I'll stop drooling...

[Owlie]

Okay, so I'm sort-of in the market for a new bike. While I won't be able to make a purchase for several months, I may as well start researching (or, well, salivating) now. It'll be a fun bike, that much I know. (My current "fun bike" is becoming a commuter; it's time for her to grow up a little, like her rider.)

So, can I get some input on what I'm considering here? I don't know much about SRAM or wheels, for a start, so any help on that will be appreciated. I'd like to look at Trek if I get the chance, but I don't know a dealer around here.

Here they are:
Cannondale CAAD9 Feminine 5
http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/cusa/model-0RW95C.html
Pros: Cheapest out of the bikes I'm considering. Most aesthetically pleasing out of the bunch.
Shallow: the white and red that I would want (if I buy it in the next...8 months) coordinates nicely with BF's bike. We can be nauseating together. :D (okay, you can all stop gagging now!)
Cons: I don't know if I'm ready/need/how comfortable I'd be with something that's quite a bit more aggressive that what I currently have. No triple option.

Cannondale Synapse Feminine 5
http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/cusa/model-0RWC5C_0RWC5T.html
Pros: Carbon. Option for a triple. (I like my triple.)
Cons: Carbon. I don't know much about the relative merits of carbon, except that it's lighter and more expensive. Also not crazy about the paint, but the red's not too bad (assuming that I buy it before they run out of 2010 stock. They'll probably come out with something horrible next year...)

Cannondale Synapse Feminine 4
http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/cusa/model-0RWC4C.html
This is where it gets strange. The 3 is the Ultegra version. This is Rival. I don't know where Rival falls in the scheme of things, so any advice is appreciated.

Giant Avail 1
http://giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/avail.1.tangerine.brushed/3881/36262/
Pros: Same frame as what I have now, but better components. It's familiar. Also, triple!
Cons: It's silly to re-buy the same frame, really, even though this option would cost less overall than to upgrade my current bike.

Giant Avail Advanced 2
http://giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/model/avail.advanced.2/5683/37054/
Pros: Same geometry, but nicer materials. Also, nicer components. On the cheaper side, too.
Cons: Same geometry. I'm scrunched up on my current bike, I feel, and I'll see if adjustment makes a difference. I'm not tall enough to ride a "large", not that they make this bike in that size anyway.

Thanks for putting up with me posting another one of these threads...

[Zen]

Two words.
steel Jamis (http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/quest/10_questf.html)

[Owlie]

Two words.
steel Jamis (http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/quest/10_questf.html)

Sadly, no Jamis dealers for miles! I'd be interested in trying it out, though. It's not something that I'd look at if no one suggested it. :o

[Cataboo]

I guess my recommendation for now would be... just ride the bike you have for now... You have 85 miles on your current bike, which is great - but it's not quite yet enough riding that you really know what your riding style is going to be and what you really want out of a bike yet. I know in the first year I was riding, I was switching things out and switching bikes a lot - and yes, definitely important to figure out what seat works for me, etc., but a lot of what was happening was just because I needed to develop my core muscles, and as I did... positions that were previously intolerable (mostly because of too much weight on my wrists), were suddenly fine and riding in a much more aggressive position was fine. I'm pretty sure what I ride now & love wouldn't have been quite what I picked if I'd put the money into it when I first started riding.

If you can find a cassette that works better for you for that, I'd definitely upgrade it...

After you have ridden more, have built up your core a bit - your riding style will evolve a bit more and then you'll be in a better position to really know what you want to buy... you don't want to buy another bike that you're going to outgrow quickly like the avail.

And as for what bikes you should be looking at.... test ride, test ride, test ride... and since you're looking to do it several months from now, that gives you time... Since you've mentioned you think you're cramped on your current bike... I don't think you should buy another version of that bike. You should probably consider fit more important than colors.

So SRAM vs shimano shifters - you're going to have to test them both out, sram's got the double tap system which lots of people seem to love. you mentioned you really like the short reach on your bike's shifters... and didn't like the shifter reach on the 105 bike you borrowed, so you probably need to be looking at something with the r700 or r600 short reach shifters, or realizing that you're going to have to shim or pay an extra few hundred to get the short reach shifters. Sram might have better reach.

aluminum can be harsh on bumps or long rides - so you might want to consider steel like Zen suggested or titanium or carbon. I haven't had any problems with any of the carbon components that I have. Steel can be heavier (definitely not always), and if you're trying to keep up with your bf, that might not be good. if you do go with aluminum, I'd say you definitely want carbon fiber seat stays and fork at least.

[Kiwi Stoker]

To be honest your next upgrade (and I totally agree with Catronia, ride what you have for a while longer) probably should be a new frame material (TI or carbon). Then after that you can slowly upgrade that bike (which you will!!!) with new cassettes, new shifters, wheels etc because you porbably don't stop buying stuff for the bike - stuff wears out, gets damaged, becomes uncomfortable, but if you have a quality light frame then it just becomes an upgrade. And not bike number 3.... unless you want to of course!

