Gonna get a Road bike, help me out!

[Wickerman]

I currently ride a used Mountain bike. Its an old Schwinn Woodlands. Not a horrible bike, but I am not really a Mt Bike rider.

Years ago I did a lot of road biking. Lots of day trips, even completed RAGBRAI. Well, as I ride more and more I've decided I want to ride RAGBRAI again (last week of July next year) and I can barely stand it for 30-40 miles let alone 500.

So, I need a new bike, a road bike. Imagine my shock when I stepped into the real world and saw that bikes very commonly go for $1,500.00 and that for many that won't even touch the frame set!

Ok, I know I can't justify $1,500. Hell, it will be hard to justify $500.00. Oh, and I have to buy a second bike for my 14 year old daughter who is the real reason I want to do RAGBRAI - she really, really wants to go. But, first things first - I need a bike.

Tell me what you would look for. I am considering a used Trek, LeMond (I know, Trek) or Specialized - they are what is sold locally and come well recommended. Other suggestions?

Thanks.

[BiggJawn]

1. I would suggest....

Something along the lines of this bike:
http://tinypic.com/2m9xm9

Lugged steel, cushy tyres (700X35)a LONG stem so you can get the handlebars up where they'll fit (if you've a 14-y-o, you're not as flexible as you once were) Brooks saddle, and a gear range of around 14" to 100", triple crankset.

See if you can locate a used Trek 520 or something like that.I think Specialized has one called the "Roubaix". A "touring" bike is what you need for a long ride like that.

Cushy tyres because I recall someone here rode RAGBRAI last year, and she reported that the roads were less-than perfect and there was some gravel. 700X21's don't do gravel.

If by some chance you find a Rene Herse or Alec Singer in 62 cm, you don't want it. PM me and I'll save everyone from it.

I'm just kidding. you'd be in heaven on one of those.

[Wickerman]

2. 62 cm?

Dude, you are a big man! 55 here.

Oh, and I found a Herse for you, as a thanks for the suggestions


:hi:

[BiggJawn]

4. DROOL!

Oh,that's a beaut!

Yeah, 62cm. I got a pubic bone height of 37" Grant says I should have a 64, but the standover height on a 63 is just fine...

That red bike is just about the most perfectly set-up wheel I've ever been on. It's an old Bridgestone, and i built it myself last winter.

[Longhorn]

3. Check out this link at

www.bikeforums.net, "The Under $700 Roadbike Thread."

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=69273

[Wickerman]

5. nice!

thanks! More to digest.

[Kolesar]

6. An aluminum frame can get you a lot of value in a lightweight frame

Aluminum is definitely the bargain, and the builders have worked out the weld quality problems of the 1980s. I cannot vouch for how comfortable an aluminum frame would be after four hours of riding. The problem with Al is that it "rings" when you hit a bump. The shock turns into a vibration that is not damped and it "echos" around the frame. Steel, by nature, dampens that shock excellently. I understand that frame makers have been working on that problem and that the frames are much better for shock absorption these days.

Carbon fiber is perfect for dampening vibration. I really don't know about titanium, but I don't think you will be buying carbon or Ti because of price. I have a steel bike.

A longer frame is more comfortable. You will find those in "touring" bikes. The elegant long-curving rake in the fork is actually a spring to absorb shock. Touring bikes also have longer chainstays. You give up rear triangle stiffness, though, so the bike will not be as efficient and will not take hills as quickly. Your pedaling energy will actually be wasted in the springiness of the frame (!).

The last comment about comfort is that I would get "biggish" tires like 28mm wide. 23mm and such are for people obsessed with saving weight. I don't race, and I don't care. Ask the bike shop if they can switch to wider tires when the bike is delivered. Sheldon Brown, the prophet of this forum, recommends getting a saddle with springs unless you are weight-obsessed. Padded gloves and padded bike shorts make for a comfortable day of riding too. The gel shorts get kind of sticky, though. They don't breath.

[Wickerman]

7. Good info, thanks

I have heard the aluminum frames can get fatiguing for the reasons you described. Any thoughts on what the trend is with the new bikes, add a carbon fiber front fork and seatpost to absorb a lot of the shock?

