Looking for a road bike but don't have a clue!

[Deanf]

Right guys. The cube hasn't come in yet but i've just gone round the neighbours and he has a Trek Madone 4.5 he's willing to part with.

I don't know which year it is but it has the following:
Ultegra brakes
Ultegra Rear mech
105 chainset
105 shifters
Bontrager race lite wheels.

He's also got brand new Shimano Rd86 shoes.

He bought the bike for £800 and it is in extremely good condition. Does it sound like a good bike? How much should i offer him?

[DBSV8]

I would reccommend a Colnago C50 you can get a 2006 spec bike for your budget , and for this you are going to have a very serious bike that will last a lifetime




currently on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Colnago-C50-HP-Road-Carbon-B...

1,670

or
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COLNAGO-MASTER-X-LIGHT-2010-...


edit to add I have a 105 set up on my 1950s racer is very good but no comparison to a campagnola set up thats on my C50

Edited by DBSV8 on Monday 24th January 05:31

[LRdriver II]

Man..
the guy is a DH Neanderthal, so will not appreciate the fine ride and history of the Colnago.. wasted on him.

Besides, when he finds out that the Master is in steel, it will immediately be dismissed as old fashioned and not as good as the plastic bikes everybody seems to swoon at these days.

Buy the Trek/Spech/Boardman plastic bike that gets spat out by the thousands out east and be done with it.

[Deanf]

Sorry, touched a nerve?

[DBSV8]

LRdriver II said:

Man..
the guy is a DH Neanderthal, so will not appreciate the fine ride and history of the Colnago.. wasted on him.

Besides, when he finds out that the Master is in steel, it will immediately be dismissed as old fashioned and not as good as the plastic bikes everybody seems to swoon at these days.

Buy the Trek/Spech/Boardman plastic bike that gets spat out by the thousands out east and be done with it.

apreciated ,

but there are some fantastic deals to be had on a high spec bike thats a few years old

agree the Boardman bike would be a good bet

[anonymous-user]

LRdriver II said:

Buy the Trek/Spech/Boardman plastic bike that gets spat out by the thousands out east and be done with it.

i dont want to piss on your party here but the same factories in Taiwan pump out the "Colnago" CLX carbon stuff too. they also make the low end aluminium "Colnago" frames too which are rebadged Giants.

the steel bikes are assembled in Italy using far eastern sourced steel which is almost certainly used in lots of other bikes and I would reckon to be on a par with Columbus XCR or Reynolds 953 (which incidentally, the likes of Argos, Enigma and Brian Rouke will happily make for you at half the price of Colnago!)

you did know that a lot of campagnolo stuff is now madein Romania didnt you!.......

[anonymous-user]

ps. The trek is a good buy for £800, if it fits and its comfy you could do a lot worse....

[okgo]

pablo said:

LRdriver II said:

Buy the Trek/Spech/Boardman plastic bike that gets spat out by the thousands out east and be done with it.

i dont want to piss on your party here but the same factories in Taiwan pump out the "Colnago" CLX carbon stuff too. they also make the low end aluminium "Colnago" frames too which are rebadged Giants.

the steel bikes are assembled in Italy using far eastern sourced steel which is almost certainly used in lots of other bikes and I would reckon to be on a par with Columbus XCR or Reynolds 953 (which incidentally, the likes of Argos, Enigma and Brian Rouke will happily make for you at half the price of Colnago!)

you did know that a lot of campagnolo stuff is now madein Romania didnt you!.......

Owned.

[LRdriver II]

Ouch.. yea, I guess I am pwned.. big time


A few comments, I am aware that Colnago do indeed get some of their lower spec bikes buildt in the east. They even advertise that, so you know what you get.
The C50 was made in Italy as well as most of the high end models. They claim its a local carbon company who supply the tubes to them to be assembled in Cambiaggio (sp?). The question is what defines a "made in italy" frame?.. doing everything by hand or receiving the front and rear triangles separately in a container shipped from over yonder, and simply glue them together.. thus gaining the sticker "Fatta en Italia" I dont know..

The Master is indeed an elegant steed, and will likely ride like a dream. Personally and what my plan is next, is to get a custom steel frame made by somebody local.. thus I can choose geo, colours and tube spec to my choice. I dont know where they build the master, but I was pissed when I found out the DeRosa Primato and the equivalant frame from Cinelli were made of lower grade steel tubing. Not cool when its supposedly your flagship retro frames.

My comment was slightly tongue-in-cheek, but you guys got me.. fair and square.

[spongy]

Specialized tarmac comp is bang on,try older cannondale 6/13 now theres a bike

[DBSV8]

LRdriver II said:

Ouch.. yea, I guess I am pwned.. big time


A few comments, I am aware that Colnago do indeed get some of their lower spec bikes buildt in the east. They even advertise that, so you know what you get.
The C50 was made in Italy as well as most of the high end models. They claim its a local carbon company who supply the tubes to them to be assembled in Cambiaggio (sp?). The question is what defines a "made in italy" frame?.. doing everything by hand or receiving the front and rear triangles separately in a container shipped from over yonder, and simply glue them together.. thus gaining the sticker "Fatta en Italia" I dont know..

The Master is indeed an elegant steed, and will likely ride like a dream. Personally and what my plan is next, is to get a custom steel frame made by somebody local.. thus I can choose geo, colours and tube spec to my choice. I dont know where they build the master, but I was pissed when I found out the DeRosa Primato and the equivalant frame from Cinelli were made of lower grade steel tubing. Not cool when its supposedly your flagship retro frames.



My comment was slightly tongue-in-cheek, but you guys got me.. fair and square.

as an aside I bought my C50 from Rohan at Dauphins in boxhill , Highly reccommended excellent cycle shop , It took around 4 months to get my frame from Colnago in Italy and the bike built and Rohan was in constant touch with both the vendors in Italy and keeping me updated on progress , it wasn't cheap back in 2006 with Hyperon wheels a few bits of kit i think it was in the region of 7.5k but it will last me a life time .

I didn't know Campag were also manufactured in Romanio? regardless , Ive found the Record to be efficient , well built and reliable , compared to the 105 Shimano set up I have on the retro 50s track / road racer my late father designed

one comment Rohan , made at the time of purchase " your not the usual size of customer for one of these types of bikes " which I guess is a friendly way of saying "your a bit of fat bstd "

[thiscocks]

get yourself a nice british built steed, none of this fancy continental stuff! (but with campag gears)

http://www.robertscycles.com/products.html