# Entry-Level ROADBIKES



## Sagetown (Jul 25, 2011)

Bought my teenage Grandson a road bicycle for Christmas at WalMart last year. He initially wanted a simple standard bike which is becoming the trend these days. But as we walked up and down the hundreds of bikes, I told him he could choose any bike of his lilking. Immediately, he went right to the Road Bikes and picked out one that I would have liked to have myself. We were both excited about his choice.

It is a Chinese GMC DELANI 700 Men's 22" Roadie, with Shimano 21-gear shifting system and alloy brakes provide smooth pedaling and sure stopping power for all levels of riders. Probably the cheapest best entry-level bike on the market at this time. Sure the $707 TREK1000 and the $930 SPECIALIZED Allez Sports Triple are excellent entry-level bikes, but this $159 DELANi 700c fits right in there amidst the two. Matter of fact, except for the few extra pounds of weight, it has been reported to performs better than the TREK, and nearly as good as the SPECIALIZED.






Here's my old Roadie. It's a 1977 K-Mart All-Pro/ Custom Paint; Chen Tires; Bush-Muller and a rare SANDEN Lighting System; TOPEX Frame Airpump; Brooks Champion Flyer Saddle; Cardice Roll Saddle Bag (Tools-Spare inner tube- Cable Lock ); Stainless Bell; Speedometer; Rear Panniers and Carrier Rack. I gave $10 for it in 1979, and began referbishing it in 2003.


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## lone wolf (Jul 25, 2011)

Sagetown said:


> Bought my teenage Grandson a road bicycle for Christmas at WalMart last year. He initially wanted a simple standard bike which is becoming the trend these days. But as we walked up and down the hundreds of bikes, I told him he could choose any bike of his lilking. Immediately, he went right to the Road Bikes and picked out one that I would have liked to have myself. We were both excited about his choice.
> 
> It is a Chinese GMC DELANI 700 Men's 22" Roadie, with Shimano 21-gear shifting system and alloy brakes provide smooth pedaling and sure stopping power for all levels of riders. Probably the cheapest best entry-level bike on the market at this time. Sure the $707 TREK1000 and the $930 SPECIALIZED Allez Sports Triple are excellent entry-level bikes, but this $159 DELANi 700c fits right in there amidst the two. Matter of fact, except for the few extra pounds of weight, it has been reported to performs better than the TREK, and nearly as good as the SPECIALIZED.
> 
> ...


 
Thats how much bicycles should cost.I remember when you could get a good road bike for 200.00.Can you believe some of the prices now for them?1000.000 - 5000.000:msp_w00t:


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## hanniedog (Jul 25, 2011)

Are any bikes still US made? In the early 80's I bought a nice Concorde Aztec for about $150 if memory serves me right.


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## Sagetown (Jul 25, 2011)

hanniedog said:


> Are any bikes still US made? In the early 80's I bought a nice Concorde Aztec for about $150 if memory serves me right.


 
Only one I know of off hand, is LiteSpeed out of Tennessee.


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## Hank Chinaski (Jul 25, 2011)

orbea are made in Little Rock AR

deal is, you may find a frame builder or twenty in the USA, but VERY few components are made here


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## Sagetown (Jul 25, 2011)

I believe LITESPEED is an all USA made bike. Their shifters, chains, suspensions, gears, are SRAM products based in Chicago, IL., but one is going to pay plenty for it.
I looked up the ORBEA bikes made in Little Rock, AR. Nice bike, and it is equipped with Japanese Shimano parts. *Again, the entry-level is around $800 for this one.* That's why there's such a rave about the high quality of the GMC bikes right now. For that price you could buy 4 GMC's.


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## Hank Chinaski (Jul 25, 2011)

I got a v.nice Dawes Lightning (Canadian w/Shimano parts) off ebay a few years ago that I considered a smoking deal at the time:
aluminum frame, carbon fork, shimano 105 groupo, etc all for around $650 shipped. It was a upper-mid level bike for a upper entry price.

Road bikes are fickle in price. one year the cheapest "good" bike may be $500, two years later, you can't find one for under $800, then another year later someone will come out with a pretty good one for $200. 

Pretty sure it was only a year or so ago that Walmart had aluminum framed (heavy tho) schwinns for $300 w/sti style shifting and decent parts.

A good place to keep an eye out for upgrades on the cheap is bikeisland.com their inventory changes, but they almost always have good deals. I got a pretty good set of wheels for $120, and a nice big tool kit for $40


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## lone wolf (Jul 25, 2011)

hanniedog said:


> Are any bikes still US made? In the early 80's I bought a nice Concorde Aztec for about $150 if memory serves me right.


 
The thing about anything being made anywhere is they use parts from anywhere!Another words if it is said to be made here the parts could come from different countries.


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