First road bike under $1500
 

So I have a hybrid that I love (C’dale Quick 5) and I am looking at getting my first road bike. Not interested in competing or doing anything crazy. I would love to buy something I could modify and upgrade in the future, but that is a decent base to start with. What should I be looking at?

Don't get stuck with something that only takes 25mm tires. Get something that can take larger (28mm-32mm or larger) tires for comfort if needed. I haven't ridden this bike but I do like Norco bikes. Norco Section A2

+1

Bikesdirect has some great values. I like this one http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...e-xx.htm#specs

What a value! Bikes direct has fantastic deals.

Giant Defy/Contend, Fuji Sportif .... if you want specific suggestions .... for a Starting Point.

What you really want to do, I think, is go to all the bike shops within driving range, and test ride as much as you can.

Since you already ride, you should have some idea about size and comfortable rising position.but I will say--- some bikes feel good for half an hour, and any bike which is close to the right size will feel good twice around the parking lot. How far you like to lean and reach depends upon you alone. Of course, good stems are cheap, and so are spacers, and bars come in different profiles.

The bikes I mentioned above are "endurance geometry," which means (sort of) that they are a bit longer in wheelbase, have a little more weight back in the bike, and are a little taller up front, compared to "racing-geometry" bikes (I say this to start controversy, and for no other reason.) The reason for test-riding is for you to get a feel for different frames .... but i think most casual riders might be just as happy with a bike which is a little less twitchy with a slightly less extended and more upright riding position (which might account for the popularity of "endurance" frames.) Don't limit yourself by my ideas .... I do half my rides on an endurance frame and half on a "racing" frame and love them both (both are set up for a person who can't bend much, though.)

Also .... I Absolutely second @Gconan: " Get something that can take larger (28mm-32mm or larger) tires for comfort if needed." Wider tires can be more comfortable, and also increase the bike's versatility. if you can fit 35s or even 38s, you can use the bike for grave, or riding comfortably with big loads, and if you want to have an easier time of things on a pure road ride, 28s will give you aero, cushion, and low rolling resistance.

I'm not certain how much I would agree with this view though I know the trend is towards bigger. My previous build was a steel road and with 23s on it could ride all day. Current build is carbon and velocity a23 with 25mm tires is a close fit but works and the ride is all day comfortable. I can see the argument on bikes built stiff or old aluminum but 25s are a really comfortable ride IMO. If I want bigger I've got a gravel bike.

My biggest criteria would be a bike worth building up to something better. With a budget like 1300 I made get buy a DeRosa frameset or something similar from R+A cycles if they had one in my size, they did but the Museeuw fraeset from planetcyclery was a better deal, get an 11sp wheelset from randombikeparts, and a tiagra build group. Deal hunting I could keep it under 300 and have a frame worth upgrading. 1300 on a middle of the line aluminum bike will result in something better when it's upgraded but a 2500 dollar upgrade on a 1300 bike doesn't usually result in a 2500 dollar bike.

I have too many bikes already, but that one has me drooling. I can raise the cash .... but not the riding time .... but it is Really tempting.

Might be worth calling around to see if any of your local shops have discounts on leftovers from last year, or even 2018. When I was shopping around last year, I saw a bunch of good deals, from a discounted Colnago C-RS with Ultegra (fast, but didn't agree with me) down to a Cannondale CAAD12 with 105 for $800 (wrong size), and a heavily discounted Bianchi carbon with 105 in between.

This works better if you know what sizes to ask for - I am, depending on the geometry, comfortable down to a 53cm and up to a 55cm. Also, it's worth getting a test ride - at the very least 5-10 minutes around the block, even better if the shop will let you take it out for a 'real' ride. For me, personally, that's when I know I bond with a bike.

If you're looking specifically for something worth upgrading piece by piece over time, I'd probably lean towards something with:
- Disc brakes (they're probably the future)
- Tire clearance >28c - oftentimes, claimed 28c clearance is truly clearance only for 28mm - but as a lot of us know, 28mm tires often balloon out to 31-32mm, which would cause tire rub. My Lynskey claims 28mm clearance, but I have to run a 25mm Conti GP4k because the 28mm tire that I have (a Conti Ultrasport) ballooned to 31.6mm based on my calipers.
- You'll probably want a threaded bottom bracket - it seems like the market is slowly moving away from press fit, which caused creaking issues after extended use
- I would personally look for steel or titanium, but this really depends on how long you plan on keeping your frame. With care, either one can last decades, but I've heard that older (>10yr old) aluminium has a risk of suffering from fatigue, and there always appears to be a bit of concern whenever a carbon frame gets impact damage. Again, this is personal preference, and I'm sure there are countless examples of older aluminum and carbon that's out there every day.

the frame is a bad fit for me, but I’d be all over that if it fit.

Giant. Period. Best ''bang for the buck'', especially if it's your first one.

You can find a brand new entry-line Defy or TCR for that price. They usually go on sale at 20% off.

Maybe something like this: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/contend-ar-1-2020

Check around the UK sites, eg. one from Merlin but there are lots more to choose from:

https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/m...ke-109358.html

First road bike under $1500

I previously posted to this thread:On my carbon fiber road bike for dry paved roads, I prefer 25C tires. While I'm not not especially pushing my particular suggestion above, but I did buy it importantly because it accepts 30C tires.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 19468292)

Iwas very happy to find out that I could get Marathon studded tires in a 30 C size for this winter for my Diverge beater bike,..

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Thanks so much everyone. Lots to think about!

