Jamis 2001 Ventura

Price Paid:  $700.00 at Phils SOuth Side Cyc

Bike Setup:
Stock

Summary:
Well, this is my first road bike, and i cant say anything less then, ILOVE IT!!! I have been a pure mountain biker for the last 3 years, but now i cant believe why!!!

Strengths:
Light Weight, nice red color, great parts, smooth ride

Weaknesses:
weight, kindad stiff, rims wapred fast

Similar Products Used:
Cannondale, KHS Flite 500

Price Paid:  $650.00 at River Sports, Knoxvi

Favorite Ride:
Anywhere with hills

Summary:
If you have a limited budget, this is the bike for you. I was riding an old Cannondale road bike and had to upgrade. Unfortunately, I was in grad. school at the time and could not afford much. The Ventura was the perfect choice. You simply won't find a better bike for the price. Although I plan to upgrade at the end of the summer, it served me well.

Strengths:
Price!

Weaknesses:
The frame has too much flex for me (I weigh appx. 200 lbs). Although I hear a lot of complaints about the pedals, they have not given me any trouble

Similar Products Used:
Cannondale R400, Specialized Sirrus (old),

Price Paid:  $675.00 at erics cycle works ha

Favorite Ride:
all

Bike Setup:
shimano tiaga shifters and derallers tecktro brakes stock crankset ritchy wheels and pedels

Summary:
I purchased this bike last year for my wife. this is her first real road and at the price we could not go wrong. The spec. on the bike is very nice for the money and everything is working great and doing what it should . eric supplied us with ritchy road pedals that are lite and work great. the bike handles as a qualty steel frame should .

Strengths:
nice stock partsmix great frame nice wheels

Weaknesses:
stock seat(replaced with a terry) and paint chips easy

Similar Products Used:
gt strike schwinn paramont specialiezed allizz

Price Paid:  $800.00 at Midtown Bikes (Atlan

Favorite Ride:
All of them

Bike Setup:
Stock. Tiagra drivetrain and shifters, tectro brakes, selle italia saddle

Summary:
As the first road bike I've owned I would say the Ventura suits my needs perfectly. The bike is comfortable to ride and handles very nicely. After an initial tune up at the shop, the Tiagra drivetrain works very smoothly. The steel frame is very stable and seems to soak up road vibrations on most of my riding conditions. Its a little slow uphill but with the tripple ring it will make it to the top without a lot of effort. About the only complaint I do have is the wellgo peddles. That will be the first upgrade I make after they wear out (soon I hope)

Strengths:
Comfort, overall quality and price.

Weaknesses:
Peddles. Upgrade as soon as you can

Similar Products Used:
First road bike. Rode Specialized Hardrock with slick tires

Price Paid:  $0.00

Favorite Ride:
lbs

Bike Setup:
Stock, except swapped wellgo pedals for Look P236.

Summary:
After looking at a lot of bikes in this price range, the ride quality of the steel frame and the component selection simily blew the competition away. The tiagra drivetrain seems to be doing well, althought the front tends to get out of adjustment frequently. Still, it's good to hear "nice bike" from people riding bikes you know they paid 2 to 3 times what you did.

Strengths:
Smooth ride and predictable handling. Steel frame and fork. Good saddle.

Weaknesses:
Hutchinson Excels - 4 flats the first 5 times out. Replaced at LBS for something more durable, Specialized Armadillo

Similar Products Used:
Fuji Newest, Giant OCR2