Which bike to buy?

Colin Ayrton does most of his riding on the Costa Blanca in Spain, not far from the BCR office. He has written in wanting advice on which his next bike should be? He can’t decide between a Trek and a Specialized.

Message:
I have been mountain biking and walking for a long time and since a hip repair last year I find biking is easier than walking so looking to by a road bike, as well as my MB for fun and fitness.
I am 61 and will not be competing or racing; I have already hired a road bike from my LBS on several occasions and been out for 3 or 4 hours doing 60/70k and really enjoyed the ride.

Question – After much reading I have arrived at the Trek 2.3 or the Specialized Secteur Comp as my final choices, I feel I need a little unbiased help in deciding which would be the best bike for me.
Many thanks.
Colin.
PS Enjoy the web site and all the updates I receive, learning a lot.

Hi Colin.

This is a great part of the world for cycling, that’s for sure. Where you live you have the choice of mountains or flat roads, so you will need a good choice of gears, maybe a compact chain set would be a good choice.

Trek 2.3
The big bonus is that the Trek 2.3 is as close to the race geometry as the full-on race bike and will react and feel very similar to a bike that costs a lot more. It’s not a carbon frame, but is made with a light weight Aluminium with carbon forks. The equipment is Shimano 105 with a choice of compact or triple chain set married to a 12 to 27 tooth 10 speed cassette. The 50 x 34 compact should be enough for most anything, but if you were worried about some steep climbs then the triple would be the answer. All the other bits, including the wheels, are from Treks in-house; Bontrager parts. Good looking and workman like bike, a winner!

Specialized Secteur Comp
Again an aluminium frame with carbon fork blades on an alloy crown and steerer with Zertz inserts. Shimano 105 components with Tektro brakes callipers and some Specialized parts and the wheels are made with Mavic rims. The chain set is not 105, but the cheaper RS600. The bike should feel comfortable as it has Zertz inserts in the seat pin, forks and seat stays, but knowing the roads that you will be riding this might not be necessary.

Our Choice
The bikes are quite close in many ways, on reflection I would go for the Trek 2.3 as it is as close to the top-end Trek Madone as you will get for the money, the wheels are good and all should ride well.

Hope that helps, Colin, let us know how you get on and maybe we will see you out on your new bike some time.