I have a friend that is wants me to help him buy a new road bike and I wanted to get others feedback on what I should be look at for him.

He is a recreational cyclist that had just started doing group rides and has done a few Fondo's. He has mentioned that he wants to get something better than he has right now and might try racing in a few years. Currently us riding a bike with 105 but wants to upgrade so we are looking for something with Sram Force or Shimano Ultegra.

I am a bit biased in what I would do for myself but always love others thoughts. I also have to work around his biases where he feels he needs to have a 53/39 and a 11/25 but I am trying to work with him and trying to get him to go towards more of a 52/36 and 11/28 as I have ridden with him a bit and he really is over geared. But you know how some guys are with the size of their gears.

Velovie was a thought based on a few others from this site especially with their 30% off sale right now. I have also been looking at local bike shops for year end sales and there are a few that aren't that bad. Also thought about building him an open mold frame, 2nd tier parts and some nicer aero wheels but not sure if he would want the warranty that a bike shop would offer.

So anything thoughts would be appreciated.

Well it looks like he has his heart set on a 2014 Cervelo S2 that he can get for a really good price. So we wants me to go look at one. His thoughts are that he is getting a really good frame, fork, post that can and should last for a long time. Components can be upgraded down the road and it leaves enough money for some aero wheels.