[woof37]

Your strategy is good, but seriously, get her fit professionally and buy her a second hand bike. My guess is you can buy a topline bike for 2K

Done (on her), but she's already bought it.  She was properly fit but ended up paying MSRP for her Specialized (grrrr...I think he took advantage of her, that's what I get for not being there).  We don't have the selection of used bikes around here that most of you probably do.  

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I ride a Al road bike and a steel mountain bike. Steel is real. I am planning to upgrade my road bike soon to a Ti frame when I can afford it. Probably just switch over the stuff from my Specialized to start and then upgrade as needed. I find that I am riding longer distances these days, 50-75 miles at a shot and I think my body would appreciate a less rigid ride.

 

[ferday]

The problem with steel is that...well, I don't think the major two brands we have (Specialized, Cannondale) have any steel road bikes.  Am I wrong there?  I just see CF and aluminum.  Was planning to avoid CF for the cost/potential fatigue factor.  This bike needs to last me a long while.  

Carbon has no fatigue factor, at all (compared to metals). It's also unlikely to break, but the breakage is potentially catastrophic. If taken care of CF is superior to steel and even Ti as far as longevity...and contrary to belief most CF breaks are easy to repair you just need to find a good tech

I ride steel, CF, and Al bikes, steel was my favourite until I was treated to the silky smooth ride of CF, but I'm still paranoid about how I treat it LOL

 

[deltarocket]

I agree with most of what is said here, but honestly most CF feels way too dead.  It dampens everything out so you get little in the way of "feedback" from the road.  Obviously this is a generalization, I would never turn down a top end CF bike, but a lugged, steel bike, built by someone like Dario Pegoretti, Richard Sachs, and anyone of a number of builders is a ride that will satisfy most amateur riders.  If you are racing, then you need to get as light as possible and that means CF.  Just my 2cts, for a couple of grand you can get a very nice used steel Colnago, Pinarello, Cinelli, CIOCC, Lemond and probably still have a few bucks for a latte )

 

[customcoco]

Carbon has no fatigue factor, at all (compared to metals). It's also unlikely to break, but the breakage is potentially catastrophic. If taken care of CF is superior to steel and even Ti as far as longevity...and contrary to belief most CF breaks are easy to repair you just need to find a good tech

I ride steel, CF, and Al bikes, steel was my favourite until I was treated to the silky smooth ride of CF, but I'm still paranoid about how I treat it LOL

+1.
 
In fact I've had a talk with the previous owner of my bike, and he said that one of his actual bikes (a Time) had been repaired no questions asked by Time themselves.
 
I don't get the hate with CF. I can only speak from my very limited experience as a rider, but my bike has about 50,000kms on it supporting heavy riders and still feels almost like a new bike in all respects.

 

[Hutnicks]

Carbon has no fatigue factor, at all (compared to metals). It's also unlikely to break, but the breakage is potentially catastrophic. If taken care of CF is superior to steel and even Ti as far as longevity...and contrary to belief most CF breaks are easy to repair you just need to find a good tech

I ride steel, CF, and Al bikes, steel was my favourite until I was treated to the silky smooth ride of CF, but I'm still paranoid about how I treat it LOL

Carbon Fibre breaks are ALWAYS catastrophic failures, it fails in no other way. Repair to very minor damage, perhaps. I sure would not trust a repaired CF frame. That's not hate (really wish people would stop bandying that word around) that's real life. Any time the actual fibres are cut you have a potential failure. Not a matter of if but when it fails. Personally, if I had a team mechanic and support crew maintaining my bike, sure I'd go with CF. As it stands though I just don't want to have to be that gentle with it.
 
I have experienced failures in steel, CF and Aluminum. The CF failure was by orders of magnitude the worst. The aluminum could be press fit back together and finessed home. Steel, well with most of the modern alloys it's a kick it back into shape and press on scenario.

 

[customcoco]

 
Carbon Fibre breaks are ALWAYS catastrophic failures, it fails in no other way. Repair to very minor damage, perhaps. I sure would not trust a repaired CF frame. That's not hate (really wish people would stop bandying that word around) that's real life. Any time the actual fibres are cut you have a potential failure. Not a matter of if but when it fails. Personally, if I had a team mechanic and support crew maintaining my bike, sure I'd go with CF. As it stands though I just don't want to have to be that gentle with it.
 
I have experienced failures in steel, CF and Aluminum. The CF failure was by orders of magnitude the worst. The aluminum could be press fit back together and finessed home. Steel, well with most of the modern alloys it's a kick it back into shape and press on scenario.

That's true. The worst thing's probably that Cf breakages can occur without any kind of warning. Ride downhill a little too fast over pothole and the fork breaks... But my very uneducated guess is that well made framesets won't do that. Now, well made could be translated into over-built which reduces the weight advantage of CF.
 
