New bike?
bikingpanda
Posts: 68 Member
Hi everyone.
I am getting back into the swing of things and I am going to shoot for a century ride this year (or metric century). Currently, I have a Giant OCR2 from 2003. It has a full Tiagra set up and everything works, just beat up looking. The only problem is that the bike is very long. I am pretty stretched out on it and with having a gut, it gives me lower back pains and pressure on my hands. I have tried a shorter stem and smaller bars, It's better, but not great. I have also adjusted my seat but I just cannot find a good comfortable position on it. It's my first road bike and I bought it used and did not know any better about how I should be on it and I think I should have looked for a Medium in the compact frames.
Anyway, The LBS near be is selling off the Trek brand because they are not going to carry it anymore. They have a Trek 1.1 from 2012 brand new, but the components are Shimamo 2300? I believe, And 2013 1.2 with Sora. If I could talk my wife into it, they also have a 2012 2.1 Apex, but that is a lot of money.
So I guess my question is, is it better to have a great fit over components? Is a 2003 Tiagra any better then 2013 Sora or 2300? My brother is also a rider, and he also says that I should not go below Tiagra, but I also not want to spend a fortune on a bike. So any thoughts would be great.
I am getting back into the swing of things and I am going to shoot for a century ride this year (or metric century). Currently, I have a Giant OCR2 from 2003. It has a full Tiagra set up and everything works, just beat up looking. The only problem is that the bike is very long. I am pretty stretched out on it and with having a gut, it gives me lower back pains and pressure on my hands. I have tried a shorter stem and smaller bars, It's better, but not great. I have also adjusted my seat but I just cannot find a good comfortable position on it. It's my first road bike and I bought it used and did not know any better about how I should be on it and I think I should have looked for a Medium in the compact frames.
Anyway, The LBS near be is selling off the Trek brand because they are not going to carry it anymore. They have a Trek 1.1 from 2012 brand new, but the components are Shimamo 2300? I believe, And 2013 1.2 with Sora. If I could talk my wife into it, they also have a 2012 2.1 Apex, but that is a lot of money.
So I guess my question is, is it better to have a great fit over components? Is a 2003 Tiagra any better then 2013 Sora or 2300? My brother is also a rider, and he also says that I should not go below Tiagra, but I also not want to spend a fortune on a bike. So any thoughts would be great.
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Well - you can always build it completely from scratch I guess. My hubby did that. Bought the frame and then has slowly added parts and switched out parts. He buys a lot off ebay. His bike (at about $800 in) is worth about $3000 (used) and qualifies as a race bike. Since he doesn't race I figure he does this for the love of the bargin hunt. That being said - I'd take fit over parts any day. Parts can be changed out as you can afford them but the fit makes the difference between pain and joy. He's also tried to buy several bikes for me over time and he finally got the size right about the 3rd one or so. He had a habit of buying something that was for a guy who was 6 foot. I refused to ride every single one of them until the Redline that he bought for himself but its actually sized for a girl. I commandeered that one -its for commuting. Now I have a lovely Ruby Specalized that will slowly have new parts over the winter until its probably back to racing form. When he bought it, the girl who sold it had several things done to it with no idea of bike parts so there were some really strange swap outs on it. I would also suggest really scouring pawn shops for deals. They will start out high but since they need to move the merchandise they will come done in price each month it sits there. Eventually, they come down to something you can actually afford. And depending on the shop, they might offer a deal where you pay a little extra and within a certain amount of time, if you want to bring it back, they'll give you the full dollar amount in credit or to use for a swap. It's how the hubby has swapped up and up and up until he now can trade a bike without paying more than a $100 or less. He's also very self educated on parts. We saw a woman's Blue the other day that was really sweet (priced at $1200) but when he looked at all the parts, he knew someone had swapped out all the orginial Tiagra compents for lower value Tiagra. To look at it, you or I would think it was still factory parts but he knew they weren't. And he was able to explain in detail why the price the shop was asking wasn't worth it. They will lose money on it eventually because they didn't do their homework first and who ever sold it knew what they were doing. That Blue is actually only worth about $500 and that's just becuase the frame is worth that. The rest of the components are actually junk.
Good luck! FIt wins over components every time!0 -
Fit is everything, groupsets can always be upgraded (and if you watch for sales you can find 105 stuff for great prices, just my opinion but 105 is as good as most of us will ever need......and I'd agree with your brother not to go below Tiagra)0
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Fit! You can always upgrade components.0
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Fit fit fit fit fit. Focus on fit. You may or may not have to get fitted to the bike, but at the very least figure out what size you need and go from there. This is even more true if you aren't a "typically built cyclist". I'm about as average as they come, so I can get on just about any medium/55/56 and be pretty comfortable. That may or may not be the case for you.
Parts, especially derailleurs, are easily replaceable. Shifters are too, though they can be a little more expensive. Same with wheels (can be costly, but easy to swap out). A bad frame is very difficult and very expensive to replace.
That said, bottom of the line parts can be pretty crappy. It's somewhat less of a concern on a road bike as they see less wear, but it's still somethign to watch out for. I wouldn't go below Sora. Tiagra is even better. Most people don't need more than 105.
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Thanks for the reply's everyone. Looks like I have a lot to think about and some shopping to do.0
