Shopping for a New Bike

It has been an interesting week shopping for bicycles online. I started last weekend by checking craigslist religiously every few hours for possible bikes. One of my co-workers is appalled to discover that this will be my fourth bike and that I have no immediate intention of having fewer than that. The criteria changes a little over the week. At first, I am looking for any newer bike that is the right frame size (estimated at 52cm), but as the days go by and I do more research, I start to narrow it to women’s specific road bikes.

Frames are allegedly unisex nowadays. The old men’s straight top tube and women’s step-through frames have been largely replaced by what is called compact geometry frames that have a slightly canted top tube and usually a fatter down tube. The materials available have expanded to steel, aluminum, and carbon. The last is going to be out of my price range regardless, but I still check out a few carbon bikes for sale and try not to drool too much. In the last several years, women’s specific bikes have captured a tiny part of the serious road bike market. They make allowances for proportionately longer legs and shorter reach. After dealing with increasing aches and pains from riding an incorrect size bike, I want the best deal I can get for my money.

The difficulty with craigslist ads is that a lot of sellers don’t know much about the bikes they are advertising. The ones who do know exactly what the market value is on the bikes they are selling and price them accordingly. I think I have a lead on a genuine steal of a bike, a Novara Carema for $300. When I email the seller, she tells me she already sold it. The next time I check craigslist, I see the bike listed again for $580. It was snapped up by a flipper. It’s still a decent price for a nice bike, so I go ahead and contact the new seller while trying to contain my irritation at his buying “my” bike.

When I first started looking at road bikes a couple months ago, I was basically looking for the cheapest one possible, but T turned down every bike I showed him. After doing more research and reading, I know what to look for, but it’s still hard to resist forwarding ads for twisted chrome hoopdie lowriders or unicycles or other random bikes.

Poor T was inundated over the last week with every reasonable prospect I found. Today I went to Performance Bike for miscellaneous supplies, and to my surprise they had a Fuji Finest 2.0 in about my size. I took it for a ride and it felt just about the right size, which it turns out is 50cm instead of 52cm. I also rode a “unisex” Scattante Three Thirty in a 51cm, and it felt a bit too long. So much for unisex bikes.

The art of bike shopping is the frame. It needs to be the best you can afford and the best fit you can find. Everything else on the bike can be upgraded or adjusted, so the frame has to be the deciding factor. On the other hand, if you can get better components for the same price, it saves you the hassle (and money) of upgrading later. The original plan for my road bike was to buy a frame and then strip everything off the Bianchi, but they just don’t sell women’s frames and I found a few nice prospects on craigslist. All in the Bay Area, but there you go.

Tomorrow is the big day. Choice No. 1 is a Trek Pilot 1.2 with Shimano Tiagra/105 components. Choice No. 2 is a Novara Carema with Shimano Tiagra components (if I can ever coordinate a viewing date/time with the seller). Choice No. 3 is a Fuji Finest 2.0 with Shimano Sora/Tiagra components.