Personally, I would not go below 105 quality.

What people find, if they are new to road riding and riding a road bike is many go cheap, for that first road bike purchase, then regret it, after a few months because, many will then prefer riding the road bike and spend more time on the road bike!

They have this ahaa . . moment, when they realize the road bike is more versatile, comfortable, practical, and more fun to ride than the TT/Tri bike - which in reality is meant to do one thing really well and that's it!

It may sound like blasphemy here, but you would be wise to spend more on the road bike and less on the tri bike!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I work for a Giant dealership, the Defy 5 is one of the cheapest bike store road bikes available. It's so bad my owner refused to order any this year, he doesn't feel it is a product we can stand behind behind. Retail was $700 or so on it. That being said the frame is fine, if you upgrade components and if possible, wheels it will be fine.

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Jim

**Note above poster works for a retailer selling bikes and related gear*

It all depends on what you envision doing with the bike but for anything more than commuting where its going to take a beating i doesn't seem like it will be fit for purpose. If the bike has a Claris groupset it has been upgraded as it would have come with 2300. I point this out because 2300 doesn't work via the STI system like Claris does and my experience with 3x8 2300 shifting is it very poor. Upgrading to 105 would fix this but you are then paying $300+ for an entry level frame and wheels with limited if any scope to reselling the 2300 and that seems a pretty high price to me. Assuming you can live with one training wheelset which you swap between your tribike and road bike (this does require having them equipped with the same speed group unless you want the additional work of changing cassetts) you can get a much better frameset and still keep the 105 build under $1000. As roughly $800 could buy you a 10spd ultegra bike including a carbon fork (which the Defy doesn't have) i.e. http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...;;page=unread#unread much better bikes are available at the sub-$1000 tag.

I'd look for a used CAAD or if you want a Giant go with an OCR1. I had an OCR1 with 105 for several years and upgraded to a CAAD 10-4. I sold my bike with 5 years on the drivetrain for around $550 on craigslist three years ago. I'm sure you can find comparable deals around if you look for a bit.

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While I agree completely with the rest of the statement, this part can be a difficult area to navigate.

For example, I have a far more expensive tri bike than road bike in spite of doing 90% of my riding on a road bike (for all the aforementioned reasons).

But in the end, the bike that I NEED to be really good and "perfect" (fast) is the tri bike. Because that's the reason I am riding my road bike to begin with: to get fit for triathlon and improve my triathlon performance.

To the OP: yes, a "cheap" road bike can be worth it. But going uber-cheap is not necessarily the best way to get into something. You don't wanna be dissatisfied.

I would look for a former $1200-$1500 bike (likely aluminum with 105) from 2005-2010. Research those.
These can be had for $500 or less and many owners haven't used them all that much.
For example a few years ago I sold a 6-year-old Fuji Roubaix w. 105 for $300. Cost me $1150 new.

I don't know as much about bikes as many people here, but, if you're willing to spend $800 you could probably do better. One person said the Defy 5 is junk, so I'm basing this on what they said. I don't know anything about that bike. But my first bike was a specialized allez elite. I believe it was a 2005 that I bought in 2007. I had a few hundred miles on it. And it came with ultetra derailleur and 105 breaks, i think. It was in excellent condidtion and i still use it today. I did my first full IM on it and it had probably 25 or so tri's on it before I upgraded. Point being, you could do really well for $800 if you look used.

This time of year, the bike shops are slow and trying to clear out 2014 models. They can be very willing to bargain right now, and you might be able to score a bit more bike that you think.

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Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Not even worth it to run it over with your car.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...;;page=unread#unread

Don't know if that is your size, but that is infinitely better than the Defy with Claris. CAAD10 with SRAM Force. $1k

John

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Shimano under 105 sucks get sram if you're going cheap. I personally wouldn't buy it

^^^^This.

I have a Fuji Team that I got with Ultegra for ~$1200 new a few years back. You could probably get that bike (not mine) used on eBay or Craigslist for $500. As folks said, don't go below 105.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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I found a 2005 Trek Madone Project One with Dura Ace.

What would a reasonable price be for this bike? Especially considering it's 10 years old. Looks like it hasn't been ridden much.

Used bikes are definitely the way to go in this range. I bought my wife a basically new alloy Synapse with 105 on it for $350 last year. I don't think it had been ridden more than 100 miles. People buy bikes and then realize they don't like cycling all the time.

I have a Defy3 with rockbottom Shimano 2200 parts on it. I also have a Cervelo P2c Dura Ace TT bike.

The Defy3 , like most entry level bikes, is an outstanding value. I haven't ridden the Defy5, but I strongly suspect it's the same. Frankly, you'd be hard pressed to get better bang for buck. I got mine for $650 at the LBS, I think the new Defys are $700 at the LBS. For that price you get a great, comfortable frame, and reliable, if not super lightweight parts.

The groupset is the weakest link on this bike. It won't hold you back in training, and not even racing as a triathlete, but the cheap groupsets are definitely more finicky than 105 and up. If you already ride 105+ components, it's worth investing the money to get the 105+ components, just because the cheaper stuff isn't compatible and you thus won't be able to swap parts between bikes if (my Shimano 2200/Sora chain is different from my Cervelo's Dura Ace chain, the cassettes are different between bikes so can't be swapped, I can't put my Cervelo Powertap wheel on my Sora road bike due to the cassette differences, etc.)

It's also a comfortable bike, at least compared to my super stiff Cervelo. Even though the Cervelo is carbon, there is no doubt that the alloy Defy3 is a more forgiving ride in terms of comfort and frame shock absorption.

I bought a Windsor Knight (no name aluminum frame) with Ultegra 6700 components for 800 bucks shipped to my door a few years ago, from http://www.bikesdirect.com. That bike kicked ass for $800 bucks. I would buy that bike again if I had to do it all over again. I ended up taking all the components off and putting them on a Felt AR frame... it looks a lot cooler now, but It basically feels the same...

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"4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the soul"