Bikes revisited

As my home projects are nearing completion I am getting closer to being able to purchase my new bike.
So what do you ride and why did you chose that model/manufacturer?

I had been pretty set on getting a triathlon specific bike, but after talking it over with my wife and with some of the bike sellers locally, it might be in my best interest to just buy a really good road bike and put some aero bars on it.  I will probably do more recreational riding, century rides etc than I will do triathlons.   The owner of the local Triathlon store said that if I didn't do more than 5 tri's a year, it probably wasn't worth getting a Tri bike and I should look at a race/street bike.

The edict is that this has got to be a "lifetime bike"  My wife is not going to let me spend 4k or more on a bike and then 6 months later say I need another bike.  Most of the social clubs don't want you riding a tri bike on their pace lines, but triathlons don't care if you ride a road bike.  So I am now leaning towards buying a really good street/race bike and putting tri bars on it.

But back to my original question what are you riding, why did you chose it, and what is your impression of it.  If you had it to do over again would you chose the same bike?  If there were no restrictions on which bike you bought/owned, what bike would you have chosen.

Thanks

Scott

Hi Scott,

I'm anxious to hear what some of the bike heads have to say. I just got permission to get a road bike for my birthday. I have been riding a mtn bike, however, I'm looking to up my distance eventually would like to do some century rides.  I'm doing my first sprint tri this weekend, however, that isn't going to be my main focus. (unless I get hooked)

I went to the bike shop today and I'm looking at the Specialized Roubaix Elite Triple:

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=39266&eid=117

The shop offered to let me demo it for the weekend and I plan on using it in the tri Sunday.  I just took it for a 20 mile lunch ride which usually takes me about 1:40 on my mtn bike. It took me about 1:15 on the demo and my legs were already a little burnt from spin this morning.

I really like it and for $2000 it's seems like a great entry level carbon bike.  Good luck on your purchase, I hope your as excited as I am.

-Mark

Yeah, I looked at that bike, and every other bike the store had for that matter.
I hit 7 different bike stores in the county and I have looked at the following in both street and triathlon configurations
Trek
Specialized
Giant
Cervelo (Probably my favorite)
Look
Orbea
Scott

Online I added in:
Blue
Quintana Roo
Pinarello
Felt
Kestral
Ceepo (they have a wickedly cool looking bike)
and probably a couple others I am forgetting.

I will certainly go out and ride these bikes before I make my decision.  But right now I'm just looking for customer reviews.

And yes I'm absolutely looking forward to this.
The only bad thing is that by the time I have it all lined up, next years models will be out, this years models may be on sale, next years prices will cost more and bike design might change.

I want to buy the best I can.  Some bike shops have said buy the best off the floor.  Some have said buy 1 model down and then get upgrades to the most important pieces or buy yourself a set of race tires etc etc.

My head is spinning with all the options.  This is like buying a car only worse.  With this I have the be absolutely comfortable and enjoy the bike, or I won't use it enough to justify spending that kind of cash..  For me a car is just a means of transportation. As long as it works, great. 

Scott

I came to the same conclusion as you, Seht. Another factor: on a hilly course, a road bike will actually perform better. My favorite races all tend to have hilly courses!

It might actually be a good thing to buy when the model year is switching out. You might be able to get a good deal on a 2009 bike. As long as the 2010s don't have some killer new options. In my case, my bike had to be special ordered so I still had to get a 2009 even though there were deals to be had on the 2008 models.

 Two links to check out: 
www.bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/CerveloS1-2009.shtml
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/dura-ace-ultegra.shtml
If you go under the editorials and reviews there you'll see a lot of good advice.  When I was trying to decide which bike to get I got several different opinions.  My local shop guy really wanted to see me upgrade to DuraAce.  In all honesty I don't think any of us on here are at the level in cycling where we'd notice a huge difference between the two.  Now if I had the $$ lying around I'd jump at Dura Ace/Red any day -- don't get me wrong but I think you'd be just as happy on the second tier components.  That above article I think describes it well.

