Schwinn Fastback Comp - Worth it?

[ace4779]

Hi,

I am new to road biking and am looking to purchase an entry-level road bike. Everything above the Sora component level has been explored from Giant OCR2, Trek 1200, Felt F80/70, Specialized Allez. I was at my LBS and I ran into a 2003 Schwinn Fastback Comp. My initial impression is that this was a great bang for the buck at $850 with full 105. Then I researched and saw that people were picking these up last fall for $700. Can anyone comment on this bike compared to the others in this range? I know this question is asked nearly daily, but I haven't seen the Fastback Comp discussed much with regards to this.

Thanks!

-Scott

 

[Wilson]

Originally posted by ace4779
Hi,

I am new to road biking and am looking to purchase an entry-level road bike. Everything above the Sora component level has been explored from Giant OCR2, Trek 1200, Felt F80/70, Specialized Allez. I was at my LBS and I ran into a 2003 Schwinn Fastback Comp. My initial impression is that this was a great bang for the buck at $850 with full 105. Then I researched and saw that people were picking these up last fall for $700. Can anyone comment on this bike compared to the others in this range? I know this question is asked nearly daily, but I haven't seen the Fastback Comp discussed much with regards to this.

Thanks!

-Scott

Yeah I got one for my wife back last year for $700 bucks at Supergo..great deal. I think the bike's really good for the money, compared to anything else. Since we got her a medium size I swapped out stems and jacked up the seatpost and found it pretty rideable for my 6' size. I checked it out for a couple of weeks and the biggest thing I noticed is that the Mavic cxp22/105 wheels suck. A good set of wheels, even in the $200-$300 range, would bring this around quite a bit further...the frame wants to accellerate but you can really feel the wheels holding it back If you're just starting out on a road bike you might not notice this, but trust me, the wheels aren't good. As soon as I get done building up and breaking my K2 mod 5.0 Dura Ace bike I'm gonna try the wheels I had made by Lyle at Spinlite on and I'll bet you that bike will jump.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

The FastBack Comp is a good "bang for the buck bike" as it is complete with the 105 gruppo for reasonable money. The only thing that would concern me is that Schwinn has been purchased by a large faceless corporation named Pacific Cycles. They have an absolute horrible reputation. They have screwed over many of the old time Schwinn dealers and they won't honor any GT bikes that were manufactured before the merger. That's just for starters.

A very similar bike would be the Raleigh Super Course.
http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=5&itemid=198&va=0

It also has the 105 components and is considered a good "bang for the buck" bike.