[Maxxxie]

I have the 2009 Cannondale Synapse 4, and I absolutely love it. I ended up choosing it over another Cannondale because of the SRAM shifters. I couldn't get my head around the Shimano shifters. But the SRAM shifters just made perfect sense to me. I love how easy they are to operate!

I also agonised over triple vs compact double. I'm absolutely terrible at hills, so I thought a triple would be a must. But none of the bikes I wanted came with triples, only compact doubles. I eventually decided I should just HTFU and stop being a baby about hills. Only once or twice have I encountered a hill that I really felt I could've done if only I had a triple. So the compact double really does fit the bill 99% of the time. At least, it does for me. Your mileage may vary.

I agree with the others. You really need to spend a lot more time on your current bike to get an appreciation of what works for you and what doesn't. Once you have that knowledge, you'll get a much better outcome when buying your next bike.

:)
Max

[Owlie]

Thanks, all. The earliest (if I go with the CAAD9) I'd be bringing a new bike home is September, so hopefully I can get many, many more miles on my current bike before making a purchase. I'll see what I can do with my bike in terms of adjustments before anything else happens. If she doesn't fit, well, she doesn't fit. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye out for upgrades. I know BF was able to put Ultegra components on his bike because he got a good deal on the previous year's parts, so maybe I'll get lucky.

I'm going bike-testing over spring break--the LBS at home is a Giant, Cannondale and Specialized dealer, so I'll try the bikes out if possible. Heck, if I can get to a bike shop here and try some of them out, I will. I'll call it a "study break." Yeah, that's what it is...

[softthings]

@maxxie, what are the differences in shifting with the shimano v sram? thanks!

[Cataboo]

Definitely - if your avail 3 doesn't fit or fits so badly that it makes you miserable and you don't ride because of that.. Then sell it and get another bike. But you shouldn't be considering other versions of the avail if that is the case.

One thing you may want to do is go for a professional fitting - and basically get told what the ideal geometry is for you. You of course are going to have to be able to tell the fitter whether you want to ride aggressively or in a more touring fashion, and that's probably something that you need to build up your core and get a lot more miles on the bike before you really know.

But once you get your fitting and know what geometry you need, then go find a bike that has that geometry. You seem focused on the cannondales and they are pretty and they're great bikes... but if they don't have a frame that works for you, it doesn't matter.

After my year or two of fiddling with bikes - I can look at a geometry table on a bike and tell whether or not I want it and if I'll like it. That's pretty much what you need to be able to do for your next bike before any of us can really help you decide which bike you want, and part of that is going to be test riding, but a professional fitting will also help. I know bikes that feel fine after 10 miles of riding can cause agony after 20-30 miles of riding...

So start thinking about - how do you want to ride? what distances do you want to ride? what material do you want to ride on?

And once you get to know what geometry or frame fits you, that really opens up the used or ebay market. I know you're going to be starting grad school soon, so money is going to be tight. Assuming you paid full price on your giant avail 3, I paid less for my full ultegra titanium litespeed that was barely used on ebay. I also paid less for my full 105 full carbon road bike on craigslist (it was an unused frame). I did luck out on both, and the litespeed took maybe almost a year of watching ebay - but it's definitely possible. Zen got her steel jamis aurora for less than full price of a giant avail 3 on ebay, and that gave her spare spending money for upgrading shifters, etc. I have a friend in idaho that just bought his wife a full dura ace 10 speed felt off of craigslist for $500. The frame is not exactly what she wants, but he'll either move the parts on her steel frame she loves or get her a full carbon frame off ebay. Even if he spends $500-1000 on the frame, she's going to have a full dura ace bike for about $1000-1500.


What part of your bike feels scrunched up? Top tube length or? you can try putting a longer stem on it, a setback seatpost might help. If you're having trouble finding the right gear - how much time do you spend in your little chain ring on hills? I usually barely use mine, so I switched the cassette on my surly to a 12-23 sram 8 speed cassette which gives me nice tight shifting, and I just shift my chain ring up front if I need more gears for a hill...

Triple vs. double.... I have 2 road bikes, and I have kept one as a triple just in case, and in some ways I really regret that... I love my compact double. As I've learned to spin,legs are stronger, I can get up pretty much anything with it, and I have a set of wheels with an 11-28 cassette on it for days that I know are really going to be hilly... But then, I don't live somewhere with big mountains. My compact double shifts so much better than the triple does. But I guess I know I can always put the 11-28 on my triple if I'm going somewhere with mountains.

[nscrbug]

My thoughts...

You say that you're not tall enough to ride the "Large" Giant, and the fact that Giant doesn't come in Large for women does present a problem. BUT...have you considered looking at the "Medium/Large" men's Giant Defy frame? I believe the Defy is the men's version of the Avail. Just something else to consider.

