Alvin thinks he is buying his last bike; never say "that's my last bike!" You just never know, you might get tired of whatever you buy or just want another change. If you are in your 70's then maybe this would be your last bike, other wise never say never. Alvin has a few choices so we take a look and give him our thoughts
Question:
I am looking to upgrade my bike. I am thinking that this will be my last bike. The more bikes I look at the harder the choice. But here goes.. I have narrowed down my choices to a Cervelo r3sl the soloist or the slc-sl:. The Fuji sl1 or the team rc: the specialized tarmac sl2: a Pinarello one that fits my budget: last but not least going custom with a guru geneo. I am looking to spend (if my wife doesn't find out) around 5,000 dollars hence my last bike. I am looking for performance in short fast rides as well as comfort for weekend centuries. In addition the most bang for the buck. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Alvin,
Nice choice of bikes, but this makes our job harder. Recently we compared a Cervelo R3SL with a Scott addict; this has opened our eyes to the Cervelo. If you had asked us last year we would probably have gone for either the Specialized Tarmac or a Pinarello. The Pinarello that we like would be a bit expensive and the Specialized is still nice, but maybe a bit dated. Fuji are nice, I rode an alloy one on a couple of occasions and I would say that all the dimensions are good, but not sure about some of their paint designs and I'm sorry to say we know nothing about Guru except they are expensive.
So why the Cervelo R3SL and not the Soloist or the Soloist SLC-SL? The soloist team bike is alloy, OK alloy is good, but carbon is where it is! The Soloist SLC-SL is one of the best and well respected carbon frames on the road, we think the big down tube is very aerodynamic, but do you need it? It will be strong, without doubt, but it is big. We like the R3SL for it's subtly and comfort, the angles and tube lengths are all correct.
Have you looked at the Cervelo RS, it's not much different from the R3SL, except that the head comes up a little higher for more comfort. It is designed to help riders who want a bit more comfort and still want the performance of a top class steed.
So there you have our thought, either the Cervelo R3SL or for a little more comfort the Cervelo RS. Don't tell the wife!
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