I believe I've said it but I went with the Felt B12 over the B2 because I could get HED wheels (much cheaper then ZIPP and again I really wouldn't recognize the speed advantages vs. the cost for that speed).  I knew that I wanted to do tri's and I'm actually doing 8 this year with 2 HIM and am signed up for IM CdA next year.  I've got an older Trek 1500 aluminum bike and got an unexpected pay bump at the beginning of the school year (good to be a popular teacher with lots of kids wanting to be in your program) so I invested a good chunk of that into a good bike.
I've read plenty of people that only have 1 bike (a TT bike) and they are more than fine/happy with it.  I will say that I am finding my tri-bike much more comfortable than my road bike for long rides (may say more about my fit on the road bike though).  Even though I've put in a good chunk of time on my TT bike there's no way I would group ride it in a paceline setting.  And I'm not talking about just staying on the bullhorns and off the aerobars.  I just don't think it's as maneurverable as a road bike.  I will do rides with other people but I make sure they know that I'm on my tri-bike and I WON'T be drafting off from them.  They can watch me and if they feel comfortable they can draft me, but I make no promises.  Wind just affects it differently.  
Based on what you're saying I think I'd do the road bike with clip-on aero bars to suit your triathlon needs.  I've got a great local cycling scene/group to ride with that I really enjoy being with.  Same thing applies with centuries.  It depends on what kind of riding you're going to do most : solo tri-bike will cover your needs just fine, group -- go with a road.
I like the thoughts of Cervelos and would love to get a Cervelo road bike (then again I still really like those Trek Madones).  I'm assuming your local Trek guy has that Madone sale going on (25%+  off 2009 models, some of them up to $1000+).  One piece of advice that I think is great to remember -- when you go $3000+ you really aren't going to go wrong.  
Which one fits you best?  Which dealer do you like the best/think that will give you the best service down the line?  As far as test rides how much are you really going to learn from 30-60 minutes on the bike?  I doubt they'll do a 'final' fit prep before you go out so you'll not be an ideal position so are you really judging a frame that doesn't work well for you or a fit that doesn't work for you.  Some of the dealers that post on some of the forums actually don't like the thoughts of test rides for this reason though I've never heard of one denying anyone from doing one.  Not saying don't do it, just keep in your mind that some of the 'issues' may be seat height/handle bar heights that will get resolved before you walk out. 
Good luck on the shopping, it's a fun time.  As far as race wheels go, one thing I was shocked about if you go for deeper rims (Zipp 404's/HED 6's) is tubes with longer stems cost considerably more.  The extenders are a slight PIA.  Just a heads up.
Enjoy and keep us updated!

Yeah, all of the local bike shops have said the same thing.  Everyone makes a good bike, and at that price range, you aren't going to get a piece of junk. 

In road bike configuration, I have been looking at the Cervelo RS, but I also like the Trek Madones.  The local Trek dealer also carries the Look brand and they have a great price range on those bikes.  I would love the Cervelo S3 or the Madone 6 series, but I'm not indipendantly wealthy, so.......

For Tri bikes I really like the Cervelo P2C, and the Orbea  Again if money wasn't an issue, I'd be looking at the Cervelo P3 or P4.

With all the issues I have had with my low quality drive train gear, I'm willing to spend the extra money for good quality gear.  I think the Ultegra stuff is probably sufficient for me, and it would be an upgrade from what I have. I like the Durace or the SRAM Red, but not sure about I would need that much of an expenditure. 

All of the local shops have offered to let me ride bikes and in most cases not just for an hour or two, but for a whole day or two.  Take it out on a 50 or 100 mile club ride, get a feel for it etc.

Wow, good article, and very informative.  Thanks for the (bikesportmichigan.com) link!

Unless I change my mind again, this is probably what I will be getting.
http://www.cervelo.com/bikes.aspx?bike=S22009


I really like the bike, I looked at the S1 which is the aluminum version, the S2 is Carbon Fiber.  The local shop is going to order one in my size so that I can test ride it.  He said he wanted to have another one in stock any how and I am a popular size so even if I don't buy it, it won't be hard for him to find another buyer.

Now my question is do I order a frameset and have him build it up for me or order the complete bike.
He had a couple good points about having it built up.  If we build it, it will probably cost a little more, but it may be a wash.  He said some of the items on complete bikes might not be to your liking.  For example the seat, if I don't like the seat, I'm basically going to discard the seat it came with and buy another one, so if it was built from the ground up, I wouldn't have that issue.  Also the bike does not come in a SRAM configuration, which I really like.  If I have it built I can go that way.  I think that when I get the cash in hand I'll have him spec it out if we build it vs. buying it complete.

Either way I have a couple extra costs to look at, new pedals, A carbon fiber water bottle cage, I mean come on I can't buy a C.F. bike and then stick the old metal cages from my old bike on it can I ;-) I need a set of good clip on aero bars.

This is more bike than I had originally planned on, and it will keep me from buying the race wheels I wanted right away, but It is a more agressive bike than the RS model, and I'm tired of buying down when it comes to things like this.  It's a big expensive purchase, hopefully the last one of this kind I have to make.  I want it to be something I can live with.  Unless anyone knows a sponsor who is just handing out bikes to former fatties.

I feel like a little kid waiting for his birthday or Christmas.
One thing I noticed is that every manufacturer says their bike is the stiffest, fastest, most aero bike on the market.  They all trot out pros who ride their bike and they all get paid to say I couldn't have done it without this bike.  This is the best bike yada yada yada.  Those guys could probably be riding tricycles and make it look good.  There is so much technical data out there and so many opinions that it just causes the head to spin when trying to find the right bike.

Scott

Sweet looking ride,....how do I get on your will?

 I'm drooling man, gonna be a sweet, sweet ride!!  The advantage of buying up is once you get it and get  on the road you don't want to look like a tool on a sweet bike so you work harder to 'earn' that ride.  
If you know you're going to swap out the seat and want SRAM it may be easiest to just do a frame and have him build it up.  You could always e-bay the Shimano groupo/seat too.  Another advantage to the custom build is you may be able to get better wheels than the factory default for around the same cost (there's a HUGE bonus) since most of these bikes actually come with sub-par wheels.
Enjoy -- can't wait to hear the tale of ordering and getting out for that first ride on the beast!