Your guide to the best bikes on the market
by: Steven Rinestine
Posted on: Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 11:41 pm by: Steven Rinestine
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Ok, let’s get right down to it.This article assumes you already know what type of bike you’re looking for. So I’m going to cut to the chase and try to help you select a Road bike from the myriad bikes available on the market today.Now, if you’re like me and have been cycling awhile, then you already know what you want. “Yes, sir, I’ll have the Specialized S-Works Roubaix with the full Campy Record and all the carbon fiber trimmings please. No need to bag it. I’ll just ride it home from here.” But of course, not all of us have an unlimited Pro Cycling Team budget. So we compromise and look for bikes just as cool but not as expensive.A good start, would be the ‘07
Specialized
Roubaix Comp @ MSRP of $2,200 or the 08 Specialized Roubaix Compact @ MSRP $1,600. You could bump up to the Comp (full carbon frame) for $2,400 if you have the extra room on your Capitol One card. Alright, I’ll come clean. The reason I started with this one is a little biased. I have one. But they’re really cool, so just bear with me and I’ll explain everything.For years I was a die-hard Cannondale rider; I loved the stiffness of their Aluminum frames, and I still do. I never really paid much attention to all that stuff about road buzz or vibration damping. I just rode my bike. I had the typical hot spots in my palms and feet on long rides, but I thought that was part of riding. Anyway, long story short, I had a C-dale CAAD5 with Campagnolo Centaur components, and I was upgrading to an FSA Carbon Compact crankset. I’m getting older and need the easier gears for my knees. Fortunately for me, my good friend and bike shop owner, Tim, dented my bike’s top tube whilst it was in the repair stand. I can’t begin to tell you how upset and apologetic he was. In 25 years of owning his shop, that’d never happened. He vowed to make amends, and so he did. Tim’s not a Cannodale dealer, but he sells Trek, Lemond, and Specialized, among others. So he offers to replace my frame with an ‘06 Roubaix frameset. This was late summer ‘05 and he was setting me up with next year’s frame. This was really cool of him, but I was a little reluctant. It felt like I was having a pet put to sleep and then turned right around and got a new one the same day. But I agreed, and a week later my bike was ready.On the first ride, I noticed the difference immediately.With the sloping top tube, carbon stays, and Zerts inserts, my new Roubaix made me feel like I was rolling along on a cloud. Until that moment, I never knew that cycling could feel so good, so effortless. I have ridden all types of frames, carbon, aluminum, steel etc., but Specialized’s ‘Plush’ Roubaix has been the best, hands down. The bike responds like a dream, light as a feather, but with all the stiffness you would expect from an aluminum frame. Why else would 3 pro teams use them in this year’s Pro Cycling season? Of course, they are riding the S-Works full carbon versions, but the design characteristics are still there on the lower-priced models. The bottom line is, if you want a bike that is comfortable over the long haul, i.e., century or long club ride, you could do a lot worse than this one.The route I went to get my bike isn’t going to happen to everyone. So you have to be smart and savvy when looking for a new ride. You know what you like. You know what you want. The trick is to have some discipline and shop around before you buy it. If you don’t ride with a group of friends, start. They are a great source of knowledge, and you usually get instant feedback on bikes and equipment. Just make sure that you make up your own mind and don’t let your cycling buddies do it for you. If you have a friend with a bike you like, ask them if you can take it out for a spin. Bear in mind that it may not be an exact fit for you, so you’ll need to be a little subjective when riding it. Most shops will let you take a bike for a test ride. I highly suggest doing this. It’s real easy to fall in love with that gorgeous bike in the showroom. But if you buy it before you try it, you could end up with a $2,000 bike being sold on e-Bay for half that price because you hate how it rides. Take your time, shop around, and do your research. Good luck and good ridin’.
