Advice on bicycle purchase

Hello, I'm trying to help my brother out buying a bike. Unfortunately, the only market I know very
well is mid to high end racing bikes. He is in the Coast Guard and looking for something to take on
the boat and around ports of call. This means the bike needs to be made of non corrosive materials
(alluminum, titanium, or carbon fiber I suppose). He is on a budget, so I guess this means he'll be
riding alluminum. He's also told me he wants a drop bar bike (similar to a racer), but wouldn't mind
having down tube shifters. He also wants regular pedals, ie. not clipless. We're trying to keep the
budget ~ $500, but this is kind of flexible if you just can't buy quality for that price. So, this
limits the components to Sora, Tiagra, or 105. What's the difference? I'm really only familiar with
Ultegra and Dura Ace. Any recomendations on groupos and/or bikes? Thanks in advance, Boyd S.

 

"Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello, I'm trying to help my brother out buying a bike. Unfortunately, the only market I know very
> well is mid to high end racing bikes. He is in the Coast Guard and looking for something to take
> on the boat and around ports of call. This means the bike needs to be made of
non
> corrosive materials (alluminum, titanium, or carbon fiber I suppose). He is on a budget, so I
> guess this means he'll be riding alluminum. He's
also
> told me he wants a drop bar bike (similar to a racer), but wouldn't mind having down tube
> shifters. He also wants regular pedals, ie. not
clipless.
> We're trying to keep the budget ~ $500, but this is kind of flexible if
you
> just can't buy quality for that price. So, this limits the components to Sora, Tiagra, or 105.
> What's the difference? I'm really only familiar with Ultegra and Dura Ace. Any recomendations on
> groupos and/or bikes? Thanks in advance, Boyd S.

Rei sells a line called novara, i remember seeing a commuter bike on their showroom a while ago that
may fit your needs. but at that price point a lot of small parts are going to corrode soon in such
an environment, so he may expect a couple of trips to his LBS or home depot for some tidbits sooner
than later .

 

Boyd: Sounds like the used bike market will be the best place, given the price range and a
willingness to use downtube shifters. You ought to be able to get a fairly nice used bike for that
price, since just about everybody is looking for STI (brake/shift) levers, so downtube shifter bikes
don't command a very high price.

I wouldn't worry so much about the corrosive issue with steel, providing you stay away from the more
exotic formulations, which tend to rust very quickly. For example, I wouldn't even consider a bike
made from Reynolds 853 for use on a ship, since it oxidizes *very* rapidly when the paint chips, and
the tubes are so thin that it doesn't take much to create a worrisome issue. But a standard steel
frame, protected internally with something like Framesaver (runs about $13 for a can, which you coat
the inside of the tubes with) should work out quite well.

Having said all that about used bikes, there are new bikes running around $550 that are quite nice,
including the TREK 1000 that we sell. Aluminum frame & fork, mostly Sora components, decent wheels,
etc. The biggest advantage to buying new would be getting properly fit and being able to get
something in the right size. Those aren't insignificant issues, and could tilt the scale in favor of
a new bike. But, if you're confident about getting him properly fit yourself, and he really doesn't
mind downtube levers, there could be some really nice deals on used bikes out there.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReaction.com

"Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Xns[email protected]...
> Hello, I'm trying to help my brother out buying a bike. Unfortunately, the only market I know very
> well is mid to high end racing bikes. He is in the Coast Guard and looking for something to take
> on the boat and around ports of call. This means the bike needs to be made of
non
> corrosive materials (alluminum, titanium, or carbon fiber I suppose). He is on a budget, so I
> guess this means he'll be riding alluminum. He's
also
> told me he wants a drop bar bike (similar to a racer), but wouldn't mind having down tube
> shifters. He also wants regular pedals, ie. not
clipless.
> We're trying to keep the budget ~ $500, but this is kind of flexible if
you
> just can't buy quality for that price. So, this limits the components to Sora, Tiagra, or 105.
> What's the difference? I'm really only familiar with Ultegra and Dura Ace. Any recomendations on
> groupos and/or bikes? Thanks in advance, Boyd S.

 

mary wrote:
> "Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Hello, I'm trying to help my brother out buying a bike. Unfortunately, the only market I know very
>>well is mid to high end racing bikes. He is in the Coast Guard and looking for something to take
>>on the boat and around ports of call. This means the bike needs to be made of
>
> non
>
>>corrosive materials (alluminum, titanium, or carbon fiber I suppose). He is on a budget, so I
>>guess this means he'll be riding alluminum. He's
>
> also
>
>>told me he wants a drop bar bike (similar to a racer), but wouldn't mind having down tube
>>shifters. He also wants regular pedals, ie. not
>
> clipless.
>
>>We're trying to keep the budget ~ $500, but this is kind of flexible if
>
> you
>
>>just can't buy quality for that price. So, this limits the components to Sora, Tiagra, or 105.
>>What's the difference? I'm really only familiar with Ultegra and Dura Ace. Any recomendations on
>>groupos and/or bikes? Thanks in advance, Boyd S.
>
>
> Rei sells a line called novara, i remember seeing a commuter bike on their showroom a while ago
> that may fit your needs. but at that price point a lot of small parts are going to corrode soon in
> such an environment, so he may expect a couple of trips to his LBS or home depot for some tidbits
> sooner than later .

My brother used to live near the ocean (scuba diver) and sprayed his bike with wd40 regularly to
keep corrosion to a minimum -- may work?

David