Too bad they call it Ultegra but they swapped in 105 parts for pretty much anything that wasn't a derailleur, and the crank is FSA. Not that the parts on it wouldn't be perfectly fine, but I actively dislike when they call a bike Ultegra when only the derailleurs are actually Ultegra. Even the brifters on that bike are 105. Probably a fine bike, but I'd want to take the time to compare it with others in its price range before deciding that was actually a good deal for what you get.

I'd definitely second the notion in this thread that whatever bike is considered should be able to take at least up to a 32mm tire, if not a little larger. Then the rider has flexibility of choice. That Motobecane says it would take up to a 40mm, so it's definitely good enough on that score.

That is a great value if you like the frame geometry. Frame geometry is the one thing you can never upgrade. The frame is a little bit unusual in that it tries to be an endurance bike with a very steep headtube angle. It might be great. I'd compare all the measurements to bikes you know. Small things like 10mm of wheelbase difference make a difference when you ride. You can't test ride this so study the frame and compare it to others. It might be what you want, or not.

I’m not sure why you say 72 degrees is steep.

that’s fairly slack for road bikes, and about average for “endurance” bikes.

But...But...It’s the DEAL OF THE CENTURY!

#BDHyperbole

Compare it to name-brand bikes costing thousands of times more!!!!!!!

Because when I read the chart for my size the angle read 69.5 and the next larger frame was 71.1 If you are taller then the angles are more slack like other endurance bikes

But look at the recommendations. I'm 5-7 and if I were buying a Trek or Cannondale they recommend a 54 cm frame or close but here is the size chart for this brand
Century Pro Disk (MY20) Sizing Guide
Most riders fit as follows:
46cm - 5'4" to 5'7"
49cm - 5'8" to 5'11"
52cm - 5'11" to 6'2"
55cm - 6'2" to 6'5"

I'd be riding a 69.5-degree head tube. In any case, I didn't say this was good or bad, just be sure to compare the numbers to bikes you are familiar with. My current bike has a 71-degree head tube, it steers quick

I actually ended up buying an Allez Elite with the rebate going on. Digging it so far!



https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...256f3ccb6.jpeg

Why are people saying to buy a bike with 32mm tires when the OP already has a really nice hybrid bike that could be used for gravel roads and such. He said he wants a "road bike" and we assume he keeps the hybrid.

A good road bike is a special-purpose machine for going fast on paved roads. Some people who have only one bike might want to compromise but if you can have 2 or 3 bikes there is no need to. The handeing, rolling resistance and gearing on a road bike is not the same as what you would want for riding on a back-country semi-paved road. Road bike go fast. Even me, who is slow will easly get up over 25 mph on down grades. Handeling and "aero" begines to matters at 20 mph.

Hopefully after you have a proper road bike you get hooked and start doing 4 hour then later all day rides and cover some miles. You will find that you go way-faster with your upper body ducked to the wind but you may or may not be able to put up with an agressive aerodynamic riding position. I would figure that out FIRST before buying a road bike. RENT a race bike for the day. Make a mini-vacation out of it some place where you can ride 50 or so more miles over varied roads. Then you will know if you can stand riding one. ALL bike feel good durring a 5 minute tet ride. See what your neck and shoulders say after 4 or 5 hours. You just might like it, or not.

No matter what people say about big tires and comfort, When you have 100+ PSI in small tires the bike will roll really fast if the pavement is smooth. If you have good roads that are well surfaced then you can bump the pressure way up and you wil go noticably faster. So listen to advice on tires but ALSO look at where you itend to ride.

Look at used bikes. It is much harder but even a nice high-end used race bike sell for half the new price or less. If you like your Cannondale, then look for a used CADD10 or CAAD12

Because 32mm is quite awesome on a road bike. I've got them on mine, and it's not meant as a gravel bike at all, though it would be fine I suppose with different tires. There are some really great road tires in that size that feel and handle great, and on normal, non-perfect pavement don't cost any performance worth even thinking about. They are from Compass (now Rene Herse), have a very supple casing, weight just barely more than a normal 28mm, and the road feel with it's dampening due to lower pressure are fantastic. This isn't confirmation bias; at the time I switched to the 32mm tires I had dozens of rides on a certain 32-mile route I did a lot on my 25 and 28mm tires, and further rides with the 32mm tires showed no loss of performance; if anything, I sped up. These were recorded rides reviewed on Strava, with actual performance data attached.

And this is yet one more reason to ride a good quality 32mm tire on the road bike if it will fit. The ride is smoother, less vibration, and for those really long rides like you suggest it actually matters. For one it's less fatiguing.

If one rides on purely pristine virgin asphalt roads then OK, but on normal roads in the real world those narrower tires with the higher pressure will jiggle you, the rider, more. Every joule of energy that it takes to jiggle you and the bike had to come from your legs. It's known as suspension losses. The lower-pressure, wider tire jiggles you and the bike less, so you lose less energy on less-than-perfect road surfaces.

There are several short stretches of road that I ride on often that are obscenely bad, as in massive cracks that gape multiple inches apart, and lots of road surface where the asphalt is cracked and broken but the chunks are still there, so its uber rough. On my 25mm tires I had to slow down noticeably on that road. With the 32mm tires I can ride more or less at full speed, so large is the difference in how the bike (and my butt) react to the rough road surface. Btw, I am a very heavy cyclist (well into the clydesdale category), and I ride my 32mm tires at 90psi rear and 85psi front. Lighter people get away with substantially less than that.