If anyone gets a bit tired of cycling on the roads during the event on Sunday, then maybe they should try some REAL lake-cycling. According to this thread over at BikeForums.net, you can get inflatable pontoons and a propellor to attach to your bike, which all fits in a small backpack and assembles in just 10 minutes to transform your bike into a water-based machine. Maybe we could take a shortcut across the lake from Yvoire to Nyon without ever stopping pedaling! The company's website, with brief videos, is here: shuttlebike.com. Truly AWESOME!

The bike looks as an older model , maybe 2000-2002, and it is a TREK 5000 not a 5500 like he says.

So a Trek 5000 sould be full carbon but with Shimano 105 parts.

It also looks like the head piece and stem are not in place. broken ?, the seller doesn't give information.

The frame looks like a 58

It is back for sale again , now at 200.-

https://www.ricardo.ch/accdb/viewitem.asp?IDI=539203310

If I would buy it I would bid no more than 400 and think that you would have to put on that bike maybe 250 more to get it repaired.

But if the stem is lost or broken I would suspect of a crash.

Maybe for that reason the first buyer didn't complete the transaction.

There is a good bike for sale but they are asking 1800-2000 that seems high to me. They say is 2 years old, so a 2006 model, could be a fair price then.

http://www.ricardo.ch/Article5387978...3884/P/0/1/0/1

But i've seen another bike very similar to this one a 2005 model sold for 1000.- make them an offer and propose maybe max 1300-1500.

Remember I paid 2500 for a 1 year old bike with Mavic Ksyrium wheels ( that cost 1000.- ), full serviced from an authorised Trek dealer, so that is the point of reference for me.

Anyhow, when you are in Geneva for the cyclo tour, go to Vifian Cycles, he's the one who I bought the bike from.

Bernard Vifian
Commerce de cycles
Route de Chêne 19
1207 Genève/GE
022 736 11 10
Fax022 736 38 61


He has very good second hand bikes and he is honest. I went also to the other Trek dealer in Geneva at the Rue Hoffmann, he has a nicer shop but he wanted to give me "cat for rabbit" as we say.


As I told you before, don't try to get a cheap bike, try to get a good bike but cheaper.

When you are road cycling, you'll be going fast and climb step hills atr high pace, it is not the moment you'd want your bike breaks appart.

It is better to invest some more money on a good and safe carbon frame or even a good aluminum one, with good parts Shimano (Ultegra or DuraAce) or Campagnolo (Chorus or Record), serviced, with new brake pads, cables and tires.

Rahul, Salsa gave some very good advice there but, don't obsess with this carbon frame business. Unless you are going to race at a high level its not necessary. You are better off looking for a bike that you will be comfortable on and that will not self destruct in a short time. I recently purchased a road bike and was choosing between second hand and new, in the end I decided to get a new bike because I felt I could trust it more and if something goes wrong there is always warranty.

I picked up an aluminium framed bike with carbon forks and carbon seat stays, ultegra shifters/brake levers and dérailleurs with other reasonably good quality components too, for about 1500CHF. Don't worry about carbon frames, aluminium is fine, and less critical to having been crashed, it will also be cheaper and will last you a lot longer in the long run. Look for reasonable components and if necessary spend a little extra money. Trying to scrimp too much will be more expensive in the long run.

Remember, you get what you pay for! But make sure you pay a fair price for what you get.

Thanks all for your advices. There is a Velo Börse this Saturday in Oerlikon. The last time I went there I remember seeing several decent road bikes for sale. I am curious to see if I get some decent deals there.

I don't want to spend more than 1000 on a bike now but am also realising how a old/troubled bike can drain out your money so quickly.

Thanks for your tips again

I could come along and help with my biased opinion , if you go early afternoon, let' say from 1-3pm

Just keep him away from the pink carbon bikes.

I have aluminium frame with carbon forks as well, I don't like the feell of carbon frames on a big person like myself, If I am flyweight, carbon might be good.

