Originally Posted by
pastor3141
aldi road bike large frame
changed drive train
sugino 130/74 cranks with adapter 38/17 teeth
rear 11/34 . changed dérailleur to $25 Shimano Altus RD-M370 7/8/9 Speed Rear Dérailleur
Shimano spd pedals and shoes out of my spares bin.
age 65 and I like mountain roads. We only have one mountain thats hard in Australia and thats kosy.
Little ones like Buffalo are just fun. its about 4700 ft.
It a unusual gear set-up but I have used it for 30 years.
No rucksack at my age, just day trips.
I am not fast on the road just very persistent.
I am wondering if there is any reason to spend more on a road bike?
I am not being a smart arse, I just dont know if I could tell the difference.
so far its cost me $330 all up plus the bits out of spares bin.
nice ride. as for more expensive bikes, i would say go to any local bike store near you and test ride a more expensive bike in your size. take it around the block/ride it for 5-10 minutes and you will definitely notice a difference.
when you test ride, pay very careful attention to how the bike shifts (shift to the highest and lowest gears so you can feel the difference from your current bike) and secondly, pay careful attention to the amount of effort you are using to pedal. usually the more expensive bikes will take less effort to get them to move, allowing you to ride much longer since you are not using as much energy. lower weight bikes also make climbing a lot easier.
whether the difference makes a difference to you will determine whether you want to spend a ton of money on a bike or not.
cheers.