Let me preface this by saying I’m new to cycling in general. I finally bought a used bike a couple months ago (Norco VFR2, second image) and absolutely love cycling! I’ve been riding between ~15-25 miles a day and want to get a true road bike. Would a Specialized Allez (the one in the first image) be worth the upgrade or would I be smarter to save up more and keep riding the bike I have now until I can afford a nicer one? Any advice is appreciated!
by No-Speed-6129
4 Comments
From watching a few people in my group get the cycling bug on a hybrid, they were best served by a nicer road bike than this one. You know you like it, you’re already doing two hour rides. So I don’t know how long it would take you to save up but if you could double that budget then you could get high end aluminum with 105 or low end carbon/titanium near that price. That allez is nice for a first bike but you already have a first bike.
The disc brakes are a great feature but I’m running $150 2018 Raleigh grand sport Facebook marketplace for $150 that has the same components same 2 x 8, I would suggest buy used unless you’re really looking at a warranty I feel like for $1000. You can get definitely 1 05 components or better.
The base model Allez has a Claris drivetrain with a square taper, out of group set Shimano crank…if your old bike is also 8spd, I’d save a little longer and go at least a model up.
Sold a lot of entry level road bikes in my day and I have to recommend against the base level Allez, functionally it’s not a huge improvement from what you’re riding now. If you want to get a Specialized I’d recommend the base level Roubaix SL8. Canyon has some great prices on endurance bikes but the geometry of the Roubaix is perfect. I’m not the fastest or most flexible rider but I did tons of centuries on mine. You can slowly ungraded parts as you go and it will be easier because it’s a thru axle and a threaded bottom bracket so swapping parts for higher quality will be easier in the future. Hope this helps.