R
Roger Zoul
Guest
Get a trek.
Steve Sr. wrote:
|| Well, I have finally decided that I need to get a lighter weight bike
|| so that I can start to be able to keep up with some of the faster
|| folks on club and shop rides.
||
|| I am currently using a Cannondale T2000 as an all-purpose road bike.
|| It was originally bought mostly for commuting so it has fenders, rear
|| rack, and front handlebar bag. I made the mistake of putting it on
|| the bathroom scale once and it topped out at about 38 pounds with
|| full water bottles.
||
|| Anyway, I'm in the market for a lighter weight regular road bike and
|| would like some feedback on possible options. Cost is a consideration
|| but not an overriding one.
||
||
|| Here are the things that I want to have on the new bike:
||
|| 1. The frame material I am leaning toward is TI. I have found that
|| the Cannondale aluminum is pretty stiff and produces a pretty bumpy
|| ride despite the wider tires. I am leaning away from carbon as too
|| expensive and maybe not rugged enough and steel as too heavy. You can
|| correct me if I'm wrong here. I wouldn't mind having the braze-ons
|| for adding a rear rack for credit card touring.
||
|| 2. Tripple front crank with 170mm crank arms. I have a 29" inseam and
|| the 170s seemed to make my legs much happier. The Cannondale
|| originally had 175s.
||
|| 3. Wide range cogs in the back but not quite as wide as the 11-34 on
|| the Cannondale. Something like 12-27 would probably be good
|| compromise. This may dictate a wide range (i.e. mountain) deraileur.
||
|| 4. Shimano 9 speed drive train if still available. 10 speed if not. I
|| don't really see a need for an extra gear and the T2000 is also 9
|| speed so I have a source of emergency replacement parts..
||
|| 5. Shimano components. Ultegra minimum. I don't want to start a
|| Shimano/Campy war here but I already have the tools to work on
|| Shimano.
||
|| 6. Sealed bearing hubs in the wheels. I'm tired of repacking
|| bearings. They don't have to necessarily be cartridge bearings but
|| should be sealed well enough to prevent water and dirt from getting
|| in during a ride in the rain or a hosing off cleaning.
||
|| 7. Micro-adjust seatpost. I really like the Thompson seatpost that
|| came with the Cannondale.
||
|| 8. Brooks leather saddle.
||
|| 9. I'm open for suggestions on wheels. It seems that there are too
|| many choices out there. I'm looking for light weight / reliable.
||
||
|| Here are the things that I don't want:
||
|| 1. Anything that falls into the category of "stupid light" I am
|| currently riding about 3-4K miles a year and would like the bike to
|| last many years.
||
|| 2. "twitchy" road race handling. The bike should be stable enough to
|| ride "no hands" for short distances.
||
|| Based on this very particular "wish list" it seems that it amost
|| might be better to buy a frame and then build the bike up from
|| scratch. I am mechanically inclined enough to accomplish this. The
|| issue then becomes finding and procuring all of the necessary parts
|| at decent prices. I don't know how big of a hit in cost I'd take
|| doing it this way versus changing parts out on a new "stock" bike.
||
|| As always thanks for your insight and suggestions.
||
||
|| Regards,
||
|| Steve Sr.
Steve Sr. wrote:
|| Well, I have finally decided that I need to get a lighter weight bike
|| so that I can start to be able to keep up with some of the faster
|| folks on club and shop rides.
||
|| I am currently using a Cannondale T2000 as an all-purpose road bike.
|| It was originally bought mostly for commuting so it has fenders, rear
|| rack, and front handlebar bag. I made the mistake of putting it on
|| the bathroom scale once and it topped out at about 38 pounds with
|| full water bottles.
||
|| Anyway, I'm in the market for a lighter weight regular road bike and
|| would like some feedback on possible options. Cost is a consideration
|| but not an overriding one.
||
||
|| Here are the things that I want to have on the new bike:
||
|| 1. The frame material I am leaning toward is TI. I have found that
|| the Cannondale aluminum is pretty stiff and produces a pretty bumpy
|| ride despite the wider tires. I am leaning away from carbon as too
|| expensive and maybe not rugged enough and steel as too heavy. You can
|| correct me if I'm wrong here. I wouldn't mind having the braze-ons
|| for adding a rear rack for credit card touring.
||
|| 2. Tripple front crank with 170mm crank arms. I have a 29" inseam and
|| the 170s seemed to make my legs much happier. The Cannondale
|| originally had 175s.
||
|| 3. Wide range cogs in the back but not quite as wide as the 11-34 on
|| the Cannondale. Something like 12-27 would probably be good
|| compromise. This may dictate a wide range (i.e. mountain) deraileur.
||
|| 4. Shimano 9 speed drive train if still available. 10 speed if not. I
|| don't really see a need for an extra gear and the T2000 is also 9
|| speed so I have a source of emergency replacement parts..
||
|| 5. Shimano components. Ultegra minimum. I don't want to start a
|| Shimano/Campy war here but I already have the tools to work on
|| Shimano.
||
|| 6. Sealed bearing hubs in the wheels. I'm tired of repacking
|| bearings. They don't have to necessarily be cartridge bearings but
|| should be sealed well enough to prevent water and dirt from getting
|| in during a ride in the rain or a hosing off cleaning.
||
|| 7. Micro-adjust seatpost. I really like the Thompson seatpost that
|| came with the Cannondale.
||
|| 8. Brooks leather saddle.
||
|| 9. I'm open for suggestions on wheels. It seems that there are too
|| many choices out there. I'm looking for light weight / reliable.
||
||
|| Here are the things that I don't want:
||
|| 1. Anything that falls into the category of "stupid light" I am
|| currently riding about 3-4K miles a year and would like the bike to
|| last many years.
||
|| 2. "twitchy" road race handling. The bike should be stable enough to
|| ride "no hands" for short distances.
||
|| Based on this very particular "wish list" it seems that it amost
|| might be better to buy a frame and then build the bike up from
|| scratch. I am mechanically inclined enough to accomplish this. The
|| issue then becomes finding and procuring all of the necessary parts
|| at decent prices. I don't know how big of a hit in cost I'd take
|| doing it this way versus changing parts out on a new "stock" bike.
||
|| As always thanks for your insight and suggestions.
||
||
|| Regards,
||
|| Steve Sr.