Smaug1

I made a thread in the road biking forum, but only got a few responses. Would you road bikers here mind chipping in with opinions?

10 Wheels

What is your Budget and How Far will you ride?

Smaug1

Budget: $1500, could push to $1800. These will require credit card purchase and longer payoff. $600 and I could pay cash.

Ride length: I'd like to do longer rides. I've started with a 27 mile ride last weekend. I'd like to be able to do 50s routinely and a century here and there. Comfort and cost are much more important than weight or speed. (though I'd like to keep up with slower group riders) I think I want to stay under 30 lbs.

beng1

Just get any used brand-name bike you can find locally with drop-bars that is cheap and in good condition and your size and with a steel frame and you are done. Older bikes are cheap and plentiful and much better deals than any new bike. You can get a really good deal on higher-end bikes if you buy used. Maybe an old relative or friend has something laying around for you to try?

I ride with a guy who just dropped nearly ten-grand on a new Specialized Roubaix S-works, and in less than two weeks his electronic shifting broke on a ride. In contrast I have been riding used bikes the last three years that have cost from free to $30 and have never had any problems with them except for an occasional flat. Do a search for cracked carbon fiber bicycle frames and parts and you will quickly see what a bad idea and deal they are.

10 Wheels

I Started w a $15 Used road bike. It was 15 years old w original tires and tubes.
Once I was in Shape got a NEW Felt for $800 on Sale. Rode it 39,000 miles.

Iride01 

You really want to stay under 20 pounds. 17 lbs will be better still. If you have any hills at all, you'll be surprised how much less you'll even notice you are on a hill with a lighter bike. And that will make a big difference for how much energy you save to do those longer rides and not have even the members of that slower group out pace you.

I've ridden a 100 miles several times on a 46 pound bike. Wouldn't do it again for anything now that I've seen how much better I can feel at the end of 100 miles on a 17.5 pound bike.

Smaug1

I'm already going to blow my budget to get a 23 lb. bike. Going down another 3-6 lbs. will add $1,000 to the cost. Besides, I'm 30 lbs. overweight. Why would I count 6 lbs. on the bike until I've dropped that 30? ;-)

My Verve 3 weighs 29 lbs. I added plastic fenders and an Al rack, along with a saddle bag and a couple other things, and that's my light bike now. This bike (Domane AL3 Disc) is going to cut that by at least 30%, as well as be more aerodynamic and smoother-rolling. We'll see how that goes and if I feel like I'm doing that bike justice, maybe I'll upgrade at some point. My other bikes are heavier eBikes. The one I ride most often, and without electric assist pretty often too, is 65 lbs.

Iride01 

Don't blow your budget on a bike. And don't buy a used bike or any bike that strains your budget so much that it has to be your "forever" bike. Those to me are figments of imagination. Certainly as you age and get better or worse at cycling, your needs will change. Maybe even your desire to do other genres of cycling instead of just road biking.

But don't ignore weight for those bikes that are within your budget. The total riding weight you lose from getting a lighter bike is immediate.

If two or more bikes in your selection have about a 3 pound difference from each, then go for the better components and looks. When the bikes in your selection start to get more than 5 lbs in difference, then consider the lighter of them. At least that's generally how I use weight for comparing them.

Eric F 

This ^^^ is false. CF is well-proven, over multiple decades, to be a good choice for bike frames and parts.

EDIT: This ^^^ is true. However, finding a good value takes some knowledge about what you're looking for and looking at.

Iride01 

More than a few steel bikes have had lug failures. So maybe @beng1 should do a search for that!

rsbob 

My 82 Bianchi Trofeo Columbus frame cracked around the bottom bracket and it sure wasn’t due to the massive power I wasn’t putting out.

OP, go to a good sized bike shop with a lot of inventory, tell them your budget and goals and have them suggest a few - then test ride them to see what feels best. There is a world of difference between bikes and you will instantly know which bike works for you. People can suggest bike brands/models but only riding on several will tell you what to get.

Maelochs

My two cents----buy the best bike you can. Spend the money. It will amortize down to nothing over a few years of happy riding on a reliable bike.

Spend $500 on wheels in three or four years because you are tired of the boat anchors the bike came with----or get the next model up the line which already has better wheels and costs $250 more? Sora is great .... but for $250 more you can get 105? Manufacturers get parts a lot cheaper than you ever will and if you don't want to find yourself wishing you had a better bike all the time get a better bike.

When people start talking about weight ... a lot of Al-framed bikes with DF forks and disc brakes weigh 22 or 23 pounds---like my Fuji Sportif---and they don't feel heavy at all. Sure it is not as light as my "climbing" bike---by seven or more pounds---but it is not heavy and it gets up hills better than I can make it ... that is, the bike isn't what's holding me back.