Also...you mentioned SRAM Rival being on one of the bikes you are considering. Like Shimano components, SRAM has a hierarchy to their component groups. Shimano's higher-end groupset from lowest to highest (in terms of quality and price) are - 105, Ultegra, Dura-Ace. SRAM's are - Rival, Force, Red. So...in terms of better components...I'd say the Fem 3 with the Ultegra group would be a bit better than the Fem 4 with Rival. But that's just my opinion. I'm currently riding a bike equipped with full Ultegra SL components, and it's great...but I'm fairly certain that my next bike (whatever that may be) will have SRAM Force (or Red if I can afford it) since I'm hearing that the Force groupset has been totally revamped for 2010 and is getting glowing reviews from everyone.

[Wahine]

Just another bit of input on SRAM vs Shimano shifters. My BF builds custom bikes for a living and works regularly with SRAM, Shimano and Campy parts. In his opinion, SRAM is a more elegant and mechanically simpler set up, making it mush less prone to failure. The engineering in the different levels of SRAM groupos is the same, what varies are the materials and the weight.

As for the different shifting, most Shimano shifters have essentially 2 levers to shift, the long front lever that is also the brake lever and a shorter lever behind it. To shift one direction you push the big lever in (both levers actually move when you do that), to shift the other direction you push in only the short lever behind the brake lever.

SRAM uses one shifting lever behind the brake lever. So you're not messing with your brake lever when you're shifting. To shift one direction, it's a short push in, to shift the other way it's a long push in.

I've used Shimano, SRAM and Campy shifters and I have to say that I prefer Campy, but that's way out of most peoples price range. Between Shimano and SRAM, I definitely prefer SRAM.

Hope that helps.

[Maxxxie]

@maxxie, what are the differences in shifting with the shimano v sram? thanks!

Basically, what Wahine said :)

When I was in the market for my road bike, I'd had a long history with flatbar bikes. Previously, the dropbar bike I'd had in high school had downtube shifters, so the concept of modern integrated shifters was foreign to me.

I found that on the Shimano bike, I had a tough time readily identifying which lever I was actually operating. Perhaps that's something that would've resolved itself with time and practice, but the test ride left me feeling very uninspired. I then test rode a SRAM bike (the 'dale), and shifting felt like second nature to me. There was no mental effort involved. It just shifted when I wanted it to shift, in the direction I wanted it to shift. This is particularly useful when struggling up a hill. The last thing you want to do is shift to a tougher gear just because you're too dumb to operate the damn shifter!! :o

My next bike will definitely be SRAM. I'm happy with the Rival groupset overall, though the FD leaves a little to be desired. My LBS swapped it out with a Force FD before it even left the shop, since it wouldn't change to the big ring at all (it kept flexing instead of actually shifting). My understanding of the differences between Rival, Force and Red is in line with what Wahine said - the differences are not in the engineering but in the materials. I'm not a weight weenie, so Rival is fine for me. That said, if a Red bike came along at a reasonable price, I'd go Red! :D I mean, if it's good enough for Lance, it's good enough for me, right? :D :D :D

Max

[Owlie]

My thoughts...

You say that you're not tall enough to ride the "Large" Giant, and the fact that Giant doesn't come in Large for women does present a problem. BUT...have you considered looking at the "Medium/Large" men's Giant Defy frame? I believe the Defy is the men's version of the Avail. Just something else to consider.



Not an option, sadly. I borrowed an older OCR3, M, and the top tube on that sucker was too long. Not overly so, but enough to cause discomfort. My bike may be a case of tweaking a few small things. I'm hoping that's the case. I'm not uncomfortable enough to not ride--I feel it toward the end of a ride and when I get off the bike.
Thanks for the breakdown on SRAM. BF's and his family's bikes are all Shimano, so I really don't have a comparison.
Catriona, thanks for the suggestion on the fitting. Any idea how much I can expect to pay? I'll also be calling the LBS, I think.

[Catrin]

Two words.
steel Jamis (http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/quest/10_questf.html)

This is a beautiful bike! I keep telling myself that I wouldn't like the bent-over position.... but I keep looking at "true" road bikes... I can't buy another bike until I get THIS one paid off :p

[Maxxxie]

Any idea how much I can expect to pay? I'll also be calling the LBS, I think.

I paid $150 for mine, and it was the best thing I ever did. It was done by a physiotherapist, not an LBS (ie he had no vested interest in selling me a new bike). My LBS does full fittings for $140, and I've heard very good reviews about the results. I've seen LBS's charge as high as $300, but it seems most charge around the $150 mark.

Cheers,
Max

[Owlie]

I checked with my LBS, and a full fitting costs $150. I figure I'll book it a little closer to break, because as of now, my plans are up in the air.