Subject: RE: wanting to get a new bike but have no idea where to start please help I wouldn't worry, bike threads get allot of different comments. My 2 cents are you seem to have allot of fitness if you can maintain a 20ish mph. Many pros I guess would be 25ish for an average mph. I went from a road bike, $1500 aluminum/carbon on forks/seat stays to a $5000 Transition full carbon pro, didn't spend 5K, got a great deal. My average speeds jumped 3-5 mph, but that was because there was more power being applied to the pedals by the bike design. Besides a jump in overall speed, I noticed the pickup was night and day. I could get up to 20 something mph much faster on my tri bike, while in the seat, but in the aeros. I noticed I may only have to shift one gear, while my old road bike I had to shift allot more to get to 20 somehting. When I was doing a speed session on my tri bike and peaked at 32mph on a flat road for half mile before I died. My old road bike, I dont think I could have done this. Also, I noticed the carbon frame, besides the damping is about 50% then before, does help with hills. I think its because the frame is stiffer so it doesn't flex when I stand or apply power on hills. I think my mph jumped 4-5 on hills going the same PE. Now, even though I saw an increase in bike performance, because I got bad bike fit, I still got beat by bikers on a cheaper bikes. You will hear the biker is what wins not the bike. However, it looks like you have the making of a great biker, so maybe its worth upgrading. Its probably worth taking spin on a new one see if you notice a difference. |