Need help on purchasing a road bike

[caideN]

Hi everyone, I am new and need some help. I've been riding a lot lately with cheap mountain bikes and I hate how it was heavy and hard to ride. Bur now i am going to purchase a road bike that fits me, I'm 17 years old 5.8 in height and weigh about 135lb. I'm not sure what to get because i am completly new to road biking. I have a budget between $300 - $500 USD. I really dont mind if its new or used since I'm new. Can anyone please recommend some bikes or some good sites where I can purchase my first bike?

Thanks everyone.

 

[mongooseboy]

Im new to road biking as well, and I will say ive been very satisfied with my Specialized Allez triple. the extra chainring helps me get up hills (bit overweight here) and it only cost me 524 closeout brand new in October '06. Im about the same height, and im riding a 54cm frame.

Trek also has some very nice bikes out, but for some reason specialized catch my eye more as far as road bikes are concerned. You should be able to pick up a good used bike in the 3-500 range pretty easily, however i almost guarantee its gonna be 8-speed, not 9 or 10 as the current ones are. unless you plan on racing, it probably wont matter. Might want to make sure the front fork is carbon fiber, it will help soak up the bumps better than an aluminum fork. i was shocked how nice the ride on my bike is, being used to mountain bikes with suspension forks.

Find a local bike shop that treats you well. My bike shop is about 25-30 miles away, its the closest, but they treat me exceptionally well. They care about what I want, not what they want to sell me, and thats the most important thing. Your gonna pay a bit more for the service, but its worth it. Tenfold.

good luck, and keep spinning

 

[caideN]

thanks mongooseboy any more advice? i'm still looking for a good looking road bike with over 20 speed so i can ride up easy.

 

[Triode12]

Hi everyone, I am new and need some help. I've been riding a lot lately with cheap mountain bikes and I hate how it was heavy and hard to ride. Bur now i am going to purchase a road bike that fits me, I'm 17 years old 5.8 in height and weigh about 135lb. I'm not sure what to get because i am completly new to road biking. I have a budget between $300 - $500 USD. I really dont mind if its new or used since I'm new. Can anyone please recommend some bikes or some good sites where I can purchase my first bike?

Thanks everyone.

Your budget is pretty low for a new "decent" road bike but is possible if you buy last years bikes (and now is a good time to get them as it is the end of the model year). A bike in your price range is the Giant OCR3.

However, a better idea is to get a midrange steel bike from the mid 1980s to early 1990s.These bikes go for AUD300-700 on Ebay and don't weigh much more than a new but low end Alu bike (about 8.5-10kg). When you are on the bike, you won't feel the difference in weight that much anyway.

If you want to go this route, you should look for frames with double butted or triple butted tubing made by the following tube manufacturers: Columbus, Reynolds, Tange, Ishiwata, True Temper. Generally, the majority of bikes from this era were made in Japan and of excellent quality. e.g. some of the National/Panasonic (Yes the Panasonic of the electronics manufacturer Matshushita) bikes with flawless welds, were made in large robot factories like those that make cars .

These older steel bikes will give a more comfy ride over the current Alu bikes and you have the option of upgrading the components when you get better.

The first stop would be to get an idea of the size of the bike you should buy.
The competitive cyclist's fit calculator is a good place to start:

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO