Hey, I've been riding a downhill bike for 2 years now and I'm tired to drive 1h30m to the closest DH mountain so I was looking to buy a road bike to get some instant pedaling action. I've went to numerous LBS and I'm still not quite sure what I should get. I'm looking for a 1300$ price range (taxes included) for the bike only. So yeah, pretty much an entry frame with tiagra stuff. I'd be riding a bit every night or two, like for 1-3 hours. I might use it to get to work also so +20km everyday. I'd like to take it to 50km rides and even more eventually. I'm really not a racer but I like to challenge myself a lot so I'd like something that is a good mix between comfort for the longer rides and performance I guess.
So far I've found a ''Giant defy 2'', ''Trek 1.5'' and ''Louis Garneau axis 3.0'' for 1240$. A ''devinci SL3'' and an ''opus scherzo'' for 1300$. All 2010.
From what I can tell they're pretty much all the same except for the scherzo (carbon haubans/seatpost/fork and spd mountain pedals) but I've never heard/read much from opus. I'm new to the road bike world so I was wondering if there's a frame or a build that's better than another for some reason or if there was a feature I overlooked. They all look the same to me.
I also found a ''devinci CX 2009'' (new) for 1700$. Now it's 400$ over my budget but its full carbon so I was wondering if it really was worth the extra money or if I should stick with the lower budget bikes. There seems to be a war between pro carbon and pro metal frame fans so I can't say if it's really worth it. 1700$ + pedals + shoes + accessories almost adds up to 2x the initial budget I first planned so yeah... if it was REALLY worth it I would pay for it but if I'd be just as happy with an alu bike in my price range, it would save me some money.
If someone could help me sort it out, I would be VERY grateful.
Thank you!
So far I've found a ''Giant defy 2'', ''Trek 1.5'' and ''Louis Garneau axis 3.0'' for 1240$. A ''devinci SL3'' and an ''opus scherzo'' for 1300$. All 2010.
From what I can tell they're pretty much all the same except for the scherzo (carbon haubans/seatpost/fork and spd mountain pedals) but I've never heard/read much from opus. I'm new to the road bike world so I was wondering if there's a frame or a build that's better than another for some reason or if there was a feature I overlooked. They all look the same to me.
I also found a ''devinci CX 2009'' (new) for 1700$. Now it's 400$ over my budget but its full carbon so I was wondering if it really was worth the extra money or if I should stick with the lower budget bikes. There seems to be a war between pro carbon and pro metal frame fans so I can't say if it's really worth it. 1700$ + pedals + shoes + accessories almost adds up to 2x the initial budget I first planned so yeah... if it was REALLY worth it I would pay for it but if I'd be just as happy with an alu bike in my price range, it would save me some money.
If someone could help me sort it out, I would be VERY grateful.
Thank you!