I had been trying to figure out whether I was going to upgrade my wife's caad5 or buy her a new bike for awhile now. Originally the Caad5 had 9speed 105 on it and I had decided I was simply going to upgrade her bike until I saw the nashbar famous maker with force was on sale. I eventually pulled the trigger on the famous maker force build (minus force brakes) for 880 and had a coupon code for free shipping including overweight charges. It seemed like too good of a deal to pass up at the time since I could use most of the force group for her bike, take the crank, keep the wheels, and sell the frame or build it into something for myself.
The bike arrived today and I am actually pleasantly surprised just how nice it is. Its not lightweight by any means but the alex alx630 wheels are fairly light and spin very smooth. I think they spin just as well or more-so than my new ksyrium sr wheelset that also arrived today. The quick releases that come with them are nicer than what has come with wheels of mine from fulcrum, williams, and mavic. The frame is nice, the white paint actually has a iridescent sparkle to it (
why can't a man like sparkles?). The frame seems snappy and quick from the little riding I was able to do on it outside while dodging ice spots on the pavement. I have brakes to replace the tektros, the saddle and seatpost will go too. I like the look of the ritchey bar and stem but I will probably upgrade those to something ritchey but higher end.
Overall I am very pleased with this purchase and new addition to my stable of bikes. I guess the used force group I had planned for a carbon/alloy build will be going on the old ladies bike. I still need a few parts for hers before I can build it up completely.
I'll upload a pic of the new steed once I swap the brakes to a set of trp970sl I have. Should be this weekend.
I think nashbar has 48cm left of these so if you're in the market for something cheap but one hell of a steal I would recommend it.
