An opinion question for the ST’ers… My wife has been planning on doing her first tri for years, and well… the time has come. She’s ready to take the plunge and so I told her the first thing we can/should do is get her nice tight rump on a bike. She’s with me in the school of thought that she’ll start with the entry level stuff until it’s obviously holding her back, then upgrade accordingly as she gets faster and has “earned” the right to own the nicer more expensive equipment.
Can anyone suggest a good entry level bike in the <$800.00 price range…? Also, she would prefer a road geometry design instead of the more aggressive tri-geometry.
IMO, if she’s a fairly newbie biker definately go with a road geometry bike.
Have a good look at the Giant OCR line. My wife used one for her first two years in sprint tri and had several AG wins and placings. It was a nice bike for the money. Felt also has some good entry level road bikes.
Also consider second hand. You can get a lot of two or three year old bike for the sum mentioned.
Yea, the Felts are muy good at that price point. And I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Giant OCR. Although be careful with sizing, I think (and I could be wrong, Giant just has small, meduim and large. which is wierd. But if it fits, it a damn fine bike for the dollars. Pedals and a clip on aero bar and you’re in business.
As a posuer, I would suggest a Colnago C50 road bike or if you want tri geometry, a Cat Cheetah…
I know several newbies who got in for $800-1200 on Felt bikes and love 'em. I would suggest going a couple of bucks higher to include carbon fork and seat post. You get better by riding more, and those two items can make a big difference in providing the comfort you need to ride longer.
I would recommend you check the Giant OCR and Felt bikes as already mentioned. If you are pretty tight with you LBS you might have them call and see if anything is left over from last year as you can often end up with last years bike pretty cheap if your LBS is so inclined.
Beyond that, I would HIGHLY recommend that you check the used bike market if you can size her.
Ok, thanks to those of you who took the time to offer some useful information… I have checked out the Felt’s a Giants and they do look great for the price. My wife will be so happy when she gets her new ride. So will I actually… Nothing like a babe in cycling shorts, expecially when she comes home with ya!
The Cervelo One is a good entry level bike. For a couple hundred more you can get a Cervelo Dual which is a great bike with very good components (Ultegra) and will last for many many years. I would recommend spending the money for the Dual.
Depending on where you live, the following brands may or may not be readily available (especially in the used market, if that is indeed your primary source pool)
Cervelo
Felt
Giant
Argon 18
Louis Garneau
Hwy 19
$800 isn’t a lot of coin, but will get you somewhere decent in the used market. Don’t forget to look at your “less popular in the tri circles” bikes as well. You can often get a smokin’ deal on a used Cramerotti, Steve Bauer, Benotto, Gardin, etc.
Also consider whether or not that $800 has to buy a helmet, pedals, shoes, and all the other little details that are easily forgotten.
The Specialized Allez Sport 27 is a great buy at right around $819. At least that is what we sell it for. It has a compact design, carbon fork and seatpost, combination of Tiagra and 105. It rides surprisingly well. If you want to go with a complete 105 bike, look at the Allez Elite 27 for $1049.00. I am not a rep for specialized, I just think they do a great job in this price range. I do work in a shop that sells Specialized though.
If you live in an area where you can hit 2 or 3 shops and ride the bikes listed in this and all the other threads, that will be the best thing you can do. Get a good fit and have them set the bike up for you so that it has the right stem, etc. Take it for 15-30 minutes and get a good idea of how each of the bikes ride. I would almost say that the fit would be more important then the brand i.e. Trek, Felt, Specialized. Find a shop that knows what they are doing.