FLCC> A beginner's questions about entry-level road bikes

[Mark Rishniw]

Hi Cole,
I'll answer on behalf of most of the bike-shop owners and riders.
"used racing bike languishing in a garage after it's owner moved on 
to the latest and greatest" is a great idea, but has too many 
problems with it to be useful. Why?
1.  Used racing bike may have had a checkered history - ie crashed, 
repaired etc.  A cracked frame, especially carbon, can have 
catastrophic failure.
2.  Sizing is important - buy the wrong size and you're 
uncomfortable, susceptible to injury, and ultimately unhappy.
3.  Old bike = old components.  Many are obsolete, or soon-to-be 
obsolete.  If you then start replacing, modifying and upgrading, 
you'll spend more than you would have on a new bike.
4.  A good used bike will cost you as much as a new entry level bike, 
or more.  These days, entry level bikes basically have you buy the 
components and give you the frame for free.  And you have parts that 
are supposed to go together (rather than being retrofitted), work 
well together, and are new.  Then there's the warranty.  And service.

So, the big question - how much do you want to spend?  My suggestion 
- visit the local bike shops, find the bike you like, compare the 
ride qualities etc.

If you want to risk buying a used bike, you can try eBay, or google 
groups rec>bicycles>marketplace.  But its' buyer beware.

Mark


At 02:10 PM 8/9/2006, you wrote:
>Hi All;
>
>I just found out about the FLCC and I'm hoping you all might be able 
>to offer some advice.  I'm looking to get into road biking for 
>fun/exercise with a possible future goal of racing.  Right now, 
>however, I need a bike.  I'd ideally like to find a used racing bike 
>languishing in a garage after it's owner moved on to the latest and 
>greatest.  I don't really have the funds for a new bike, but I'd 
>like to get a worthy used bike that can introduce me to the sport 
>and possibly carry me through a few races.
>
>I would greatly appreciate any advice on models that fit this 
>description, information on what I should look for in a bicycle (I'm 
>definitely a novice), and/or where I might find a used bike (do any 
>bicycle shops in the area sell used bikes?).  Or (hope against 
>hope), if anyone happens to have a used (and currently unused) bike 
>that you think would work for me, I could give it a good home.  I'm 
>6', although I don't know how that translates to frame size.
>
>Thanks!
>Cole Schlesinger
>_______________________________________________
>FLCC mailing list
>FLCC at icycle.org
>http://icycle.org/mailman/listinfo/flcc_icycle.org

Mark Rishniw

Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/flcc_icycle.org/attachments/20060809/185ed28a/attachment.html