Which racing Bike ?

Quigs Snr

I am thinking of upgrading my Trek 1000 roadbike and going for a racing bike.
Only leisure cycling this year (although I do some longish trips, at least one 100km spin a week).

Next year, thinking of doing some leisure/charity events (such as the etape, or the blazing saddles tour). Also I plan on doing my first race in 14 years also.

Due to the distances I am going to put in I would like a carbon fork, because I climb a lot too and struggle with the rubbish Sora gearshifting especially when overloaded on a hill, I want Shimano Ultegra, perhaps 105 would do.

I was thinking of a Uk spec Trek 1500 which fits the bills, or if within range the Specialized Allez Comp (if I can find one). Budget I suppose is around the 1500-1600 mark. Would I get a race capable bike for that ?

uberwolf

right, spent a bit of time poking there just to gauge those two. Couldn't find a price on Allez Expert Double INTL - the specialized but if it's in the range I'd go for that over the Trek. I own a carbon Trek and for some reason have never been convinced by their 'budget' range - not heard anything bad but never convinced. The Specialized Allez range would seem to have the edge. Cycleways on Parnell sreet have the Irish dealership but won't be giving anything but the RRP I can assure you!! Treks are more widely available.

Johnny Jukebox

I've only ever bought MTBs, but I guess the same approach would work for road bikes. Firstly, I only buy new between September and January because thats when the new season bikes are introduced and real bargains are to be had with the previous season. Right now, there's great bargains on 2004 models because all the manufacturers are releasing the 2005 models.

Secondly, I've never found a local bike shop that can match Internet prices for top end bikes. I ride mainly Specialized and Scott, and the two local guys (Cycleways and Cycle Superstore) have a hard time matching whats available on the net. Maybe they're unwilling to, I don't know. I'd much prefer buying from a local dealer, but not if it costs so much extra. Sometimes you can get a deal by suggesting a price match with whats available on the net, sometimes not.

Last bike I got was from Evans in the UK - http://www.evanscycles.co.uk.
Ordered from my desk, took 5 working days, delivered to my door, no hassle. Hard to beat, and the best price I could find after exhaustive research.

One of the advantages of buying a global brand (eg. Specialized) is that their dealers should handle warranty issues even if you did'nt buy the bike there. Just have proof of purchase from the Specialized dealer you did buy it from.

Quigs Snr

Ok, what I got in the end was quite different to what I expected.

I happened across a secondhand TREK 5500, 00 Model in US Postal colors.
Carbon frame/fork, Dura Ace all round. Mavic Ksryium SSC SL wheels, Look pedals and Carbon seatpost, ITM Millenium bars and stem (with Ritchey Headset), computer etc.... perfect mechanically, frame good with a few scratches mostly to the decals, exactly in my size for 1300 Euro. I think I got a good deal ! I was going to pay the same for a new Trek 1500. But I think I got more bike for my money this way.

uberwolf

Quigs Snr wrote:

Ok, what I got in the end was quite different to what I expected.

I happened across a secondhand TREK 5500, 00 Model in US Postal colors.
Carbon frame/fork, Dura Ace all round. Mavic Ksryium SSC SL wheels, Look pedals and Carbon seatpost, ITM Millenium bars and stem (with Ritchey Headset), computer etc.... perfect mechanically, frame good with a few scratches mostly to the decals, exactly in my size for 1300 Euro. I think I got a good deal ! I was going to pay the same for a new Trek 1500. But I think I got more bike for my money this way.

sounds you did well. Now do it justice unlike my 5500 which is sitting in the garage looking at me balefully...

cerebus

Quigs Snr wrote:

Carbon frame/fork, Dura Ace all round. Mavic Ksryium SSC SL wheels, Look pedals and Carbon seatpost, ITM Millenium bars and stem (with Ritchey Headset), computer etc.... perfect mechanically, frame good with a few scratches mostly to the decals, exactly in my size for 1300 Euro. I think I got a good deal !

You certainly did - enjoy the bike.

Quigs Snr

First Snag....

I am light with a good power to weight ratio which has stood me in good stead in other sports. Naturally where I could kick ass in the recent past on my 1000 was in the mountains. Now mountains that I used to time trial up are no longer a case of how fast can I go, its more like am I going to make it at all (and sometimes the answer is no). This is a major shock to me. Here I am with my fancy new bike and I am useless on it (on the hills anyway, better on the flats and downhills). But my strength was always the hills, I used to enjoy blowing away all my cycling club friends on the hills on my crappy bike. Now as it turns out I was a pussy all along.

The problem is my Dura Ace cogs are tougher than the old Sora ones, 1st gear on the 5500 is about 4th or 5th on the 1000. What do I do ? Do I get a new set of cogs at the back ? Or should I tough it out for the winter, take the pain and use this as a strength building period or what ? Maybe I just need time to adjust. Makes it hard to do my 'lance like' furious spinning up the mountains though, I find that I have to grind it out now at a low cadence and it's burning me out far too quickly.

uberwolf

instead of changing the back change the inner ring at on the front. if its a 42 drop it to 39. should do the trick. I always had tougher gears on my winter bike than my race bike and I'm far from convinced it was teh right thing.