Road Bike Advice

[Vtec?lol]

So,
As all have mentioned before... I would push you towards buying something used. Unless you want a carbon bike. Never buy carbon bikes used unless you get them proffessionally checked but even then, they can have internal issues that aren't at all easy to detect.

I'm 6'2" and 225 and I prefer the carbon because of how rigid it is. The frame seems to absorb shocks and stresses better than the alu bikes. I have a carbon, a steel, and an aluminum/carbon road bike. They're all made by GIANT so I'm biased but one thing they all have in common is they're made in taiwan no matter what brand. Except for maybe look.

Get something pre owned and steel. They're the heaviest of the bunch but also the cheapest and easiest to repair.

Look up the GIANT OCR1 and 2 on your local craigsilst. A lot of them are popping up now from folks upgrading.

[smooth]

I don't want my point lost on the 2nd page:

no bike is as good as the one that speaks to you when you ride it
the only bike that matters is the one that you reach for in the morning and gets your butt out on the road, regardless of build material or whathaveyous

[tkeenan]

That Ridley should be a nice ride. New 105 is great, like race quality. Full-carbon great too.
The new stuff is just way way better than even 10 years ago, both components and frames. So don't go backwards. I've broken or had break on me, steel, aluminum, and one issue with a carbon frame - so they all break if you use them enough. And my crappiest road bike was a really expensive Orbea Orca. Best one was a value 07 Raleigh carbon, which I still have. With that said, if you can get a deal on an aluminum, that's not a bad way to go. For my MTB, I got an aluminum Cannondale flash because the carbon's price just didn't justify the jump up there.

[tkeenan]

That Ridley should be a nice ride. New 105 is great, like race quality. Full-carbon great too.
The new stuff is just way way better than even 10 years ago, both components and frames. So don't go backwards. I've broken or had break on me, steel, aluminum, and one issue with a carbon frame - so they all break if you use them enough. And my crappiest road bike was a really expensive Orbea Orca. Best one was a value 07 Raleigh carbon, which I still have. With that said, if you can get a deal on an aluminum, that's not a bad way to go, especially Cannondales.
Regarding warranty, extremely variable, I remember I had a used Klein MTB warranty replacement with no receipt or history with the shop I went to. The only caveat was I paid them to dismantle and put it back together. After that, they won me as a customer, so it pays off for a shop, and good shops realize this. Not sure if Ridley handle's their own warranties, or if it's some bike cooperative, but I wouldn't worry about that. Besides 1500 is a good deal for a full carbon 105 bike.

[freeride53]

Carbon will typically only break from a bad fall. Normal use you will have 0 issues.

Then again, you can also damage alu frames too from srs falls.

cliffs: dont fall lol

[brutus87]

This is why I love R3v, different opinions and great points. I really appreciate it. In reality I would keep my steel, but the problem is that I am a size 52, and my steel is size 60, aka way too big for me. Hurts my back after 20 miles or so. Keeping it is out of the question.

Im waiting for a trek 52cm as the one I test rode was a 54cm, going to give that one a fair shot like the rest.

Thanks R3v. Going to try them one more time this weekend and decide.