New, too. Question about the Dolce.

Hi everyone.

I've been perusing the forum for a few weeks as I have been doing research on the wonderful world of commuting by bike. I have a 6.5 mile commute with hills, and I haven't been on a bike since middle school. Okay, not totally true, I rode a tandem three years ago and tried out some bikes at the shop the other day. But you get the idea.

So I decided I liked the Specialized Dolce the best, but the price tag kinda scares me. There's someone selling one in my size on eBay. It's a 2005 Specialized Dolce Vita. So here come my questions.

I've never heard of the Vita. How does it compare to the current models of Dolce available from Specialized?

Also, can I expect the fit from year to year, build to build to be the same as the current model?

Finally, does anyone have any eBay bike buying horror stories to share?

I want to thank you all for such great posts. I've learned a ton here.

I think they don't mess with the geometry from year to year, so an '05 48cm should fit the same as an '08 48cm. I just looked at the bike you're thinking about on Ebay, and it looks good to me :).

You can check the geometries for each year on their website--they have an archive:


http://www.specialized.com/bc/home.j...29&language=US

I think the Vita is/was their tri bike and came with aero bars. I don't know if that would make it incompatible with commuting, but it does have the same geometry as the regular Dolce.

I've got a specialized catalog here at home. The Vita is now their Flat bat "fitness" bike (The women's version of the Sirrus ;) see here
hipersons., is this this what you're looking at? it looks like it.
Don't you love when the "re purpose" thier model designations? :p

Ohh, awesome, I totally didn't see the archive there... that definitely helps!

Fredwina that is the one I'm looking at, but it looks like the center metal thing is not on it anymore.

And yes, the new model name totally threw me. I knew it must have some sort of present day comparable...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hipersons

Ohh, awesome, I totally didn't see the archive there... that definitely helps!

Fredwina that is the one I'm looking at, but it looks like the center metal thing is not on it anymore.

And yes, the new model name totally threw me. I knew it must have some sort of present day comparable...

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The term for the "center metal thing" is an areobar here's a pic showing how they are used. as the name implies, you use them to get a more areo position
That being said, You don't need one, and you can buy another pair if you decide you want one.:)

It looks like it's in great condition. Let us know if you win!