polecats03

Hi all,

I am an avid mountain biker who wants to get some quality road time in. I am looking to purchase my first ever road bike and have NO IDEA what to even look for. I am currently 6' and about 220lbs.

The type of riding i would like to do is long distance (to help get back into shape) or ride to the local pub to meet friends in the city. My buddy recommended a 650b frame that could handle up to 35mm tires. I was thinking of endurance bikes or gravel but not sure. my budget is around $2K

ratell

In that price range you are looking at either steel or aluminum. Endurance, gravel, cyclocross, touring would all work for what you want. The thing is really they are all good bikes. I would find the bike shop you like best and buy the bike they have that you think is beautiful. That’s more important than a review or some feature you may or may not need.

sean.hwy

If you don't have a very specific little niche of cycling ( mnt bike with sky jumps. tt flatland speed, climbing bike, crit racer, all your friends are road racers etc... ) then a gravel bike with a 2x set up is a great place to start. You can always put on road tires or get an extra wheel set with road tires and keep up with your road buddies if they are not trying to drop you. ha-ha A gravel bike with several different tires or preferably with different wheel sets will cover you for 90% of all biking. A gravel bike isjack of all trades is a master of none. I love mine. I just sold my aero road bike. I was finding I was riding my gravel bike all the time. Not just in gravel I would throw on my road wheel set if I was going a road group road ride. It was fast enough for that. About the only time I rode my aero road bike was when I wanted to see how fast I could go for two hour avg.

A lot of the new bikes are coming out with a threaded bottom bracket ( instead of pressed in ). Some of the pressed in bottom brackets creek. If there are two bikes roughly the same price and one is the bottom bracket I would chose that one.

Canker

I'd forget the 650b idea unless you are planning to gravel ride a lot. If you are planning to ride on the road the vast majority of the time set up for that. I bought a cross bike(gravel bike with racier geo) thinking I'd gravel ride and well I don't. My bike spends 97.37% of it's time sporting 28mm road tires on pavement. If I'm going to drive somewhere to gravel ride I'd rather just drive some where to mtn bike.

Hiro11

It's difficult to find bikes right now, as you probably know. You likely will have difficulty finding the exact model you're looking for and prices are inflated.

I would recommend a versatile aluminum-framed bike with a 2x drivetrain. I think you're on the right track with either a gravel bike or an endurance bike.

A good gravel bike option:
https://www.canyon.com/en-us/gravel-...nfarbe=GN%2FBK

A good road bike option:
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribbl...mano-105-disc/

I don't recommend 650B, I have no idea why your friend recommended that. You'll also need few hundred for helmet, pedals, shoes, cages, tubes, tools, pumps, clothing etc.

mstateglfr 

The two links already posted, for Canyon Grail and Ribble, are solid options to consider. Additionally, the Canyon Endurace AL 105 is $1900. Note that the Ribble and Canyon Endurace are limited to about 32mm tires.

Other options are the Trek Domane, Jamis Renegade, and Giant Contend. The Trej and Giant are aluminum frame endurance road bikes that can handle up to 38mm tires which gives you a lot of options for tire width and feel, depending on how you end up wanting to use the bike. The Jamis is a steel frame gravel bike that can handle tires up to 50mm, so a 28mm road tire will work as well as a wide 45mm gravel tire.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...olorCode=black $1760 Trek Domane AL4 Tiagra
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...ode=grey_black $2030 Trek Domane AL5 105
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/contend-ar-1 $1950 Giant Contend AR 1 105
https://www.jamisbikes.com/renegade/ $1900 Jamis Renegade S3 GRX400(Tiagra level)

The 3 options above are similar, but vary enough in options and geometry to result in meangfully different feel when riding. Since you have no idea what you like in terms of road bike feel, you should definitely go to a shop and when you test ride bikes, ride the for at least a few miles(15min) and hopefully longer. Rent a bike if you need to. $75 for a day of riding that allows you to figure out what you like and dislike about a bike is well worth it.

polecats03

Thank you to everyone who linked some nice bikes! After some thinking, I am not going to be taking the bike off road (ill just use my full suspension mtb for that) so I dont need to go the wider MM in tires.

What are your thoughts on this bike?

specialized Tarmac SL6 Disc (sorry it wouldnt allow me to post a link because i have not posted over ten times. lol

Also, what is a good set of drivetrain? Shimmano 105?

Rdmonster69

I would suggest the larger width tires as they provide a much better ride. An endurance bike is the ticket. Similar to gravel bikes in geometry so more comfortable, less racy but plenty quick. The wider tires make the ride alot more comfortable. 105 is a fine drivetrain. I second the threaded bottom bracket. Not a deal breaker by any means but I much prefer it. I have lots of experience with threaded BB and very little with pressed in. that about my only reasoning there.

big john

Is that used? Yes, 105 is fine. I would recommend you get on a bike and ride a bit to see if you have some fit issue that will require a specific type of bike. We all can't ride a Tarmac. Borrow a bike, rent one, test ride at least. If you haven't ridden road bikes what feels ok in a parking lot may be uncomfortable after 50 miles.

Also, if you're over 200 pounds and rough on bike parts you will find some things will break, especially wheels.

If you will be doing long climbs you may want to be sure you have a low enough gear. Most newer endurance bikes come with low gears, like a 34x34, which is very low.

mstateglfr 

Carbon frame and fork with Tiagra hydrauluc- I dont understand why that is listed for $1800. The current Carbon SL6 with Tiagra is listed for $2700. https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ta...=321623-199468

As for not needing wider tires, if you stick to pavement only then sure you dont need to fit 45mm tires, but just because you can fit that wide of a tire doesnt mean you have to. A Domane can fit 38mm tires, but you can just put 32mm road tires on there and call it good. There is little to no benefit to riding 25mm tires on casual rides. Quality 32s can roll better than cheap 25s and also provide more comfort.

zandoval 

Let the selection of your road bike take its time. Enjoy the search or even the build. I personally would start with a good frame then fair components knowing I would upgrade in the future. As an avid mountain biker your skills already exceed the skills of many road bikers...