Buying a road bike - need advice

[myarider]

thank-you ilima

I will ask about the wheelset. When you say Elite tires, do you mean the Ruby Elite, or is Elite a brand of tire? The salesperson (who seemed like a great guy) said this wheelset is much better than the one on the Ruby Elite (hence the bigger pricetag).

[ilima]

thank-you ilima

I will ask about the wheelset. When you say Elite tires, do you mean the Ruby Elite, or is Elite a brand of tire? The salesperson (who seemed like a great guy) said this wheelset is much better than the one on the Ruby Elite (hence the bigger pricetag).

Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset or something comparable. Mavic is a big manufacturer of wheels.

[SouthernBelle]

Are you looking to do loaded touring? If so, you would normally want a frame with braze-ons to attach a rack or trailer. Carbon frames don't normally have that.

There are ways around that, but most folks don't seem to use carbon for loaded touring.