advice on purchasing a new entry level roadie?



greenleprechaun

New Member
Jan 29, 2007
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G'day guys!

I am currently searching for a good entry level road bike (womens), around $1500 upto 2000. I know that i want 9-10 gear 105 componentry with triple chaining, however don't know too much about frame specs, which is where the price difference comes in :confused:

I was out bike shopping today and was recommended the following:
LeMond tourmalet $1900
Avanti giro $1900 and vivace $1450
Anyone heard of the avanti vuelta ($1500)? i can't seem to find any good info on it.

Plan to continue searching in the coming weeks, but i was wondering if anyone had any advice on the above bikes, or could recommend others that are within a similar range.
What about others brands like fuji, scott, felt, cannondale?

Cheers, any info will be greatly appreciated :)
 
Hi

I have an Avanti San Remo Pro which has everything you want - 105, triple, 10 speed cassette etc. I am really happy with it. I am no expert so I can't comment on its frame spec's. Cost me just over $2000 with pedals, shoes, pump etc...

The Avanti models you mention above I though had double chain rings - but I haven't checked the Avanti site for sometime.

Good luck with your looking. Finding a triple may be a problem as they are less common - "real roadies" don't use triples. But, I must admit it has been handy to have the extra gearing on the odd occassion.

Regards
WD
 
There's a large cycle shop in Chatswood just outside Sydney, I've been in the shop a few times at the weekends looking at the mens Avanti's and Specialized stuff as I'm gonna purchase myself.

If I'm in again this weekend I'll check if they have that Vuelta, they did have about four or five womens road bikes in the Avanti section but I can't remember the models.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Well in that price range you realy should at least look at Giants. They may not be all 105 but they are good value for money and Giant makes good quality frames.

Given your username and desire for WSD I suspect that you are on the short side. If that's the case then getting good fit is going to be more important, and unfortunately more difficult and I would be looking at that first rather than component levels. If you are short then I would strongly reccomend that you look seriously at 650c wheeled bikes rather than XS 700c wheeled bikes and there are a few of them around. Giant, Trek and Cannondale all make entry level adult 650c bikes and I would be looking at the Giant inpaticular because it has a slightly more relaxed seat tube angle than the others. Avanti does make a 650c wheeled bike I believe but I think this is more aimed at the youth market but it could be worth a look.

For a reference I'm a 5' 1" male riding a custom 650c bike and my experienced opinion on this subject is that you would want to be 5' 4" and taller before 700c bikes would fit properly.

Regards, Anthony
 
Where do you live. Just thinking which shop to recommend in your area.


greenleprechaun said:
G'day guys!

I am currently searching for a good entry level road bike (womens), around $1500 upto 2000. I know that i want 9-10 gear 105 componentry with triple chaining, however don't know too much about frame specs, which is where the price difference comes in :confused:

I was out bike shopping today and was recommended the following:
LeMond tourmalet $1900
Avanti giro $1900 and vivace $1450
Anyone heard of the avanti vuelta ($1500)? i can't seem to find any good info on it.

Plan to continue searching in the coming weeks, but i was wondering if anyone had any advice on the above bikes, or could recommend others that are within a similar range.
What about others brands like fuji, scott, felt, cannondale?

Cheers, any info will be greatly appreciated :)
 
Have u considered compact chainrings? It might widen your bike options.

Also it might pay to ask if the shop will do the swap of parts from the double to a triple.
 
greenleprechaun said:
Avanti giro $1900 and vivace $1450
Anyone heard of the avanti vuelta ($1500)? i can't seem to find any good info on it.
Avanti Vuelta is the same frame as the Vivace (i.e. all aluminium), but has a 105 10s drive train. IIRC, the only part that is not 105 are the cranks/BB, which are OEM from FSA (not that big a deal, really). The main difference between the Vuelta and Giro is $400, and the carbon seat stays.