Glad you said that about the shorts, makes sense but I sure hadn't thought of it. :hi:

[Kolesar]

8. "Everybody is buying carbon forks"

I put it in quotes because I think there is a certain trendiness here. Carbon absorbs shock excellently also. Carbon can also be designed so that it flexes more in one direction than the other, so the fork can be designed as an ersatz shock absorber. That is way cool. If great shock absorption can be designed into a fork without making the rake as extreme (that curve in the fork), then the head tube angle can be made steeper. That means a more responsive and more stable bike. A winner all around! You will pay a bit more, but carbon fork prices have come way down.

I was last bike shopping in 2000, so a carbon fork was not in my budget. I cannot really tell you what brands are good. I recall reading the voluminous data at www.bicycling.com . Since Bicycling Magazine is very purchase-oriented (buy-cycling), you ought to be able to find product descriptions there.

Personally, I don't think a carbon fork is a must-have feature if you are on a budget, though.

[BiggJawn]

9. In the last "Rivendell Reader"

Carbon forks were discussed, and it was stated that CF forks do not absorb shock or vibration because they do not deflect.

I have reliabliity issues with CF, not because I think it's un-reliable, but because with steel, you get a little (sometimes a lot) of warning before everything goes to Hell in a Handbasket, whereas with CF, one second you're straddling the Latest and Greatest, the next second you're straddling a cloud of charcoal dust...

Also, the idea that a flexible steel frame soaks up power is more marketing than fact. The frame flexes,true enough, but that "lost" power is stored and returned to the road somehow. If the frame actually absorbed your power, it would have to dissapate that power as heat, and I've never read or heard about someone having their paint scorch on a hard uphill or a time-trial.

[Kolesar]

12. I will defer to your comments on carbon fiber

You are more well read than I. Having read that, I would conclude that carbon is an inadequate replacement for steel.

As for stiff-rear-triangles, I replaced my 1989 Nashbar commodity-bike with a 2001 Bianchi Eros that featured a "zero-flex rear triangle". It had chainstays that were shorter by perhaps an inch and was a "better" frame design all around. (The down tube has this elaborate cross section that changes through four variations of cross section from oval to squared from the head tube to the bottom bracket).

I can just tell the Bianchi frame is better when I am pedaling hard (on hills). I did back to back times of my commute to work and cut 3 minutes off a 25 minute commute. The better wheels may have had some effect.

As for losing energy to springiness, one would intuitively think that if you "store" some energy in the springiness of the rear triangle when you push the pedal, that the energy would be returned to the drive train an instant later. I have a hunch that the energy may actually dissipate by flexing in another direction or by transforming into a resonance that just echoes around the frame until it dissipates.

Let my hypothesize on the physics of lost energy that turns into heat. If I lost a tenth of the quarter horsepower that I can continuously deliver, I would be losing about 20 watts, or approximately the heat of three night light bulbs--all absorbed into my frame. No wonder my water bottles get hot!

[happyslug]

10. Thought about building your own?

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=130&subcategory=1176&brand=&sku=11723&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

$199 just for the frame is not a bad price if you want ot build yur own and can use a 50 or 52 cm Frame.

[Wickerman]

11. that is a steal

but I require a 54 to 55. I've considered building my own, however its much more precision than when I used to build and rebuild my old Schwinn. Between headset presses and bearing presses and threadless nut setters I don't think I can afford to build my own. Yikes! Don't think my skills have kept up with the technology.

[wtmusic]

13. I have Specialized Allez and a Trek 5000

and I love both of them.

The Trek is almost $2000 but check out others with part aluminum/part carbon frames:

http://www2.trekbikes.com/Bikes/Road/Performance_Road/OCLV_Carbon-ZR_9000/2100_WSD/index.php

[Gregorian]

14. If it were me, I'd ask over at Roadbikereview.com

That is where the guys who own shops go. At least that's the case over at Mtbr.com. And it's a lot of the same people at both places.

Funny, I still have the professional bike I got in 1969 or so, and when I bought a chain and freewheel and two sets of tires for my mountain bike a couple of days ago, it cost more than my old bike did.

You know, that brings me to thinking that you might make your decision, and then run over to ebay and see if you can get a deal.

Good luck. Sorry I am not able to give advice on a bike directly.