El,
I do minor work on my Mtb but by no means would I feel comfortable building a bike up. I do have a friend who might build it for me. I will give that site a look.
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El,
I do minor work on my Mtb but by no means would I feel comfortable building a bike up. I do have a friend who might build it for me. I will give that site a look.
We're not advocating high-end components, here. Tiagra isn't exactly the P-12 of the derailleur world.
Sora is just really bad. That's all we're saying. No one is telling you to get Ultegra, just don't get Sora.
The house brands of Performance or Nashbar is a good option-- see Scoober's post.
fair enough. I will be checking out the Felt F80 this evening and will check out some other options at the LBS.
I didnt have a road bike this spring and spent all spring training and racing collegiate and a tri with a trek 1000. The sora was okay for the first week or two, but almost immediately it became apparent that the gruppo isnt very great. 105 is much crisper, better feeling, well worth the price bump. When you are riding and start thinking about how much you hate sora, you dont want to ride as much. It was really irritating having to stay on the hoods in a race when I was going downhill and then switching to the drops when I hit the smallest cog because I cant reach the buttons from the drops. It really irritated me.
I'm no rockstar by any means, and was racing the lowest level, but two months of a lot of training and racing really wore that bike down quickly. Even if you are commuting and riding for fun you'll notice the difference. Wait, save up a little more cash, and get a better bike instead of buying a cheaper one now and whining about it, or replacing parts sooner than later.
So... I found a used bike in my area. Bianchi Eros from a couple of years ago. The price is cheap, $300 and the bike looks in good condition. It is a steel frame and has Campogno (Sp?) Mirage components. Where does mirage stack up in the component field. Better than Sora? For this price it seems like I can get a decent bike and see what I like for a future (ie. 1year out) purchase of a better bike.
Thoughts?
Mirage is good stuff, probably on par or a little better than Shimano 105. I like the shifting better on Campy. You're getting a triple with a nice gear spread in the rear, from what I could glean online.
The Eros has a fairly laid-back geometry and ought to do nicely on longer rides. It's heavier than a racing frame, but should be fine if all you want to do is commute.
What are your cycling plans, BTW? Commuting? Touring? Getting into racing? Also, what size do you need?
Cycling plans are limited to commuting 15 miles (lots of big hills) and some "training" rides when it is too wet to mt bike. I have stopped in a few shops and it appears that I am a 56cm. 5'10" 175lbs. I like the idea of "laid back" geometry. My other concern is the age of the bike. The owner bought it 5-6 years ago. It looks in good shape. Have the mirage components come a long way in recnet years?
Whats the deal with these bikes on eBay? i've never really heard of them, Motobecane...good, bad?...seems like good components. Pretty much looking for a 1st roadie, any thoughts.
here's the link --> 2005 Motobecane on eBay
Don't know much about them, though a guy I ride with has one (different model) and seems to like it. His has 105 all around and it's not holding him back at all. I think he's had it for 2 or 3 years now.
It's a no-name frame from a company (Kinesis) that makes a ton of frames for named frame companys.
Tnx...but, is that a good thing? I.e. elan pressing boards for other companies(same board, different graphics?). The components on the one i linked look pretty inviting. It is the same price as the Giant OCR3 i was looking at.Quote:
Originally Posted by cj001f
NOrCal, follow the advice given to me, go used! I went with the Bianchi Eros I mentioned above and it is great. I figure I can buy a better bike in a year or two if I really get into it (I doubt it, MT biking is just a lot more fun) It is a fantastic commuter bike though!
That's funny! I'm still shifting from the downtube on 6 speed Dura Ace and am thinking about racing it this summer. Steel 's the Deal baby!Quote:
Originally Posted by scoober