RuralMSRider

After completely wearing out my old Schwinn from Walmart I’m finally looking to upgrade to something a little nicer. I’ve been looking into things like the Diamondback Trace Sport and the Trek 820. I was trying to spend around $400. I found an ad on Craigslist from a used bike dealer. It’s a road bike but if it’s a great deal I’ll consider. I can’t link to it yet but it’s in the Jackson MS area on Craigslist. It’s a Specialized Allez Sport for $375.

He says it is a mid 2000’s model. Is that a decent buy at that price?

Flip Flop Rider

looks like a good bike if it fits you. maybe offer $275

RuralMSRider

My only concern with buying a road bike is if I start my ride from my house i have to ride some decently rough stretches of road; potholes etc. before I get to well paved blacktop. I just picture road bikes as too delicate for me.

General Geoff

Depends on what condition, accessories, new/replaced parts. If it's a low mile, all original, I'd probably also offer $250-275. If the components are original with significant wear (but still have some life left), maybe offer $150.

You can give the bike a little more cushion for rough roads by fitting 28c tires.

UltraManDan

https://jackson.craigslist.org/bik/d...457489124.html

Here ya go.

Looks to be decent. Their "tune up" is nothing like my kind of tune up. The chain, rings and cassette could all use a good cleaning. The seat post is also on backwards, so fix that if you buy it.

If you are 6' - 6'5" and it rides nice, then I'd offer $250-$300 and see what they counter with.

RuralMSRider

Thank you. I’m 6’1” so I think the size is fine. Just trying to decide if I want to fully commit to a road bike now. If they’ll accept the lower offers.

Fastfingaz

By pure experience,,, don't expect to put 28's on a road bike,,,, maybe not even 25's

SkyDog75

Road bikes generally aren't delicate machines. You're not going to damage one by riding it on rough pavement, or even off pavement for that matter. But if you pick a racing-style road bike that doesn't have much frame/fork clearance and you have to run super skinny tires because of it, miles and miles of bad pavement can make for an uncomfortable ride. My experience is that a few miles of bad roads to get to better pavement isn't too bad, though. And once you hit that smooth asphalt, I wouldn't trade a road bike for anything else.

If you want a road bike, but want to minimize the harshness of bad roads, look for one with frame/fork clearance to accommodate wider tires, like maybe 28 mm or possibly even wider. That'll rule out some racing-style road bikes, particularly ones from the last decade or two, but there are lots of recreational road bikes, gravel bikes, cyclocross bikes, and older road bikes that could serve you well.

burnthesheep

In your budget range, you can easily get for $400 the following:

-road bike, rim brake
-10spd Shimano 105
-alloy, maybe a carbon fork

Some road bikes look to have tire clearance but max at 28's.

I found this for $440 local to me:
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/bik/d...488956434.html

This seems like the kind of thing that may suit you.

Maybe look for a used Nashbar CX bike. They're only $800 new, so maybe $500 used by now. They have 11spd 105 and mech discs.

General Geoff

I did a quick google search and found others that claim to have successfully fit 28s onto mid-2000s Specialized Allez frames. *shrug*

Fastfingaz

Yes G,,, I was a little vague on that post,,, mainly my idea was to not think you can interchange tire size on all road bikes for some frames just don't give you the room even if you measure width wise,,,,,

rumrunn6

it's got 30s! but I'd swap those tires for fat 30mm slicks

rumrunn6

you have to decide what you want before you think about making offers. go test ride some of those bikes in your area

CliffordK

I'm one of those road bike commuters. I like to take care when I go over bumps, but haven't killed the bike yet.

Perhaps the worst thing is hitting road cracks. We've got a couple of bike eating road cracks on my way home... I just memorized where not to ride.

RuralMSRider

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve almost talked myself into just getting a new Trek DS2. Even though it’s a bit more than getting something used it seems to be a great compromise between road and off road.

WxGuesser

If you are going from wal mart bike to that you are going to love it.

SouthFLpix

Congratulations on the new bike. Post pics! FYI, I'm glad everyone seems to be off the skinny tire bandwagon. At least in the real world conditions of potholes and badly maintained roads that most of us live in, we really should embrace wider tires. Our lower backs will thank us, and we'll be able to put in even more miles as a result.