jcolladay

I asked this in a reply to a created thread below, but I figured starting a new thread might be better:

I'm looking for a bike for urban commuting to and from my university here in Seattle. I've narrowed it down to these three options:

Trek 1200 for $110
https://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/bik/5798783933.html

Peugeot Tourmalet for $150
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/5801448409.html

Specialized Sirrus for $140
https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/bik/5797605972.html

Leaning towards the Peugeot personally. What do you experts think? Thanks!

BicycleMonkey

I'd get all three!

79pmooney

I'd go for either the Peugeot or the Specialized. I suspect the Peugeot's got the better ride. The Specialized is probably the more sturdy frame. I would expect more years out of the Specialized, more fun out of the Peugeot.

The Specialized does not have fender eyes. Over a Seattle winter, that will get old. Yes there are workarounds but you are starting from scratch. Why bother? I like the boring 105 components. Boring because they work with very few issues. But no fender eyes would swing me to the probably more fun Peugeot.

I had a Peugeot that was a near sister with a step-down, Reynolds 501, tubing. Set up fix gear, it was the most fun bike I had ever owned since the bike I raced long before. (Enough fun that I had a near copy ti bike built at great expense when it was time to retire the Peugeot. It was hit very hard by probably an SUV before I came on to it. The 8,000 miles it did was plenty.)

Ben

zukahn1 

I would likely go with the Peugeot mainly based on condition. The Specialized is just as nice or nicer but everything on it looks a bit rough nothing bad but a lot of little scraps and bad spots on the finish and a lot more wear on the parts. The Trek is very nice for the price but it's an ex Tri bike which means it's likely seen a bit of abuse, plus you would have the limitation of not being able to run wider tires, rack or fenders.

francophile 

Get the Peugeot or the Specialized. I'm not a fan of aluminum bikes (the Trek). The Specialized is arguably a better-equipped, cooler frame but it's taken some beating. The Peugeot looks to be in excellent shape.

oddjob2

Peugeot is deleted, get the Specialized, if you're 5'8"-5'11"

blakcloud

+1