The 2007 Giro looks schweet in its straight white though!

n
 
Scotttri said:
Felt F85 is good for money ($1600) however its not a tripple
Not a triple, but a compact, so is almost as good range wise.

If you're in Melbourne, have a look at my favourite shop (other than buying from them, I have no interest in them).
They have Felt F80 (triple) for $1300: http://www.bikes.com.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?nav_top_id=58&nav_cat_id=341&art_id=1007

Scott Speedster S30 (either compact or triple) for $1600: http://www.bikes.com.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?nav_top_id=58&nav_cat_id=353&art_id=1067

I've got a 2005 Felt F70 and love it. It's a triple and because I live near hills, I use the granny gear a lot.
 
anthonyg said:
Given your username and desire for WSD I suspect that you are on the short side. If that's the case then getting good fit is going to be more important, and unfortunately more difficult and I would be looking at that first rather than component levels.
For a reference I'm a 5' 1" male riding a custom 650c bike and my experienced opinion on this subject is that you would want to be 5' 4" and taller before 700c bikes would fit properly.

Regards, Anthony
hahahaha, my name is a bit deceptive. i'm actually 5'6 but have been told to look for women's bikes for a better fit. although i'm finding the fit on most guys bikes comfy. cheers for all the info :)
 
thomas_cho said:
Have u considered compact chainrings? It might widen your bike options.

Also it might pay to ask if the shop will do the swap of parts from the double to a triple.
what are compact chainrings?
and i have asked about swapping double to triple, and most stores are happy to do so, just means increasing the price of it. if i can get a cheaper bike, i'd be happy to swap chainrings. i just think $2000 is my limit.
Cheers
 
FREDBLACK said:
Where do you live. Just thinking which shop to recommend in your area.
i live in melbourne. visited a few bikes shops specialising in avanti, specialised, fuji, ginant, trek and lemond. havn't seen any cannondale, felt's for the moment.
any info would be greatly appreciated! :rolleyes:
 
peterlip said:
Not a triple, but a compact, so is almost as good range wise.

If you're in Melbourne, have a look at my favourite shop (other than buying from them, I have no interest in them).
They have Felt F80 (triple) for $1300: http://www.bikes.com.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?nav_top_id=58&nav_cat_id=341&art_id=1007

Scott Speedster S30 (either compact or triple) for $1600: http://www.bikes.com.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?nav_top_id=58&nav_cat_id=353&art_id=1067

I've got a 2005 Felt F70 and love it. It's a triple and because I live near hills, I use the granny gear a lot.
they look good. thanks! hahaha, i think it's making my decision harder now, dont know which direction to go in!
 
greenleprechaun said:
hahahaha, my name is a bit deceptive. i'm actually 5'6 but have been told to look for women's bikes for a better fit. although i'm finding the fit on most guys bikes comfy. cheers for all the info :)
Well I'm 5'6", female, and I ride a men's bike so I reckon it's more a case of what fits best. You should try a WSD just for comparison purposes because you might actually find it works even better for you.
 
greenleprechaun said:
what are compact chainrings?
and i have asked about swapping double to triple, and most stores are happy to do so, just means increasing the price of it. if i can get a cheaper bike, i'd be happy to swap chainrings. i just think $2000 is my limit.
Cheers
Compact cranks have smaller chainrings on the front. Normally a double would have a 53 & 39 tooth (or close to) chainrings. Triples 53, 42 & 30.
A compact typically has a 50 & 34 tooth chainring. Because it's not as tall, you sometimes will have an 11 tooth gear on the rear as the smallest, instead of 12. This means it's roughly the same at the high end, with the benefit of smaller gearing at the other end.
The advantage is a bigger range of gears than a traditional double, almost as big as a triple without the extra weight.
The disadvantage is you will probably have bigger gaps in the rear cassette to keep the range of gears, so you can get caught in a gear that's too high, and the next one is too low. Not normally a problem, unless your on long non changing gradient where cadence (pedal rate) is constant.
 
greenleprechaun said:
what are compact chainrings?
and i have asked about swapping double to triple, and most stores are happy to do so, just means increasing the price of it. if i can get a cheaper bike, i'd be happy to swap chainrings. i just think $2000 is my limit.
Cheers
Well Peterlip already answered the question on what a compact crankset is. You can also use an online gear calculator to work out the ratios of gear combinations. eg a 36X27 combination will give u the same ratio as the 30X23. So if you went with a triple crank, and a 11-23 cassette, you could get the same low range with a compact crankset and a 12-27 cassette.

