roccitman

Hey Gang

[Sorry if this has been covered before]

I can't run anymore so want to upgrade my road bike. Would like to buy something from the last 3 years at least but been out of the road bike world so long I don't know what's a decent bike these days. Budget is around 2-3k, would like good components. Grew up riding steel bikes, but been riding a late 90s carbon bike (Aegis) with crappy 105 on it. I live on Kaua'i, the racing we do here is just for bragging rights, but I'd like something light that will last me a few years.

Am I right to assume that pretty much anything in that price range would be a good fit?
Something like this:
2018 Specialized Roubaix Comp Carbon Disc (found it on Ebay)

Product Specialized Roubaix Comp Model Year 2018 Riding Type Road Bike Rider Unisex Size 56cm Wheel Size 700c Frame Specialized FACT 10r carbon, Endurance Geometry, Rider-First Engineered™, 12x142mm thru-axle, Future Shock suspension, 20mm of travel, flat disc mounts

Fork Specialized FACT carbon, 12x100mm thru-axle

Headset Tapered Integrated Handlebar Specialized Comp Hover Bar, 6061 alloy, 70x125mm Stem Specialized, 3D-forged alloy, 4-bolt, 7-degree rise, 100mm

Brakes Shimano Ultegra 8020, hydraulic disc Brake Levers Ultegra Hydraulic Drivetrain 2x11 speed Shifters Shimano Ultegra 8020, hydraulic disc Front Derailleur Shimano Ultegra 8000, braze-on Rear Derailleur Shimano Ultegra 8000, long cage, 11-speed

Crankset Praxis Zayante, 172.5mm Chainrings 50/34T Pedals N/A Chain KMC X11EL, 11-speed w/ Missing Link™ Cassette Shimano 105, 11-speed, 11-32t Wheelset Roval SLX 24 Disc, sealed cartridge hubs pawl, DT Swiss Competition spokes, 24h
Saddle Phenom FACT carbon 143mm (UPGRADE!) Seatpost S-Works CG-R, FACT carbon fiber, single-bolt, 27.2mm

Thanks for any advice

xroadcharlie

If I where to buy a new road bike with that budget I would look at Giant's Defy Advanced 3. This endurance bike appears to provide a fine balance between speed and comfort. I'm sure there are other brands comparable, but IMO Giant bikes are one of the best values in design and build quality. I have one of their lower end bikes and the darn thing is almost perfect. Fit and finish are 2'nd to none.

roccitman

Awesome, thanks! Always been a Giant fan too! I will be checking them out.
-rocco

roccitman

Old thread but I thought I'd report back. Wife and I bought a tandem. She's a hammer and loves climbing, who'd have thought

RobbieK2022

Reply to the old reply lol... awesome on the tandem and this way you aren't stuck with a bike she may fall out of love riding. That's happened to me at least 3 times but at least you can always put some else on the tandem just in case.

roccitman

Yeah, love it. We might even sign up for a race

carpediemracing 

On the tandem topic, I actually told my now wife that we had to be able to ride a tandem together before we went any further into the relationship (aka engagement / marriage). I don't think she did it "for" that, but we bought and rode a tandem after that. We had a tremendous amount of fun riding for a couple years. She got home before me so she'd get dressed, get the bike ready, and I'd change when I got home and we'd do a ride, like an hour or so. We did drills so I could learn to stop/start (we went around a very short - 1/2 mile? - block near our house with a stop sign on each corner, and we stopped at each stop sign, I put my foot down, etc... and this was for an hour. I even took time to adjust a random little girl's helmet as I noticed it wasn't adjusted well and was unsafe. I can't remember specifics but it might have been on backwards. Her mom was nearby and we asked permission first.

We ended up doing a metric century with about 5 or 6 other multi-rider bike people (tandems and a triplet). We did almost a metric century on our own. She preferred to stay under 45 mph on the descents but pushed once very hard on the flat - we hit 49 mph and she was disappointed we didn't hit 50.

Anyway, that was 2005 or so. We got married 2007. We didn't ride much once we moved to where we live now, but I can say that we work well together on the bike. The boss sits in the back, but the controls are at the hands of the rider in front.

merlinextraligh

Awesome. People ever love tandems or hate them. For me it’s a way to ride more without taking time away from family.

Unfortunately tandem racing opportunities are dwindling. We’ve done the Florida TT championship and road race and TT at Masters Nationals, Everest Challenge, as well as the Co Motion Classic Tandem Stage Race. Unfortunately all that is gone for tandems.

About all that remains are Gravel races and Fondos that you can enter but don’t have a formal tandem division.

roccitman

Yeah, we have exactly one race here on Kauai. Straight up a mountain, heh.