Replacing a custom Paramount OS

Quoted message said:

Mid summer of 2005 I posted a few questions regarding the upgrade of my
Paramount OS vs. purchasing a new ride. After many Q&A's with anyone who
would talk to me, I decided to buy. I test rode several carbon bikes and
was
very close to pulling the trigger on a Madone 5.2 SL. In the end, I
decided
not to spend $3600-3800 as it was now mid-late September and I thought it
foolish to drop that much cake and pretty much store the bike until April
2006.

I am now starting my search again. I've decided not to go carbon, too $$$
for me. I ride ~100 miles a week in a recreational, but with a
competitive
group. I am 6' and weigh 168-170. I am not uber-aggressive, but can keep
up
with the leaders without too much trouble. I would be most interested in
opinions, ideas and any recommendations. Of course, I know I need to take
test rides, but I was hoping to get some info prior to starting that phase
of my search. Someone recommended the newer Aluminum frames as tight,
responsive, and much more comfortable than their first generation of
cousins. My budget is approx. $2500-2800.

Well, the totally-biased salesperson in me would suggest that you can test
ride a whole lot of bikes but it will be very tough to beat the 5.2SL you
rode. In our shop, that's our "category killer"- a bike that offers 98% of
what the $5000 bikes have, including the exact same frame as the 5.9SL,
which, if you bought it separately, runs $3000 by itself. It's a very
strange anomaly (which, unfortunately, will be corrected down the road). If
your budget is $2500-$2800, you're awfully close to what I consider the
ultimate $3k bike (if you can find a 2005; the 2005 runs about $3300).

But keep in mind this opinion comes from somebody who is the largest Trek
carbon dealer in the country.

There are many other great choices too. You could spend a bit less and get a
5200 (still in the Trek line), and, of course, you'll find other temptations
at other dealers. Test ride them and see what you think. You might find this
article on our website helpful-

www.ChainReaction.com/roadbiketestrides.htm

It's one of the few pieces on our website that's entirely brand & material
neutral, so it works no matter what you're looking at. It will also help you
to evaluate the different shops, which can often be a more important aspect
of the bike-buying decision than the bike itself.

Good luck-

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Dear Hans,

I was in a bike shop today. They had a new Trek carbon-frame bike
built in Taiwan with Ultegra group. The whoile thing was $1699. Mike
the shop rat told me that he checked the alignment on the frames and
they were way better than the made-in-USA carbon frames (some of which
he sent back, they were so far off.) I think the model number was
1600.

My own feeling about this sort of thing is go for the best, or else
find a good utilitarian, no-nonsense alternative. The best would be
something like the Calfee Dragonfly. For the alternative, the Taiwan
carbon fiber frame might be pretty good.

jn

Quoted message said:

I was in a bike shop today. They had a new Trek carbon-frame bike
built in Taiwan with Ultegra group. The whoile thing was $1699. Mike
the shop rat told me that he checked the alignment on the frames and
they were way better than the made-in-USA carbon frames (some of which
he sent back, they were so far off.) I think the model number was
1600.

The shop rat may have an unusual way of determining frame alignment if
that's what he or she found. The Discovery (former US Postal) team gets
off-the-rack frames and, as far as I know, they haven't sent frames back for
alignment issues. Over the past 14 years (as long as the OCLV has been in
production), we've probably seen 5-10 that had to go back for some form of
alignment problem, and that's out of well over 5000 that we've sold in that
period of time. The manner in which the frame is built allows for the oval
chain stays to be rotated a small amount off center, which can cause one
chainstay to appear close to the tire than the other... which can mistakenly
be interpreted as a frame alignment issue. That's not to say every frame is
perfect. It's that real-world thing, and once in a while we find an issue
that requires sending one back.

The model# for the import bike is the 5000, by the way. Not aware of a 1600
model, but that might be something sold overseas?

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dear Hans,

I was in a bike shop today. They had a new Trek carbon-frame bike
built in Taiwan with Ultegra group. The whoile thing was $1699. Mike
the shop rat told me that he checked the alignment on the frames and
they were way better than the made-in-USA carbon frames (some of which
he sent back, they were so far off.) I think the model number was
1600.

My own feeling about this sort of thing is go for the best, or else
find a good utilitarian, no-nonsense alternative. The best would be
something like the Calfee Dragonfly. For the alternative, the Taiwan
carbon fiber frame might be pretty good.

jn

Hans Castorp said:

Dear All,

A bit of back story first:

Mid summer of 2005 I posted a few questions regarding the upgrade of my
Paramount OS vs. purchasing a new ride. After many Q&A's with anyone who
would talk to me, I decided to buy. I test rode several carbon bikes and was
very close to pulling the trigger on a Madone 5.2 SL. In the end, I decided
not to spend $3600-3800 as it was now mid-late September and I thought it
foolish to drop that much cake and pretty much store the bike until April
2006.

I am now starting my search again. I've decided not to go carbon, too $$$
for me. I ride ~100 miles a week in a recreational, but with a competitive
group. I am 6' and weigh 168-170. I am not uber-aggressive, but can keep up
with the leaders without too much trouble. I would be most interested in
opinions, ideas and any recommendations. Of course, I know I need to take
test rides, but I was hoping to get some info prior to starting that phase
of my search. Someone recommended the newer Aluminum frames as tight,
responsive, and much more comfortable than their first generation of
cousins. My budget is approx. $2500-2800.

Thank you-

AF

Go see a Waterford dealer and look at a R-14-$1300 for the frame, add a
carbon fork and a Centaur group and it will be a sweet and light ride
with all the advantages of steel.

