Hey all,
Just want to thank the CT team for the discussion on the bike industry. In particular I enjoyed the conversation concerning bikes priced at $2,000 USD and less as that’s the type of bike I have ridden for the past 6 years (my entire cycling career thus far) and I don’t feel a need to by something much more exoensive than that. It would be great to see them show some more love to the aluminum race machines out there!
My first bike was a Trek 1.5, aluminum fram with Tiagra grouping that I put at least 10K miles on before getting my latest bike, an Allez Elite. I never put any upgrades into the Trek, but my Specializdd on the other hand has seen some upgrade love in the form of:
- Carbon bars and seatpost
- 4iiii’s PM
- Conversion to full 105
- Carbon wheels in the future
It’s a bike I bought for $,1350 (now $1,600) and I when I first bought it a year ago I was absolutely stunned by the ride quality and continue to be. I ride with all the fasties that sport carbon frams & wheels, etc… and I never feel like I can’t hang - unless the legs are dead of course.
If Specialized offered an Allez with tops specs seen on an Aethos, I’d get the Allez without hesitation (cables on the front and all). The Allez Sprint is an appealing prospect and I think they do good work with the paint jobs, so maybe that will be my next ride.