A couple weeks ago I asked about an economical bike to ride basically once a week with a local bike club. The "roadies" kicked my ass last year on my Softride and I vowed to make this the year that I would lead this ride at least once by the fall time change. It is a twisting, winding, up and down 25 mile ride balls out. The area is an asphalt roller coaster. I never really had a chance to get my Softride up to speed.Please note that I could now afford this second bike and I encourage everyone to participate as best as possible on what you own. I can't remember who always says it, but to paraphrase: Never not ride.
I test rode four bikes all on the same course at basically the same time of day. They were a Cannondale R600, Felt F65, Specialized Allez Comp and Litespeed Vela. I was able to get them all under $1200. with the Felt only being about a grand.
I rode the Vela first because I really wanted this bike. It listed at about $1500, but ultimately was my least favorite. The frame seemed to be wound as tight as the early version frames I remember. The wish bones stays really didn;t seeem to "dampen" road chatter. My course had a short steep downhill that had a nice "S" turn right in the middle of it. The litespeed didn't seem to hold a very good line and by the second curve I was feathering the brakes. There seemed to be alot of vertical movement. I was bummed because I REALLY wanted this bike.
The Specialized on the other hand encouraged greater speed in the "S" section. I have probably never felt more at ease as it challenged me to dive deeper into that second curve. Unfortunately it has the paint scheme (zebra stripes) made famous by none other than Mr. Cippolini. In my opinion there are only a handful of people in this world that should wear a USPS kit. This is a respect issue. Following the same philosiphy, I would rather go over the side coming down a steep mountain road, than get dropped on a bike that has zebra stripes. Having said that, you can get a Gun Metal Grey frame, BUT only as a triple. This shop wasn't Nytro and no, they would not swap it out.
The Felt was nice, especially at 900 and some change, but nothing other than that stood out. It performed as expected. But that was it.
Aahhh the Cannondale. This bike won on two accounts. I would stop about halfway up an uphill with the bike in 52x14. They all got going again. The Cannondale stood out in that it seem to transfer all of my work to the rear wheel. The others got going, the Cannondale took off. It was a suprisingly comfortable ride, not at all like the old Cannondale frames. I was fully prepared to hate this bike as I was getting my filling reglued. Due to my age and physical limitations the standard geometry reall y worked better for me. It didn't invite you to charge as hard into the corners like the Specialized, but it held it's line very securely. The other place it stood out was the Gipiemme wheels. We trigeeks are all about aero and I know these wheels were more "aero" than the Shimanos. I had to return to the store in a straight on headwind and I just wasn't working as hard. Lastly, does HANDMADE IN USA, do anything for you? It did for me and in this time I wanted to show my support for my country. I want to add that to show tolerance I will ride it with LOOK pedals.
So there it is. If you made it this far , thanx!! Hope it helps someone.
Brian
I test rode four bikes all on the same course at basically the same time of day. They were a Cannondale R600, Felt F65, Specialized Allez Comp and Litespeed Vela. I was able to get them all under $1200. with the Felt only being about a grand.
I rode the Vela first because I really wanted this bike. It listed at about $1500, but ultimately was my least favorite. The frame seemed to be wound as tight as the early version frames I remember. The wish bones stays really didn;t seeem to "dampen" road chatter. My course had a short steep downhill that had a nice "S" turn right in the middle of it. The litespeed didn't seem to hold a very good line and by the second curve I was feathering the brakes. There seemed to be alot of vertical movement. I was bummed because I REALLY wanted this bike.
The Specialized on the other hand encouraged greater speed in the "S" section. I have probably never felt more at ease as it challenged me to dive deeper into that second curve. Unfortunately it has the paint scheme (zebra stripes) made famous by none other than Mr. Cippolini. In my opinion there are only a handful of people in this world that should wear a USPS kit. This is a respect issue. Following the same philosiphy, I would rather go over the side coming down a steep mountain road, than get dropped on a bike that has zebra stripes. Having said that, you can get a Gun Metal Grey frame, BUT only as a triple. This shop wasn't Nytro and no, they would not swap it out.
The Felt was nice, especially at 900 and some change, but nothing other than that stood out. It performed as expected. But that was it.
Aahhh the Cannondale. This bike won on two accounts. I would stop about halfway up an uphill with the bike in 52x14. They all got going again. The Cannondale stood out in that it seem to transfer all of my work to the rear wheel. The others got going, the Cannondale took off. It was a suprisingly comfortable ride, not at all like the old Cannondale frames. I was fully prepared to hate this bike as I was getting my filling reglued. Due to my age and physical limitations the standard geometry reall y worked better for me. It didn't invite you to charge as hard into the corners like the Specialized, but it held it's line very securely. The other place it stood out was the Gipiemme wheels. We trigeeks are all about aero and I know these wheels were more "aero" than the Shimanos. I had to return to the store in a straight on headwind and I just wasn't working as hard. Lastly, does HANDMADE IN USA, do anything for you? It did for me and in this time I wanted to show my support for my country. I want to add that to show tolerance I will ride it with LOOK pedals.
So there it is. If you made it this far , thanx!! Hope it helps someone.
Brian