Hans Castorp said:

Dear All,

A bit of back story first:

Mid summer of 2005 I posted a few questions regarding the upgrade of my
Paramount OS vs. purchasing a new ride. After many Q&A's with anyone who
would talk to me, I decided to buy. I test rode several carbon bikes and
was very close to pulling the trigger on a Madone 5.2 SL. In the end, I
decided not to spend $3600-3800 as it was now mid-late September and I
thought it foolish to drop that much cake and pretty much store the bike
until April 2006.

I am now starting my search again. I've decided not to go carbon, too
$$$ for me. I ride ~100 miles a week in a recreational, but with a
competitive group. I am 6' and weigh 168-170. I am not uber-aggressive,
but can keep up with the leaders without too much trouble. I would be
most interested in opinions, ideas and any recommendations. Of course, I
know I need to take test rides, but I was hoping to get some info prior
to starting that phase of my search. Someone recommended the newer
Aluminum frames as tight, responsive, and much more comfortable than
their first generation of cousins. My budget is approx. $2500-2800.

First, material makes no difference with respect to comfort. The most
important thing is fit. If a new bike fits you better than your old one
it will be more comfortable. You could also put some effort into making
your old bike fit better. OTOH, buying everything together as a bike is
cheaper than buying a bunch of parts, and has better resale value.

You can also mitigate the cost of a new bike by selling your old one.
Paramounts are sought after by fans and collectors, and bring better
prices than similar bikes.

As far as material goes, durability and damage resistance are well worth
considering. Very lightweight aluminum frames have very thin tubes which
dent easily, and cannot be repaired. I have such a bike and I have to be
very careful that it doesn't get knocked over, etc. Steel is more damage
resistant, but the lightest steel bikes are pretty thin too. For very
lightweight bikes, carbon is probably the toughest. Believe it or not,
it can be repaired easily too. The less expensive Ti frames have straight
guage tubing which is fairly dent resistant, perhaps better than a steel
frame of similar weight. Another nice thing about Ti is the bare metal
finish. Scratches can be buffed out, so you don't have to worry about
scratching your finish.

Finally, consider tire clearance, and perhaps having enough clearance for
fenders, as well as eyelets to attach them. Many "race" bikes these days
won't take tires larger than 23mm. There's no good reason for this, yet
the practice persists. Not only does it prevent your using fatter tires
for comfort on bad roads, it will prevent your wheel from turning if it
ever gets the slightest bit out of true. Break a spoke on a ride and
you're stuck. A friend just bought a lovely Scott CR1, and it won't even
take a 25mm Michelin Pro2 Race.

A new frame is (or should be) a long term investment. So these practical
matters deserve some consideration.

Matt O.

keep the paramount!

"Hans Castorp" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dear All,

A bit of back story first:

Mid summer of 2005 I posted a few questions regarding the upgrade of my
Paramount OS vs. purchasing a new ride. After many Q&A's with anyone who
would talk to me, I decided to buy. I test rode several carbon bikes and
was
very close to pulling the trigger on a Madone 5.2 SL. In the end, I
decided
not to spend $3600-3800 as it was now mid-late September and I thought it
foolish to drop that much cake and pretty much store the bike until April
2006.

I am now starting my search again. I've decided not to go carbon, too $$$
for me. I ride ~100 miles a week in a recreational, but with a
competitive
group. I am 6' and weigh 168-170. I am not uber-aggressive, but can keep
up
with the leaders without too much trouble. I would be most interested in
opinions, ideas and any recommendations. Of course, I know I need to take
test rides, but I was hoping to get some info prior to starting that phase
of my search. Someone recommended the newer Aluminum frames as tight,
responsive, and much more comfortable than their first generation of
cousins. My budget is approx. $2500-2800.

Thank you-

AF

dookie said:

keep the paramount!

Really! Or sell it to me.

Tom

Hans Castorp said:

...My budget is approx. $2500-2800.

From my point of view, one of the largest differences between a new
bike and a used bike is the lack of a warranty on the frame. OTOH,
the frames produced today (with a few exceptions) are all much more
likely to succumb to an unwarrantable collision than an actual defect,
so that's not really as much of an issue as it might seem. Thus, I
would counsel looking beyond just new bikes, and in any event, haste
in acquisition seems imprudent; if you're already keeping up the
leaders in your group without much trouble, then the Paramount seems
to be doing the job. Overall, I'd say that it's wiser to stuff the
cash in a place where it can collect interest for as much as another
year, and keep an eye peeled for a real bargain, such as a used bike
of the right size that's three or four years past the point of being
uber-new-fashionable, is well proven, and is selling for (perhaps less
than) half the price of a new one. This also potentially obviates the
need to rework the misfeatures common on new bikes at the moment, such
as negotiating to get durable wheels instead of the low-spoke-count
bling that's usually standard. Let someone else pay for the
depreciation and the proving; shiny-new isn't likely to make *you*
faster.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

What might I get selling my Paramount? Let's assume it is in great shape.

"[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

dookie said:

keep the paramount!

Really! Or sell it to me.

Tom

In article
<[email hidden]>,

ASF said:

What might I get selling my Paramount? Let's assume it is in great shape.

Do not top post. Ask at rec.bicycles.marketplace.

--
Michael Press

ASF said:

What might I get selling my Paramount? Let's assume it is in great shape.

It depends a lot on what components are on it. You can look on Ebay
(in the completed listings) for similar items. Check that once a week
for the next couple months and you should have a good idea.

But the Paramount is a fine steel bike. The OS is from the early 90s
and probably the least desirable of a desirable brand. Still a quality
bike. It's sort of like someone who owns a 72 Corvette deciding that
he wants to ditch it for a brand new Mustang.

Tom