Advice on Bike Purchase: Racing, Distance, Rec.

[Sykospark]

Hi all! After extensively going through this ng and rec.bicycles.racing, I have decided to post my
inquiry to this ng.

I am looking to purchase a new bike. I have a low level Trek 400 series for trail biking, but it is
street biking that has my heart.

My street bike is a 12 year old Schwinn. I love her, but time to retire her due to my new needs.

I am looking to get into bike racing, and also do a lot of long distance biking. I am very lucky to
be near some amazing cycle stores in Massachusetts (North of Boston), but don't want to saunter into
any of them without any prior knowledge of what to look for.

I am willing to purchase a durable bike for long distance and Intro to Racing needs, and if I get
very serious about the racing, then purchase a seperate bike for that.

So what do you all recommend?

Thank you very much!!! sykospark

 

[??]

hi "sykospark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all! After extensively going through this ng and rec.bicycles.racing, I have decided to post my
> inquiry to this ng.
>
> I am looking to purchase a new bike. I have a low level Trek 400 series for trail biking, but it
> is street biking that has my heart.
>
> My street bike is a 12 year old Schwinn. I love her, but time to retire her due to my new needs.
>
> I am looking to get into bike racing, and also do a lot of long distance biking. I am very lucky
> to be near some amazing cycle stores in Massachusetts (North of Boston), but don't want to saunter
> into any of them without any prior knowledge of what to look for.
>
> I am willing to purchase a durable bike for long distance and Intro to Racing needs, and if I get
> very serious about the racing, then purchase a seperate bike for that.
>
> So what do you all recommend?
>
> Thank you very much!!! sykospark

 

[Archer]

You might look into Specialized's Sequoiah series. The Expert and Elite (the top two models) both
have STI groups (105 on the Expert, and I'm not sure of the model on the Elite). They are marketed
as comfortable performance bikes, about $1100 for the Expert and $1500 (IIRC) for the Elite.

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> Hi all! After extensively going through this ng and rec.bicycles.racing, I have decided to post my
> inquiry to this ng.
>
> I am looking to purchase a new bike. I have a low level Trek 400 series for trail biking, but it
> is street biking that has my heart.
>
> My street bike is a 12 year old Schwinn. I love her, but time to retire her due to my new needs.
>
> I am looking to get into bike racing, and also do a lot of long distance biking. I am very lucky
> to be near some amazing cycle stores in Massachusetts (North of Boston), but don't want to saunter
> into any of them without any prior knowledge of what to look for.
>
> I am willing to purchase a durable bike for long distance and Intro to Racing needs, and if I get
> very serious about the racing, then purchase a seperate bike for that.
>
> So what do you all recommend?
>
> Thank you very much!!! sykospark
>

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

 

[Jon Isaacs]

>I am looking to get into bike racing, and also do a lot of long distance biking. I am very lucky to
>be near some amazing cycle stores in Massachusetts (North of Boston), but don't want to saunter
>into any of them without any prior knowledge of what to look for.

A good shop should be able to provide you with far more information that I could. Most important
thing is finding that shop.

Two steps:

1. Check out www.sheldonbrown.com Just about anything you might want to know about bicycles is
posted there.

2. Head for Harris Cyclery, Home of Sheldon Brown

Thats what i would do.

Jon Isaacs

 

[Pbwalther]

Bikes are different from cars. You buy a Honda, it has a honda engine, a honda body, a honda well
you get the idea.

With bikes, the manufacturer generally only makes the frame. They buy the components from component
manufactures like Campy and Shimano. So you can often find say a Bianchi, Trek, and Cannondale with
extremely similar components. They differ pretty much only at the frame. The frame will probably
affect the "feel" of the ride to a certain degree but really the 3 bikes will be for practical
purposes be the same.

What is more important is to get a bike that suits your riding purposes and riding style and that
fits you properly. A good bike shop will see that that happens.

I wouldn't even presume to suggest a given bike. Many companies make fine bikes and which one you
chose is largely a matter of taste.

A friend of mine emphasized this by saying "The single most important thing about a bike is
its color".

That being said, if you want a performance bike, Shimano 105 is the "sweet spot" of the components.
You get nearly all of the performance without hitting nosebleed prices. However, a 105 equipped bike
will set you back over $1000. The next notch down on components is still quite rideable and even the
notch below that does pretty well.