I have become very impressed with the SRAM Rival group. It is pretty much the same as their top of the line stuff but it replaces carbon fiber parts with aluminum. My take on this is that the alloy stuff will last longer and the benefit from saving weight on these parts is very minimal. I prefer to have strength over lightness on this stuff. Cost for the entire gruppo is about $700, a little less without hubs. You can get a nice wheelset from Shimano for just about $300. The remaining parts... saddle, seat pin, stem, bar, pedals, tubes and tires can be mixed and matched. Keep everything aluminum or magnesium instead of carbon fiber or titanium because again, these parts have little effect on the performance of a bike when it comes to weight savings. Figure about $200 for good stuff without too much flash. OK, so we overshot your price by $200.00. My guess is that if you shop all this stuff carefully that this difference can be pretty much overcome. What you'll end up with is a bike in the 17-18 pound range with a competition bred frame and solid components. EDIT: Looking over the answers below I can tell that none of those people have ever ridden a custom bike and have never taken the time to price one out. I speak from experience, they speak from opinion. Maybe I should have added I am a Grand Master racer, a master level mechanic, and a Reynolds Certified framebuilder. By the way, I found an entire bike build kit from http://pricepoint.com that includes the SRAM Rival gruppo and some REALLY nice wheels for $1300.00. Adding that to the cost of the Paketa frame and you have $3300.00. Source(s): 27 years in the industry i disagree with the previous poster. Any custom bike is going to cost much more then an off the shelf bike. Off the shelf bikes are like honda civics compared to factory five performance vehicles. You can put money into go fast parts for that honda civic, and get better performance for less then you would buy any factory five vehicle. off the shelf bikes have the cost spread out because they are mass produced, a custom bike maker doesnt have that luxury, and they have to absorb the costs. Now being said, there are benefits of custom made bikes. When youre fitted for a custom bike, youre fitted. if you require a top tube of 22.6945 inches, youre going to get that perfect top tube, where as an off the shelf bike is going to get you a 23 or 22 inch. but because you have such a large budget ($3-4000 is extremely high), most bike shops will be glad to part out a bike stem on a new bike if its too short, or will swap a crankset if its not long enough free of charge. Trek has the 'project one' bikes. These are the bikes where you custom make it as you want it, but, its still considered an off the shelf bike... for an example. the trek ex8 is a project one bike. they make the standard ex8, but they also make the project one ex8. they are basically the exact same bike. all the major components are the same, but, you can pick and choose the size of the parts. the project one bike runs $150 more (includes custom paint job). So anyways, onto what bike is right for you. Trek dominates road racing... theres not even a question. when a team dominates, it has to say something about their bikes. Im not into road biking (yet), but if i were to buy a road bike, there would only be 1 company for me. I would want a carbon frame/fork, because to me, they ride like a steel framed bike. They flex, they soak up vibrations, poor road conditions, and are much eaiser to ride then an aluminum bike. Alot of people complain about bike flexing, but as long as its rigid in the right places, then flexing is good. and trek has mastered carbon bike frames. imo, aluminum gives you a horrible ride. instead of soaking up things, aluminum frames bounces off them... but youre going to have to ride one yourself to determine what you like. because you have such a high budget, your trek will already come with all the highest tech, lowest weight components. seats are preference, and the only real way you can find one you like the best, is to buy it and try it. but anyways, if i were you, i would look into treks. First, look for full carbon or titanium frame. Second, look for top of the line components; Shimano Dura-Ace or Campagnolo - Record Third, look for top quality wheels; Rolf - Vigor or Carbon or Mavic Cosmic series Check out some of the top makers websites; Trek (Madone Series) Bianchi Specialized Cervelo Seven Lightspeed Buy what you feel you riding experience shows. Do not be one of those hacks that buys a Cervelo P2 and can't hold a line or know how to draft properly. Good luck. I'm gonna throw my two cents worth in here. In my opinion you definitely shouldn't buy a custom bike. It would just be a waste of money. You would be better advised to put that extra money into an extra set of wheels for climbing or time trials. I raced bikes for many years and rode many different kinds. But I probably went through three different bikes before I started to develop a feel for what I really wanted in a bike. Some bikes are great for hills, some are good for crits, and some are good all-around bikes. But until you can tell the difference between them, it won't be enough of a difference to matter. Besides if you ever do get good, you'll ride whatever the sponsor gives you, and blow everybody away, no matter what brand it is. You'll never hear any of the pros complain that they lost because the other guy had a better bike. I hate to say this, but for the first year or so, you are probably going to get dropped a lot, and it won't matter if you spent $2000 or $5000 on your bike. The only difference will be in how fast you look warming up before the race. Also, far more important than the type of bike that you ride, is it's setup. We all know how meticulous Lance is about having his bikes set up exactly right. That comes from years of experience, and you simply can't buy that. So what I'm trying to say is, that at some point, no matter what bike you buy, you're gonna want to change something, simply because you'll develop as a rider. You know that Lance didn't get his bike setup exactly right the first time. It took trial and error. You may want a longer top tube, or a steeper head tube, or a stiffer triangle. Who knows? I don't, and you don't know yet either. So what should you do? Well look at what the pros ride. They ride many different kinds of bikes, but almost universally they will ride one of two component groups, either Campagnolo record or Shimano Dura-Ace. So start there. No matter what bike you decide to buy, and at your price range any bike that you buy will be a decent bike, but make sure it has one of those two component groups. That way when you do decide to change frames, you can stick with the same components, they will last for years. You can change frames as often as you like, and the components will always work. Look at what the pros ride. You probably won't be able to afford their exact setup, after all they're probably spending $1000 or more on wheels alone. But you can come close, and that's good enough. Remember, the most important part of the bike is the motor. Put at least as much into it as you put into the bike. Or you'll end up as they say, "All show and no go" If I had to give a preference as to what bike I'd buy, it would be a Cervelo. But there are a lot of good bikes, Scott, Trek, Pinarello, Specialized, etc. So buy what feels and looks good to you. Get good components. Make sure it fits, and is set up to your liking. Then train like hell and kick butt. Edit: I just wanted to add a note. No matter what happens don't give up. In my first race I crashed. I raced every weekend for four months and got dropped every time. It wasn't until August that I was finally able to keep up. After that, every week I got better. By the end of the year I was a Cat 3. Three years later I was a member of the US National team. So don't get discouraged if you don't blow everybody away in your first few races. Perseverence counts for almost as much as talent, and is a much better indicator of a persons character. EDIT: I see where http://www.excelsports.com has the 2006 Toyota-United team bike on sale for $2688. In my humble opinion that's a good deal. You might want to swap out a few minor parts, to fit your own personal setup. But as is it's a darn good bike. That will leave you enough money to buy a really good set of wheels to race on. Then use the wheels that come with it for training. youve had some good posts right before me, so I suppose that I'm just reinforcing their surggestion. I would definitely get a stellar wheelset and great components if I had 3K to spend. this will be the best impact, especially if you can go to a bike shop where you can buy the total bike (price of buying all parts together is much less). I would say no on the custom deal, buy off the rack because this will save you the most cash for all the goodness above. you will still see a very good upgrade from the mongoose. frame reccomendations are definitely for the type of terrain you will ride on. if youre asking for preferences, I have an Eddy Merckx that I love, also a Klein but always wanted to get a De Rosa. who knows? if you win some races with your new setup and suddenly find yourself with some deep pockets, then it may be the right time for a custom bike. |
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