Buying my first road bike - putting road tyres on a CX bike?



GlobeRunner

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Apr 17, 2013
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I'm new to cycling (although not new to sports - running my first marathon this weekend) and am really excited at the prospect of getting out on the road.
I've been looking around for an Entry level road bike for about a month now, and one of the guys working at my LBS was extremely helpful and recommend the Scott Contessa Speedster series. After a bit of investigation, I had sort of decided on the Contessa 45 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/contessa-speedster-45-2013-womens-road-bike-ec042477
It was at the top end of my budget (£700) and for an entry bike, it seemed good value.
So, I went back to my LBS today with an ol' banger of a bike to trade in (hopefully it will find a good home!) and with the Contessa at the forefront of my mind.
I spoke to a different sales assistant who was unbelievably helpful and walked me through some of the bikes that suited what I was looking for - ideally something nippy, something I can build up my mileage with and something that will also allow me to race since I'm going off to university in September and my Uni has a *fantastic* road racing club.
The guy I spoke to ran me through all the entry road bikes in the shop (including a couple of Scotts and a kooky looking Genesis), but then he came up with a wacky idea.
A few weeks ago they had a customer who asked if they could bring in the new Moda Legato cyclocross and tweak it for her a bit. It's a 48/49 cm frame and basically, the sale fell through and she bailed on them, leaving them with this small framed bike and no owner. The guy suggested throwing some road tyres on it, a new chainset that would suit the road (I think he mentioned the Shimano Ultegra) and selling it to me for £700 (!!) because they just can't shift it (it retails for £1500, which is definitely in a completely different price bracket to my budget).
We were chatting about the differences between the Scott Contessa and the Legato (that would be modifed) and he said that the differences would be beneficial if there were any. The Scott weighs in around the 21lb mark and the Legato around 18 lbs once it's been tweaked.
My (very long winded) question is - has anyone else had any experience of tinkering with a CX bike? I'm just looking for a second opinion because racing is definitely something I'm very interested in doing at Uni and I want to make the correct decision now rather than being lured in by an incredible deal when there's something else that would suit me better. However the sales assistant did mention that once I get used to drop handlebars and am more comfortable on the bike there's always the option of changing or tweaking the handlebars to allow a more aggressive riding position.
I'm going back tomorrow to test ride the Legato and a Genesis Volante 20 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/volant-20-2013-road-bike-ec043738. After briefly sitting on the Legato this morning it felt very comfortable, so I suppose I'll find out how they fit and feel tomorrow.
If you've managed to reach the end of this post, I salute you! Thanks for taking the time read through my ramblings.
 

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