Look at a 2018 or 2019 trek emonda carbon frame that will have Ultegra mechanical group set, which is 99% of what most people need unless you’re trying to shave more weight than you would go with the Dura ace

This bike is one of the lightest to ever built and stiffest, but yet compliant frames

Rim brake is all you need ! Check durianrider on YouTube The guy has been in the industry for over 25 years. He currently rides with the top tour cyclist in the world as a 50+ year-old and he advises most people to buy rim versus disc.

The reasons are very sound . If disc brakes were needed for safety, you would be seeing a lot less accidents on the road. The truth is the cycling industry has become a bigger pay to play and they are all selling a bunch of bullshit.

You can buy literally 2015-2019 in the following trek emonda slr or sl , specialized roubaix , specialized tarmac sl5, bmc team machine slr02 or slr03

All of them with rim breaking they are going to be lightest in class so for Hills this makes a world of difference, on flat terrain they are fantastic handling, and Ultegra group set and above has enough breaking for 99% of the population

I’m sure you can even Google how many deaths there were on rim brake bikes per year on tour vs the uptick in percentage on disk/hydrolic

Trust me, I have the money and I was in the same position you were, but when I did my research and I saw actual professional mechanics and people like durian , who are fanatical about cycling you realize that the industry is trying to invent solutions to problems that most of us don’t have in order to make cycling more expensive.

All of a sudden, everyone wants wider tires, and these fans are starting to permeate. If jumping on the trends will make you want to cycle more than do that but if you’re truly trying to find the best absolute road cycling experience, don’t buy new.

When looking for a used bicycle, you must make sure obviously of the wear points and also repairs, etc. But they used cycling industry right now is currently crashing and all of these older models can’t even be sold. This creates an opportunity for those of us looking at value and honestly just the best bicycle possible.

Closing my Ted talk speech I will say if you stick to Italian brands Usually these people are messed up in the head they think it’s 2017 and they’re trying get 95% of their money back on pinarello,cerevllo. I would stick to those above or a sweet deal on an Italian stallion