[thrmaln]

Hello All,

I am in the market for my first modern road bike. I am a mountain biker and want to get into road riding to build stamina and some fitness. I have narrowed it down to 4 models. Specialized Roubaix elite, Orbea Mitis 4, Orbea Leige (very edge of my price limit) and Lemond Zurich. I am 6'4" and currently 240 pounds and my intentions are to get down to 210. Most of my area is quite hilly and I am leaning toward a tripple. I am having trouble finding bikes in my size to even test ride so I have only ridden the roubaix elite and an Orbea Vento (only orbea in my size)that I thought was going to rattle my teeth out. I am told that the Mitis 4 and the Leige has a much smoother ride than the vento due to the carbon seatstays and chain stays. The Roubaix Elite was nothing short of amazing. It felt like a hover craft, and I went out of my way to ride over manhole covers, rough concrete and even a few potholes. The roubaix is the cheapest of the 4 and I am leaning toward it. Not necessarily due to the price but mainly due to the comfort and chances are most of my riding will be long distance and I never plan to race. I would get the roubaix comp but the largest size they make is a 58 and I need around a 62cm frame. The Lemond Zurich has me interested due to the half steel half carbon layout. I would imagine the ride would be a lot like the roubaix. I plan to test ride one tomorrow after work. If anyone here has experience with any of the above models or brands please feel free to voice your opinions. Anything else I should considder? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Marc Webster

 

[slide]

The Lemond will ride very much like a steel bike. It has a great ride quality. I dislike it because they charge a few hundred dollars more for it because of the carbon and then even give it a lower end wheelset. The carbon only takes off 0.3lbs compared to the all steel frame of the previous Lemodns and the lower end wheelset adds a good portion of that back on to the total....at a much higher cost. Not a good buy in my oppinion, but it is a nice riding bike.

 

[methosage]

Roubaix Elite

I just placed an order for the Roubaix Elite (they did not have my size in stock, however, I test rode the Roubaix Comp they had in stock which is the same size and geometry).

I don't know if you saw it, but there is a review of the Robaix Elite in the March 2004 issue of Bicycling mag. Pick up a copy; in the mean time you can see the article here:
http://www.bio.cmu.edu/~bts/biking/roubaix.html

Hello All,

I am in the market for my first modern road bike. I am a mountain biker and want to get into road riding to build stamina and some fitness. I have narrowed it down to 4 models. Specialized Roubaix elite, Orbea Mitis 4, Orbea Leige (very edge of my price limit) and Lemond Zurich. I am 6'4" and currently 240 pounds and my intentions are to get down to 210. Most of my area is quite hilly and I am leaning toward a tripple. I am having trouble finding bikes in my size to even test ride so I have only ridden the roubaix elite and an Orbea Vento (only orbea in my size)that I thought was going to rattle my teeth out. I am told that the Mitis 4 and the Leige has a much smoother ride than the vento due to the carbon seatstays and chain stays. The Roubaix Elite was nothing short of amazing. It felt like a hover craft, and I went out of my way to ride over manhole covers, rough concrete and even a few potholes. The roubaix is the cheapest of the 4 and I am leaning toward it. Not necessarily due to the price but mainly due to the comfort and chances are most of my riding will be long distance and I never plan to race. I would get the roubaix comp but the largest size they make is a 58 and I need around a 62cm frame. The Lemond Zurich has me interested due to the half steel half carbon layout. I would imagine the ride would be a lot like the roubaix. I plan to test ride one tomorrow after work. If anyone here has experience with any of the above models or brands please feel free to voice your opinions. Anything else I should considder? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Marc Webster

 

[Just Mike]

Marc:
You've ridden the Roubaix and love it. Ride the LeMond. Pick a winner. You really can't go wrong with either of those off-the-shelf bikes.

Welcome to the club!

Mike

 

[Coolhand]

The Roubaix is a stunning bike for the price, if it fits you- go for it.

I made the move from mountain to road like you- be careful, you may end up road riding more then you thought. . .

 

[godot]

Orbea's

Scratch the Orbea's. If you didn't like the ride quality on the one you tried, adding carbon is not going to make a signficant change. Probably best to just skip them.

Nothing wrong with either of the two bikes left on your list. Ride the LeMond and then pick the one you like.

Don't get too focused on carbon stays, especially on a steel bike they won't make a significant difference in ride quality or weight.

I feel your pain on finding bikes to test ride. The closest I've ever gotten to a 62cm frame in a shop was a 58.

Good luck, have fun shopping. Let us know what you end up buying.

 

[thrmaln]

Thanks for all the great advice, but how about this!

Hey Guys,

Thanks a lot for all the great advice. Unfortunately it will be raining for the next few days, so I had to postpone the testing of the Zurich. I did manage to look the zurich over though, and it looked nice, but it is heavier than the Roubaix. As for the ride, I will have to see. Anyway, I went to my LBS to see if they had any roubaix's and they had the whole line, but none in my size. The one I rode was at supergo, but I will most definately be purchasing my bike at my LBS. They can match the Supergo price and I really like the people at my LBS and I want to keep my money in town. Although, now I have another option. My LBS guy is moving away to go to school and really needs some cash and he offered me his ride for sale. Anyone have any experience with Curtlo? Here is his add link. http://marketplace.consumerreview.c...sults_format=long&db_id=41271&query=retrieval

If this link does not work, just do a search for curtlo in the classifieds adds on this site.

Once again thanks again for all your help,

Marc Webster

 

[Grahamalicious]

Roll with that Curtlo...Thats a way better ride than any of those others!

 

[Coolhand]

That's a nice deal- if it fits.