I have a really old road bike that needs replacement and have been agonized shopping over the many choices. I currently have two tri bikes (a Scott Plasma LTD and a Cervelo P2C) but have a really hilly half iron coming up (Lake Stevens 70.3), which I feel that a good road bike would suit better than my tri bikes. I have ridden the course with both tri bikes and found myself constantly having to get out of the aero position because of the hills. I do like to stand when climbing and would like as stiff a bike as possible. Having a comfortable bike is not an issue for me. I would like to get the most for my money. Most of my riding is indoors so I will only be using the bike about 20 to 30 times per year.
My questions are as follows:
What is a good brand (I was told Specialized Tarmac is good)?
Should I buy carbon or aluminum (the veloteam guys I know use aluminum bikes and swear by them, but I see everyone else with carbon bikes)?
Does it make sense to have the Dura Ace component package or will 105 or Ultegra work just as well?
My budget is $2,000 and a 52 or 54 would work fine for size.
It sounds like you will seldom use this bike. Therefore I suggest you be frugal. A used bike or frame made from aluminum, perhaps with carbon fork and chainstays is going to be very good and very light and very cheap.
Also, based on the amount of usage I suggest either 105 or perhaps Ultegra parts, but Dura Ace as nice as it is would be overkill for a bike that will only be used occassionally.
If you get aluminum make sure you get a carbon fork and carbon rear stays… this is mostly standard on newer bikes and will make your ride more comfortable. If you have 2k to spend you can get something nice with Ultegra or even DuraAce components.
As background, I’m a roady. I have a Scott Plasma (18 lbs), a Litespeed Ultimate (17.5 lbs),a Look 585 (13.7 lbs) and an aluminum Alan for crits so I don’t trash my nice stuff. If I understand properly, the 3.8 lb difference between the Look and the Litespeed is worth about 38 seconds in a local hill climb that averages 7.1% for 6.75 miles.
Unless you will spend all your time climbing and descending (and I mean NO time in the aero bars), I think you’d be better off riding the lighter of your Scott or Cervello with the lightest race wheels you have that are suitable. 50mm or larger rims, if possible. If you don’t have great race wheels, use the $2k for them or a Powetap instead.
It will be difficult to get any road bike position to match your tri-bike position, so I think that would cost you time, too.
I was in a similar situation recently except that my beloved “old” aluminum road bike was only 4 years old. It was fine, but only a 9-speed and I wanted to be able to switch wheelsets and cassettes back and forth between my road and Litespeed Saber TT bike (10-speed).
I think a full aluminum frame (no carbon rear triangle necessary) with only a carbon fork and seatpost is plenty nice and works great even out on rough Texas rural roads. And I’m completely happy with my full Shimano 105 (even though my TT bike is full Ultegra).
This kind of setup should run you $1400 to $1700.
I paid a little more to have a “legacy” type ride, but I still paid LESS than $2K total at a LBS for a new 2009 Bianchi 1885. And even though I thought it would be my “second” bike, I’ve ridden it 17 out of the last 18 days
I have to believe that one of your tri bikes will be quite a bit faster on the Lake Stevens course than a road bike. If you don’t like standing to climb on your tri bikes, have you considered that you might simply be overgeared? A compact crankset and a new cassette (maybe a 12-27?) costs a lot less than a new road bike and with the right combo, you should be able to climb pretty much anything from the aero position or at worst sitting up on the basebar. Plus when you’re not climbing, you’ll be faster.
Then again if you really want a new road bike, I can appreciate that