Fact is, unless you compete, bike weight is not the biggest issue at all. Ride the bike and see what you think.

grantelmwood

What if his budget is $100k and he will ride 5 miles ?

grantelmwood

Does this imply you do not have more than $600 ?
If so, you can not afford a bike, or even to bike.

Buying a bike with a credit card is financial insanity.
You should have at least $250,000 if you're gonna spend $1000+ on a bike toy.

I'd look for a free bike.

tomato coupe

We're approaching rock-bottom on the intelligence scale in this forum ...

Darth Lefty 

The big divide in road bikes is - do you want to go for a bike ride, or do you want to work on your fitness?

The former can be done with a broad selection of road bikes new and used at all quality levels. Sure, go get that $350 Craigslist bike. As long as it's in good running order you can go as fast and far as your muscles want to.

The latter sort of pushes you to more expensive and recent bikes, because you are going to add a GPS head unit that guides you through programmed workouts, a power meter to go with that, heart rate and maybe speed and cadence sensors, a trainer to do Zwift, etc. And since all that works with your personal electronics and the Internet, there's a constant drum beat to keep it all up to date.

Eric F 

You're a wealth of bad information.

icemilkcoffee 

I have to agree with the other poster that, if you can't pay cash for a bicycle, it's too expensive for you. I hate to go all Dave Ramsey on you, but in general you don't want to go into debt to buy a depreciating asset, unless it's something you need to make a living. A bicycle is a rapidly depreciating asset and recreational.
Anyways, go on Craigslist, buy something cheap. Find out what your likes and dislikes are, and then graduate to something better. It might take 3 or 4 cheap bikes for you to figure out your likes and dislikes.

Maelochs

Folks .... If the dude can afford the payments, .... How many here bought their homes or cars in cash?

Houses can be and cars definitely are depreciating assets .... so live in a box and walk.

I think the dude should figure what his budget allows and buy as much bike as he can afford. Then he should ride it.

Is this going to decay into one of those "You should only spend this much on X" threads?

Smaug1

Lots of good advice in this thread, thanks so much everyone!

Re. charging the bike, I agree it is not the best financial decision, but I did it anyway. I'll pay for half from savings. I have a camera system I'm not using any more that can probably raise the other half. I might also sell my wife's acoustic bike, as she only rode it twice in a year and 0 times since I got her the eBike. FWIW, I have just that bit of CC debt, mortgage and a car payment. $40k saved so far for my daughter's college. (she wants to be a vet, so it's going to be $PENDY)

I went back to the shop and bought the Trek Domane AL3 Disc:


The test ride at the LBS was convincing. Service there was excellent, so I was happy to pay new retail to support that shop, (Zion Cyclery, in Zion, IL) even though I paid 2% more tax than I would have just over the border where I live in WI. The salesman educated the heck out of me on everything: shoes, pedals, groupsets, frame materials brakes... I was planning on holding off if they only had the black one, but they had it in my favorite color, blue. It was a sign from above. I left them a glowing review on Google.

The 8 mile shakedown ride last night was great. It doesn't beat me up as much as I thought it would on our crappy roads here in town. My hand muscles are going to have to get in shape; I'm not used to having so much weight on them. Maybe thick grip tape will be my first mod. I already have nice padded fingerless gloves. I need to pick up a couple bottle cages from the LBS after work.

I'll go slow on the additions, but I did add interchangeable battery front & rear lights. (I don't like the built-in obsolescence of USB-charged lights) I might add a couple small bags and a GPS or phone mount at some point. It has holes in the crosstube for a bag there.

I'm probably going to buy another bike tomorrow, an old Schwinn Varsity. Don't worry, I'll pay cash for that one. Nostalgia bike, maybe a winter project, depending on what all it needs. (brake pads and seat at a minimum, I think...)

Tomorrow, there's a group ride that looks to be about 40 miles, then Sunday a gravel ride (probably on the hybrid bike) for that much again.

Again, thanks all. The advice I DIDN'T take wound up being just as useful as the advice that I did, as it helped me to see this from all angles.

Eric F 

Nice bike!! I hope it's awesome for you.

Eric F 

Bike pic tip: Drivetrain side.

big john

This is why people on the forum think you are a troll. You clearly have no experience in this realm.

big john

I have to disagree with you. I have purchased things on credit before, most of us have. Cars, motorcycles, a house, and I routinely buy things on a credit card.
I have not financed a bicycle, but if there was one I really wanted and I didn't have the cash, I would.

big john

What size are the tires? Larger tires on modern bikes can run lower pressures than older bikes with narrow tires. This might help your comfort even more.

Also, you shouldn't be putting a lot of weight on your hands. It might take some time but you should be able to ride with a light touch on the bar, supporting yourself with your core muscles. Don't lock your elbows, practice riding with your elbows bent.

Above all, have fun!