Test riding in your size

[pll]

How about a look at CompetitiveCyclist.com? They carry Orbea, Pinarello, Willier and Willier. They have a fit guide and can sell the frames only (you could transplant the part from another bike...).

The last bike you might buy? Oh, we know better in this forum. Besides, there is Rule # 12.

[velo]

Ha! Not *last* bike... last bike like this one (aggressive road bike). And I could totally be off the mark on that, too. I just figure when I hit my 50's, I'll be wanting something more comfortable. Could be wrong!

I have been looking online. If I were more mechanical, I would totally build my own bike. As it is, I'm not ruling out buying a complete bike. I don't have any spare parts to transplant, though.

[goldfinch]

Given how important riding is to you I would make the drives to try out some of the bikes you are interested in. I even drove three hours just to try a hybrid.

[pll]

The thing about driving around is that it is hard to compare -- sometimes you end up in a dense urban area, where it is hard to ride in traffic, and then you more attention to not becoming road kill than to how the bike feels. So my dubious thinking was: get the frame, take it to your LBS to put your parts one (the components from one of your current bikes). Test it. Like it? Get a build kit --that site also sells build kits... look under "components". Shipping the frame is cheaper than shipping the entire bike. You could even get more than one frame at a time... What is neat is that you would test it on grounds you know, with wheels and gear you are already familiar with. At that point, you can focus on just the frame qualities.

I definitely missed the "like this" part of a "bike like this". My apologies. The universe makes sense again.

[nuliajuk]

The idea of taking the dimensions of your existing bike and finding a new one with the same dimensions makes sense.
If you can find a Look dealer, I'm pretty sure all Look models are available as frames only. I don't know how the racier ones feel, but I absolutely love my 566. It feels like it wants to go fast, so I find myself riding much longer and harder that I otherwise would, yet it's extremely comfortable over our cracked and broken roads.

[redrhodie]

http://road.cc/content/news/62694-eddy-merckxs-emx-525

Here's your bike. EMX 525, Campy Record 11.

[redrhodie]

Jeeze Red, how much is that thing? Gorgeous, though.

The EMX 5 frameset is $3800, so not bad. That particular bike I linked to is Eddy's, so it's probably priceless.

[pll]

http://road.cc/content/news/62694-eddy-merckxs-emx-525

Here's your bike. EMX 525, Campy Record 11.

Love the bell!

[velo]

Thank you all for your insight. Both the fanciful (Merckx' bike ) and the rest. I don't have time to reply to all, but I appreciate the time you've taken to help me think this through. I'm trying to see through the marketing and look to the next real cycling investment I'll make. Again thank you, and I will keep you posted over the next few weeks as I try to figure out what will be my next ride.