Pitty, this one was for sale at just CHF 800.-



And this one just CHF 750

Great, so you went and googled pink road bikes and came up with a time trial bike and a girls bike!!!


I have my suspicions the Trek is an aluminium frame with carbon forks though.

Now which one would you recommend for Rahul?

@ salsa lover.

Thanks for the offer for accompanying me..The sale begings at 9 am and lasts till 3. Most of the good bikes are gone in the first 2 hours of the sale. I reckon I will go there early to have my pick at the good ones..you are most welcome to join me early on but I don't wanna spoil your Sunday morning.

thanks again!

OK I could be there at 9am ( half-sleeping for sure ), send me a PM or post here the Address

See you there !

Not all carbon is equal, and the same is true about Alu. I have an Aluminum/Scandium frame that is hydro-formed and kiln-aged - more sophisticated than many carbon frames. Unfortunately, it is not always true that Alu lasts longer than Carbon. High-end Alu frames tend to fatigue more quickly, and while they may look fine, they can lose the sharp stiffness that made them high end in the first place (think of Uri Geller bending those spoons over and over until they broke). Carbon holds it's stiffness better, but is more prone to critical failure (it breaks, where Alu might bend).

Mass produced carbon frames like Giants, Treks, etc, are better than their Alu counterparts. But a good Alu frame like a Ridley or a Merxx might have characteristics some riders prefer.

I am ten percent faster on my carbon frame, but I also worry about it more, and would not want to race with it.

My advice: go cheap until you find your level of commitment, your riding style, and your correct fit. If I had purchased the bike I thought I wanted when I started riding, I'd have regretted it.

Hey folks, you've all made interesting comments but can we please try to keep this thread on topic. There are many other threads where you can discuss buying a new bike, try this one for instance: Buying a racing/road bike advice needed. This thread is supposed to be about the race around the lake this Sunday.

How is the weather looking for Sunday?

Btw, will the jersey be orange again this year?

<sigh>

Unfortunately, yes. The main sponsor is the newspaper Le Matin, and as in previous years, the jerseys are 'Le Matin orange'. It looks like you can buy matching bib shorts as well if you're really keen.



Heather

I actually bought my own orange jersey this year, my excuse was it is better for the cars to see me.

What an awesome, AWESOME ride today, everyone! We couldn't have asked for better weather: overcast and slightly cool, but no wind, and apart from a few drops the rain held off. It wasn't great for the scenery, but it was sooooooo great for riding. I had such a blast. And despite the neon orange colour, the official jerseys were surprisingly okay.

Congratulations to everyone for beating their target times/speeds. (Except for the injured SamCole: I hope you recover quickly!)

I'm already looking forward to racing it again next year.


HeatherM

I know of this place in our neck of the woods in Bex (VD) near lake Geneva (about 12mins by train from Montreux or 30 mins from Lausanne) - trains run to and from Bex every hour in both directions and you could easily pick up and drop off by train. The shop is walking distance from the station (about 7 mins). French for renting is "location". You could also try searching yellow pages or google under "location velo"
http://www.newbike.ch/page%20location/location.htm

Thanks Nev, but do you know whether the NewBike store rents road/racing bikes? They have many other bike style listed on their website under 'location', but I didn't see any road bikes, which is the same problem that many other bike rental places have.

A quick ride report:
I was pretty amazed by the number of FAST riders there. I spent a lot of time in groups of 50-100 riders zooming along at 35-40 kph, with a lead motorcycle keeping most traffic out of our way. What a rush!!! Looking at the results, about half the field of almost 1000 riders finished the full lake tour (176km) in between 4.5 and 5.5 hours including stops (32-39 kph), which is pretty impressive, and the winner was close to 4 hours. I always thought that my real talent lied in climbing the steeper mountain roads, but now I've discovered that I'm not too bad on the flats either .

I was also surprised by the number of English voices there were around the peloton. Next year, we'll have to get even more of the EFer's from other parts of the country down here for it, it's a great event.