Opinions Please - Trek 2000/2200 vs Lemond

[Gary Mishler]

A co-worker friend of mine is looking for a new bike. It will be her first
road bike, she is moving from a Trek hybrid.

She is looking at Trek 2000 and 2200, and a Lemond. I don't know which
model Lemond, although she said it costs the same as the Trek 2200 and is
steel. I have no experience with Lemond to base an opinion on for her.

Can someone give me a comparison of Lemond vs. Trek in the same price range?
How about between Lemond steel vs. Trek Aluminum? And finally, is the $$$
difference between the Trek 2000 and 2200 worth it? What do you get for the
difference?

TIA,
Mish

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

Mish: There will be differences in fit and ride between the LeMond Buenos
Aires (the bike she's apparently looking at) and the TREK 2200. The LeMond
will have a longer top tube than the TREK which, for some women, may cause
problems with the fit. However, smaller-sized LeMonds (53cm and down)
really aren't much, if any, longer than a similar-sized TREK. This is
mostly an issue for women 5'6" and over, particularly those with relatively
long legs. And, as you may have read here before, fit trumps all else.

If she can fit either bikes, then the differences will show up primarily at
the front end, where the TREK has a significantly beefier fork than does the
LeMond. Under hard cornering and bumpy road surfaces, the TREK's fork is
going to feel a bit more sure-footed, although it will also be a bit less
smooth on smaller bumps.

The difference in comfort between the steel and aluminum frames used in the
two models isn't going to be as significant as some would claim. In
general, people believe that a steel frame is a softer, more comfortable
ride than aluminum, but I've found that modern, lightweight aluminum frames
can have a very nice ride as well. It's dependent upon such things as tube
diameter, shape and wall thicknesses. You can also do a lot to smooth out a
ride by simply bumping up to the next-larger tire size.

As for the TREK 2000 vs 2200, quite a few differences, including
mostly-Ultegra on the 2200 vs '105 on the 2000, the beefier fork on the 2200
vs the same fork LeMond uses on the 2000, and lighter-weight Bontrager
Select wheels vs conventional wheels on the 2000.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Gary Mishler" <gmis...@mchsi.com> wrote in message
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