The guy I was talking about had a crack in the rear triangle of a pretty old Cervélo and a crack in the seat-post of a Time (out of the 5 CF bikes he owns), both repaired and both going strong now. Sure they've cracked, but as you've very well said that can happen with pretty much any material.
 
With that said, I'd really love to compare the more subjective side of those materials, how they feel on the road, which is something that I have yet to do.

 

[deltarocket]

Justt o be clear, I'm not hating on C.F., I am responding to the post regarding a "good" bike for 2K +/-. You can get a low end C.F. bike for that, but low end components are not good for Tri's. Shimon Sora/Tiagra just are not durable enough and oh they are heavy. You can get a great steel bike, by a great manufacturer with 105 or more like Ultegra components for likely 1200/1300 on either EBay or CL. That added to the fact that good steel bikes are not Clydesdales makes it a good value. With respect to the fatigue issue, I ride a lot. More than 15,000 miles a year, and I still have many of my older bikes. I contend that unless you are a professional, wearing out a steel bike is unlikely. Finally, there was a article written abd published in Bicycle magazine last year regarding C.F. repair, it's advanced to the point that if you use a qualified shop, the repair is strong and likely not noticeable if the bike is repainted. Best to all, no C.F. hating here )

 

[customcoco]

Justt o be clear, I'm not hating on C.F., I am responding to the post regarding a "good" bike for 2K +/-. You can get a low end C.F. bike for that, but low end components are not good for Tri's. Shimon Sora/Tiagra just are not durable enough and oh they are heavy. You can get a great steel bike, by a great manufacturer with 105 or more like Ultegra components for likely 1200/1300 on either EBay or CL. That added to the fact that good steel bikes are not Clydesdales makes it a good value. With respect to the fatigue issue, I ride a lot. More than 15,000 miles a year, and I still have many of my older bikes. I contend that unless you are a professional, wearing out a steel bike is unlikely. Finally, there was a article written abd published in Bicycle magazine last year regarding C.F. repair, it's advanced to the point that if you use a qualified shop, the repair is strong and likely not noticeable if the bike is repainted. Best to all, no C.F. hating here

)

I shouldn't have used that word, just like hutnicks said it's used way too often in the wrong context. English is not my first language and as such I'm prone to mistakes and I guess that was one.
 
I have to say that I'm not hyping CF either, I just think that when it's well made by qualified frame makers, such as Colnago or Time etc, its strengths overcome its weaknesses. Then again, isn't that the case of any of today's materials?
 
I don't have a clue about how the used bikes market in the U.S. is, but here you can get pretty much any material you want, even with the best groupsets (Ti apart, perhaps) for 2000$ as long as you don't mind getting 5 years old bikes.
 
I had found a magnificent Pesenti Fly (Al, beryllium another interesting alloy) for 1000 bucks (with a recent athena gruppo and handmade open pros...), sadly it was way too small for me...
 
Best to all too !

 

[Sniping]

Can someone help me identify this bike? I'm thinking of buying. Seller told me this is a 2011 Aluxx 6000 bike, Giant Defy 4? Not sure...input would be appreciated!
 

Looks like a Defy 3/4 but the seat post looks interesting, pedals were swapped for clip on shoes, which are included. 

 

[Icenine2]

I've been riding Ti bikes for about 18 years and they are really a nice ride.  I'd like to try Carbon but no $$ to try one out.  What I love about Ti is it is a no worry deal about paint (mine is au natural) or chipping etc with Carbon.  I owned carbon fiber neck electric guitars for 35 years and although not the same as a bike never experienced any even slight difference in performance (break-down, twist, weakening etc).  Also used CF for years on windsurfing gear and nada as well.

 

[customcoco]

  I've been riding Ti bikes for about 18 years and they are really a nice ride.  I'd like to try Carbon but no $$ to try one out.  What I love about Ti is it is a no worry deal about paint (mine is au natural) or chipping etc with Carbon.  I owned carbon fiber neck electric guitars for 35 years and although not the same as a bike never experienced any even slight difference in performance (break-down, twist, weakening etc).  Also used CF for years on windsurfing gear and nada as well.

What kind of guitars? Vigier, zon ?
 
I really love the way Ti looks without any paint on it. It looks great on every type of bike, MTB road touring...

 

[customcoco]

  Can someone help me identify this bike? I'm thinking of buying. Seller told me this is a 2011 Aluxx 6000 bike, Giant Defy 4? Not sure...input would be appreciated!
 

Looks like a Defy 3/4 but the seat post looks interesting, pedals were swapped for clip on shoes, which are included. 

It looks good, how much ?
 
But why oh why  people keep using white bar tape....

 

[Silent One]

   

 

 Nuthin' to do with your own reply.... the avatar is stunning. 

 

[Sniping]

  It looks good, how much ?
 
But why oh why  people keep using white bar tape....

He wanted $550 with the shoes (which are my size) and lock. He said that the bike needed a tune up though, and I have to get it fit, so that's probably going to add another $100 to the cost, maybe more.