What to buy? Aluminum, Carbon, Titanium - or a combo?

[Nick-NH]

It's been almost 20 years since I bought my road bike and it's time for a new ride! My Cannondale, a 1986 62cm Criterium SR600 with the Ultegra of the day (and biopace chainrings which have since been replaced with round) is getting tired. Replacement parts are hard to find and I'm told that even Cannondales (CAAD7) with carbon forks have made great strides in smoothing the road. My question is what to get, considering my riding style. I'm a strong recreational rider. I'll do a few races this year of 50 or 60 miles and a few charity centuries - and all the training miles that make these possible. I enjoy hills - the steeper the better - and weigh in at 183 - height is 6'2". The new bike will have the 04 Dura Ace 10 - prob 12/25. Beyond this I'm somewhat at a loss - slightly overwhelmed by all the info out there! I'll be spending 3-5K on this and want to get something light, fast, comfortable on long new england rides, firm enough for steep climbing (I'm entering Mt Washington hill climb), and something that won't fracture in a basic fall like Lances Trek in stage 15. All ideas are appreciated, thanks!

 

[dorian]

I'm partial to Independent Fabrication because I have a steel crown jewel that is so sweet. The also do a lot of ti. You can do custom steel or ti with IF, Seven, Landshark, Moots just to name a few. I think you can even go custom with Lemond for a little extra. Calfee always seemed like some nice carbon. Based on a post on Fondriest bikes I checked out their website and they've got some really good prices through their direct buy program. I've always heard good things about Cannondale as far a being light, durable and smooth.

You've got a lot of options with that budget. I'd do some thorough investigation on roadbikereview, check out manufacturers website and even call them if you have questions. If you want to make a trip down here, you can visit IF's shop. You can find some amazing stuff on ebay and roadbikereview classifieds if you're willing to watch them long enough. Hope this gives you a start.

 

[Nick-NH]

Thanks, that's good info. How's your steel bike on the monster hills? Does it flex when you're jamming on that bottom bracket?

 

[boudreaux]

Originally posted by Nick-NH
It's been almost 20 years since I bought my road bike and it's time for a new ride! My Cannondale, a 1986 62cm Criterium SR600 with the Ultegra of the day (and biopace chainrings which have since been replaced with round) is getting tired. Replacement parts are hard to find and I'm told that even Cannondales (CAAD7) with carbon forks have made great strides in smoothing the road. My question is what to get, considering my riding style. I'm a strong recreational rider. I'll do a few races this year of 50 or 60 miles and a few charity centuries - and all the training miles that make these possible. I enjoy hills - the steeper the better - and weigh in at 183 - height is 6'2". The new bike will have the 04 Dura Ace 10 - prob 12/25. Beyond this I'm somewhat at a loss - slightly overwhelmed by all the info out there! I'll be spending 3-5K on this and want to get something light, fast, comfortable on long new england rides, firm enough for steep climbing (I'm entering Mt Washington hill climb), and something that won't fracture in a basic fall like Lances Trek in stage 15. All ideas are appreciated, thanks!

I think you need to go ride some bikes,cuz you will get a bizillion opinions,none of which may fit your pistol. Inexpensive Ti may be too wimpy for your size and weight. Inexpensive steel may be too heavy. Since the approximate price of a DA build kit from exel is $2000,that leaves as much as $3000 for a frame, and an incredible # of options. But light,fast stiff, comfortable, only you can decide.

 

[dorian]

Sorry, I can't provide a lot of info because I got the bike late last year so I haven't gotten a lot of riding in on it, but I'm sure the guys at IF can build you as stiff a frame as you need. They have an extensive fitting questionaire to determine tube diameter and wall thickness based on your size, weight, riding style and what you want in the bike. A steel frame would probably run about 3 3/4 to 4 lbs. for your size. If you call them, they can give you better specs.

My frame's a standard 56cm and feels light as a feather. It's built with D/A 9-speed, ouzo pro fork, deda newton stem and handlebars, syncros post, slr xp saddle, speedplay x/2 pedals and 32h open pros for a total of 17.4 lbs or it might be 18.4. I can't remember which.

 

[dhk]

Originally posted by Nick-NH
It's been almost 20 years since I bought my road bike and it's time for a new ride! My Cannondale, a 1986 62cm Criterium SR600 with the Ultegra of the day (and biopace chainrings which have since been replaced with round) is getting tired. Replacement parts are hard to find and I'm told that even Cannondales (CAAD7) with carbon forks have made great strides in smoothing the road. My question is what to get, considering my riding style. I'm a strong recreational rider. I'll do a few races this year of 50 or 60 miles and a few charity centuries - and all the training miles that make these possible. I enjoy hills - the steeper the better - and weigh in at 183 - height is 6'2". The new bike will have the 04 Dura Ace 10 - prob 12/25. Beyond this I'm somewhat at a loss - slightly overwhelmed by all the info out there! I'll be spending 3-5K on this and want to get something light, fast, comfortable on long new england rides, firm enough for steep climbing (I'm entering Mt Washington hill climb), and something that won't fracture in a basic fall like Lances Trek in stage 15. All ideas are appreciated, thanks!

Agree with boudreaux here. Ride as many of each type as you can. After a test ride, you may want to stay loyal to Cannondale....the new 2.4 lb CAAD7 will probably ride and climb a bit better than your old C'dale "heavyweight". Happy shopping.

 

[pudster]

I think that you should also call companies like Dean, Moots, SEven and IF. They all have excellent reputations as great builders of bikes. You have to trust them to build a frame for you and it always seems to be an awsome bike. It is nice to be able to talk to the builder and see what they say about what they think you might need. I know that Dean builds bike frame for people and gives them not only a lifetime warranty on their Ti frames but they will get you the right frame if you do not love the frame that they built for you. It is just a thought.