Anyone ride Novara road bikes?

dbmata
dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Looking at getting a road bike again, finally living in a place where I feel secure to ride. Looking at a Novara and with my refund and a discount, I can get about $700 off on this one:
http://www.rei.com/product/825905/novara-strada-bike-2013

Anyone use them? Look to be nice, light, solidly built, and I was fitted by a guy who knows bikes pretty well, and happens to be an ironman finisher, so we talked a bit about what I would like to do is get a starter bike that I could eventually do sprint tris with. He felt this was a good bike to start with.

Any comments on it? Experiences?

Replies

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    bump.
  • Wienerbua
    Wienerbua Posts: 19
    I have an REI/Novarra touring bike. I've put about 6,000 miles on it commuting to work over the past five years. Like you I bought using an REI dividend and their Credit Card which gives you an extra 5% back I believe.

    The fork did crack so REI replaced it for free although I had to pay for their labor. Otherwise, I've only replaced the things one would expect like brake pads, chain, and rear cog. I'm not crazy about the service at my local REI so I take it to a local bike shop for a yearly tune up or after 1,000 miles or so.

    I think their bikes are made by Giant and just rebranded but I could be wrong. All in all, I think they are good quality.

    If and when I am in the mood to replace it, I will definitely consider another REI bike.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    Excellent to know! I can end up getting the bike for about $400, new and has the shimano 105. My old bike had the Tiagra, and looking at upgrading a bike to the 105 was like $300, so that's attractive.

    They had a SCOTT as well, with the tiagra for $100 more, or I can get the house for less with the 105. I'm not finding any negatives related to the Novara's online other than, "it's a no name label".

    I wonder if I've missed anything.

    6k miles though, that's extremely impressive. Good that they replaced the fork too. I don't know how good the bike shop is at my REI but the ski guys are pretty awesome.
  • Wienerbua
    Wienerbua Posts: 19
    Of course REI has a great return policy too if you don't like it. I'm sure the quality of the various departments varies from store to store and I don't think an LBS would mind servicing it for you if you tire of the REI. Of course I also swapped out tires over time and switched to a Brooks saddle but otherwise same derailleur, front chain ring and most other parts of the bike.

    Only negative might be that REI changes the specs on their models a lot. They no longer make my model (Safari) with disc brakes. The pads made by Shimano are hard to find but this is Shimanos fault, not REI. The fork they replaced is a different color than the bike because the color scheme of my five year old bike changed. I bet I could easily put another 10,000 miles on the bike and perhaps not even replace the derailleur.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    Yeah, solid return policy, which makes it valuable.

    Thanks for your comments! I'm doing research on the Shimano 105 group and it sounds solid and well placed.

    I think I might just call that one a "Thunderbirds are go!"

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