Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom

Sep 21, 17 6:57

Post #1 of 15 (2629 views)

About me. I'm 34. I've been doing Triathlon for about 4 years. Just participating and lieing to myself saying that I was an athlete. I kept gaining weight and training less.

Long story short. I peaked at 330lbs. Two years ago. I'm now down to 265. My goal is to be between 220 and 230 in another year or so.

I have been riding a trek domane 4.5 for the past 4 years. I love it. But I think since I'm taking my training more seriously I might look at a tri bike soon.

My local bike shop sells trek and Fuji. With a budget around $2500 I'm between the Fuji norcom straight 2.1 and the trek speed concept 7.0.

I don't know anything about the frames. From my limited knowledge and just reading the specs. The Fuji has ultegra components and the trek has 105.
The Fuji seems to have better wheels too.

Am I overthinking this? Do I get the Fuji or is the trek a better bike even though it has lower components?

Spending that much on a bike will tap me out for the year, so no other upgrades will happen for at least a year.

Any insight would be great.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 7:14

Post #2 of 15 (2609 views)

If it was me I would get the Trek without a doubt. The Trek is an industry-leading aero frame that basically very similar to the their highest model. The Fuji, meh. You won't notice a difference between 105 and Ultregra.

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

Last edited by: Thomas Gerlach: Sep 21, 17 8:56

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 8:00

Post #3 of 15 (2578 views)

I also just found out I can get a real good price on a giant trinity pro advanced 2.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 8:04

Post #4 of 15 (2571 views)

The Trek is a still a no-brainer. Just make sure you know your fit coordinates and are confident of your position.

Jim Manton / ERO Sports

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 8:13

Post #5 of 15 (2552 views)

+1 to the Trek recommendation. 105 is very good, so you are better to get the faster frame than upgraded components. The Giant Trinity Advanced Pro 2 is a very sweet bike with lots of integrated storage.

One factor I would consider is future position flexibility. Given that you have lost weight and are continuing to lose weight, your position could change a lot in the future. Specifically, you might be able to ride a lower drop when you are 45 lbs. lighter. So, take a look at the bike and your fit and ask if it could handle >20cm lower drop on the bars.

Here is Giant's published wind tunnel analysis of the Advanced. It looks like it's performance on average is probably similar to the Trek at yaw you would probably deal with in real life. And the Advanced 2 comes with Ultegra out of the box. Tough decision.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [Jim@EROsports] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 8:16

Post #6 of 15 (2546 views)

I don't know anything about fit or position. This will be my first tri bike. I never bothered with aero bars on my road bike.

I do know that my bike shop takes great pride in their fitting. They always say come back in any time if you don't feel perfect on your bike. When he fit me to my road bike it was a different size than the two other shops I visited. He said "ride this bike, if you don't like it I'll give you another one. If you don't like that one, I'll give you another one."

So that's why I originally said Fuji or trek. Because that's what my shop sells.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 8:18

Post #7 of 15 (2534 views)

Yeah, the Speedconcept by a mile.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 8:54

Post #8 of 15 (2513 views)

Regarding the wheels on the Fuji...I have a Norcom straight and am around 230lbs. After about 1000 miles on the bike (around 6months), I started breaking spokes on the rear wheel on almost every ride. Local shop would replace them and true the wheel and it would just happen again. It got to the point I just didn't trust it.

I love the bike otherwise and have since bought some nice beefed up carbon race wheels but I wouldn't recommend buying that bike for the wheels.

Btw...after much persistence, Fuji/Oval/whomever finally agreed to replace the wheels with some decent trainer wheels that I put on my road bike.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 9:06

Post #9 of 15 (2493 views)

jonp9576 wrote:

I also just found out I can get a real good price on a giant trinity pro advanced 2.

I have the advanced pro 1. Super fast bike, but very hard to work on. (Brakes are hard to adjust) There's also not a ton of adjustment in the cockpit either. I do like it though. Especially for the price.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 9:37

Post #10 of 15 (2469 views)

I ride an Advanced 0 (2016). Other than being a bit of a bear to work on (as are most superbikes), it is solid and one of the faster frames I've ridden (previous experience on Felt, Blue, and Cdale). Just make sure you get the updated BTA bottle and bento box. I'm a larger guy at around 2 bills (formerly 3 bills many years ago). Just make sure it fits you. It has some adjustability, but maybe not as much as other bikes. If it does, then it's a great bike.

Human Person

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [elf6c] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 9:45

Post #11 of 15 (2463 views)

well now I think I might be screwed. I wanted to wait till my tax return in the spring to buy my bike. Looks like trek is dumping the sub $3,000 speed concept. They start around $4,000 now. So unless my bike shop can come up with a model from last year, I might be SOL.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 21, 17 10:44

Post #12 of 15 (2416 views)

jonp9576 wrote:

I don't know anything about fit or position. This will be my first tri bike. I never bothered with aero bars on my road bike.

I do know that my bike shop takes great pride in their fitting. They always say come back in any time if you don't feel perfect on your bike. When he fit me to my road bike it was a different size than the two other shops I visited. He said "ride this bike, if you don't like it I'll give you another one. If you don't like that one, I'll give you another one."

So that's why I originally said Fuji or trek. Because that's what my shop sells.

If you're gonna drop $2,500 on a new tri bike you should definitely get professionally fit. If your local shop doesn't do tri fitting then find somewhere that does. It sounds like you have a good relationship with them and I understand the desire to continue that, but you need to know if either of the brands they sell can actually fit you correctly.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [jonp9576] [ In reply to ]

Sep 22, 17 7:54

Post #13 of 15 (2310 views)

jonp9576 wrote:

well now I think I might be screwed. I wanted to wait till my tax return in the spring to buy my bike. Looks like trek is dumping the sub $3,000 speed concept. They start around $4,000 now. So unless my bike shop can come up with a model from last year, I might be SOL.

Buying a bike in the spring is about the worst time to do so from a price perspective. That is when everyone wants a new bike. I would try to source a new old Speed Concept now if I was you.

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]

Sep 22, 17 7:57

Post #14 of 15 (2306 views)

Thomas Gerlach wrote:

jonp9576 wrote:

well now I think I might be screwed. I wanted to wait till my tax return in the spring to buy my bike. Looks like trek is dumping the sub $3,000 speed concept. They start around $4,000 now. So unless my bike shop can come up with a model from last year, I might be SOL.

Buying a bike in the spring is about the worst time to do so from a price perspective. That is when everyone wants a new bike. I would try to source a new old Speed Concept now if I was you.

Good point. There is a better chance of my shop having or being able to get their hands on one from last year now than over the spring.
I'll stop by there this week.

Re: Large racer looking at new bike. Speed concept or Fuji norcom [houtexan] [ In reply to ]

Sep 23, 17 3:06

Post #15 of 15 (2235 views)

A lot of factory wheels (even some expensive ones) come with spoke tension imbalances that smaller riders won't notice until after several thousand miles. Bigger riders (myself included) amplify the problems with an unbalanced wheels so in the past I have recommend getting a local wheelbuilder to detension new factory rear wheels and bring it back up to tension properly. Obviously this does not need to be done for every factory wheel but it is worth checking out and will make the wheel last a lot longer.

Rich

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