You will lose some high end speed with a compact, but you have to assess whether you will miss pedalling at 53X12 or not.

Why do you think you need a triple crankset? Do you need the gearing for hill climbing? or touring?
 
greenleprechaun said:
i live in melbourne. visited a few bikes shops specialising in avanti, specialised, fuji, ginant, trek and lemond. havn't seen any cannondale, felt's for the moment.
any info would be greatly appreciated! :rolleyes:


Well at 5' 6" you shouldn't have any major fit problems.

Honestly all these different brand bikes come out of the same few factories in Taiwan and the quality of all of them is high. Deal with a shop you feel comfortable with and offers good service.

Fit and comfort wise try and be sensitive to how much weight is on your saddle and how much you are placing on the handlbars. Are you comfortable with the reach forward or down to the handlebars? These issues are adjustable to a point but you need to start in the right ball park and it's prefferable to have most of your weight on the saddle/pedals and only a limmited amount of weight on your hands/shoulders.

Buy a bike that feels stable and avoid those that wander around. This is a little to do with quality control and whether the bike was built straight.

Regards, Anthony
 
Yep, just bought a Felt F80 from Melbourne Bicycle Centre in High St Prahran for $1,260! Ride it to work and love it! Have only had it for a couple of weeks now and it seems to go well. It has Shimano 105 so it's pretty good for the price.
 
I'll admit my bias right up front here - I just purchased at your price point so of course I think I got the best bike the money can buy - but here's my 0.2c worth...

I did a lot of research (I mean a lot - I'm stupidly anal about toy purchases - especially those that I'll spent lots of hours using!) and just couldn't find a better bike for the money than the Cell Triumph:

http://www.cellbikes.com.au/product.php?id=564

The thing that swung me to it in the end was the quality of the running gear for price. One shop in the Sydney (I won't name them 'cause they probably wouldnt want to be quoted without permission) said they can't buy the Shimano gear on the Cell bikes wholesale for what the bike is sold for - reason being (I think based on comments on forums) is that as a manufacturer Cell get Shimano gear at up to a 60% discount.

The others on my short list were the Giant OCR1, Felt F75 and Trek 1500 - with the Giant running a close second in the end. I've had it only a week and have clocked only 250kms odd so far but it's damn nice. The 105 group works really well and the geometry of suits me nicely - it's reasonably aggressive but I'm a big guy (6ft3 in the old scale) so I have lots of room to stretch out on it and go hard :)

Might be worth a look for you...

btw: To owners of the other bikes on my shortlist - I'm not dissing them in any way - they are all great bikes - the Cell just worked for me.
 
thomas_cho said:
Well Peterlip already answered the question on what a compact crankset is. You can also use an online gear calculator to work out the ratios of gear combinations. eg a 36X27 combination will give u the same ratio as the 30X23. So if you went with a triple crank, and a 11-23 cassette, you could get the same low range with a compact crankset and a 12-27 cassette.

You will lose some high end speed with a compact, but you have to assess whether you will miss pedalling at 53X12 or not.

Why do you think you need a triple crankset? Do you need the gearing for hill climbing? or touring?
hahaha, thats a bit confusing, but info very much appreciated!
i want the triple cranks beacuse i'm planning to do some events.. on my agenda is the great vic bike ride this year. so i want to have a big range of gearing if i need it. i guess buying a decent bike will give me alot of motivation to train with it for the event.