Your opinion Please!

[limewave]

Which bike do you think is the better option (I ride 4 days a week, 60-90 minutes at a time, maybe a 2hr ride one day). Perhaps a metric century once or twice a year.

bike 1:
Brand new 2010 Specialized Allez Comp with Shimano 105 components. Aluminum frame with carbon fork and seat post. $1300 (tax included in that price)

or

bike 2:
2007 Specialized Roubaix full carbon frame. Only has 230 miles on it. Shimano 105 components. $1500.

This is pretty much a hypothetical question as I can't really afford a bike, but just in case I happen to come into money in the next two weeks, I want to be prepared.

[Biciclista]

did you ride them? which one felt better?

you like to be fast and light. I'd walk away from the aluminum...

[limewave]

That's what I'm thinking too! I emailed the guy to see if I could test ride the carbon frame next week. And I have a meeting this week about a new freelance project . . . so maybe there will be $$ afterall????

[sundial]

My experience has been that the Roubaix is more of a "plush bike" and the Allez has more of a racer style aggressive geometry. I had a Roubaix and I can say that by the end of a long ride my hands, wrists, and neck did not fatigue nearly as much as when I rode a bike with not as relaxed geometry.

[Cataboo]

How sure are you about the carbon bike only having 230 miles on it? You could ask to take the carbon bike to a bike shop to get them to look over/check out the frame. Carbon's great - but the problem with used carbon is you don't know how much it was abused. Assuming that was the roubaix comp, it was about $2200 in 2007.

Aluminum is probably going to be as light as carbon - but it's a harsher ride. My hands went numb and I was fairly uncomfortable on aluminum even with a carbon fork, but that might just be me being sensitive.

Maybe try to talk the roubaix down to match the $1300 or further for the new aluminum bike, point out you can get a new bike with a warranty with similar level but updated componentry and a known frame history. I think $1500 is a bit high for it being a 105 level bike and used.

If you need to show him comparative prices of what roubaix's sell for on ebay:
This 2006 all ultegra model sold for $998 on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2006-specialized...item27b8fa664a

This 2008 105 level sold for $1276 on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Specialized-Roub...item230e87bfba

This brand new 105 level 2007 sold for $1100 on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Specialized-Roub...item1e61e29786

2010 105 level sold for $1400:
http://cgi.ebay.com/specialized-roub...item1c19af623f

2008 105 level that the bidding never got beyond $455, but didn't sell because it was under the reserve:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Specialized-Roub...item3a63bf72ab

There's a lot of roubaix's that bidding gets to about $1000 or so and then don't sell because it's under the reserve price.

[limewave]

Thanks Cataboo! And this is why I ask the experts

[tulip]

What are you riding now? Does it meet your needs? I would suggest sticking with what you have for a while. That's alot of money to spend if you don't really need a new bike.

(I may have mentioned that I'm reveling in my new frugality, and it's very powerful in the rest of my life. If I can pass some of my success on, I am happy to do it).

[kmehrzad]

I am not a fan of aluminum bikes. As Cataboo stated, the rides can often be very harsh, even with carbon forks and dampening inserts.

I own a 2007 Specialized Ruby Comp, Shimano 105 components, and absolutely love the bike. I paid $1,900 brand new so I think $1,500 is high for a used 2007 Roubaix.

[limewave]

I was hoping to talk him down to $1300, but I think I'll show him the comparisons from Cataboo and see if I can get it down to $1000. At this point I would not purchase it unless he conceded on the price.

My bike needs a lot of work. I'm having some serious issues with it and after checking it over, we figured it needs about $600 in parts, possibly more. I thought we'd try and sell it for $500 and put that towards a newer bike.

[oz rider]

Go for the one that fits, with the right geometry for you - the one that feels right. However I don't think I would buy a secondhand carbon bike. Most manufacturer warranties apply only to the original owner, so to assure yourself the carbon one hasn't been abused I'd be looking for scuffs etc that might hint at a bingle. A new bike will at least give you some free servicing (usually) and a warranty.

I did buy a used alloy bike on ebay years ago because I couldn't find one my size to try; even had my bike shop check it over as fine. But discovered later it had a split head tube and could only salvage parts.

Good luck!

[zoom-zoom]

If the price and fit are right I'd be hard-pressed to pick the aluminum over the carbon. I rode some pretty miserable miles in my first year on my aluminum frame. You ride a lot of the same roads I do. First 20 mile ride on carbon and I will never go back. At least not as long as I live in the land of chip-seal. I might reconsider if I lived somewhere with nothing but buttery asphalt, but that's not here.

[bonnypriest]

I personally tried out the Tarmac & Roubaix (in the same day) riding on some of those crappy chip seal roads. The Roubaix soaked up a lot of the vibration, BUT....the Tarmac was FAAAAAST! I assume you can guess what I purchased. See below.

My suggestion is to just go try them both out for yourself. You might love one or none, but at least you'll know. Good luck on your quest!

[Miranda]

Yep, alum is like riding with a tuning fork vibrating going thru your body. Carbon sucks the road up. Personally I'm considering alum only as a back up bike for shorter rides with the fm, not any major riding (just for something cheap). Yes, the shop can check for carbon damage. Fwiw, I crashed my carbon which 360 flipped over on top of me (my body didn't fair so well) and my frame fine. The alum spokes needed trued, and alum bars bent, but all carbon a-ok, stronger than you might think. Good luck.

[sundial]

Specialized does a pretty good job of dampening road noise through their Zertz inserts. My first Specialized was an aluminum road bike, a Sequoia, and it was pretty smooth on the chip seal roads that I ride on.

[Catrin]

I think that some of us do better with the aluminum "buzz" than others. Even with the carbon fork on my Trek AND the "iso-thingie" (can't remember the name) on the seat-stay it was very uncomfortable and I never made it to chip seal pavement. No aluminum for me ever again...