Originally Posted by
eskinner
It seems like tha Allez will be the best bike to grow with me from what I am reading. Thank you so much for the deailed review of each and their components.
Overall I am looking for something that will be able to grow with me to 105s once I put several thousand miles on the bike.
I would agree, he did his homework.
I know the Specialized Allez is a very good aluminum frame, and you get a good quality carbon fork as well. Anything else can be easily upgraded later on, but the frame needs to be solid. Not so sure about the frames with the other two. All the geometries seem fairly similar, relaxed geometries.
Definitely dont get the Raleigh with the alloy fork, will be very harsh to ride. For this budget, you should at least get a carbon fork.
The ARD seems like a pretty generic frame, not necessarily bad, but I would trust the know-how behind the Specialized brand more. The Specialized has a few interesting design features like the dropped seatstays, which more gives compliance in the seat area (= more comfort).
Good luck!