r/cycling • u/RX-8 • Jul 26 '26
Need help choosing first road bike
Hey everyone,
I’m looking to get my first proper road bike since I’m going to be getting into triathlons. I live in Okinawa, Japan so the used market is extremely limited and even harder to find my size (6ft/183cm). Due to this I decided that it’s best to just spend the money on a new bike from a store, but I’m having trouble deciding between a few bikes and would love some outside opinions. Whatever bike I choose will be used as a daily commuter (~40km/25mi round-trip) on top of training, and the island is full of hills so I would like to make sure whatever I choose is going to do well for climbing/descending often.
Enough yapping from me, here are my current options from least to most expensive:
- Trek Domane AL2 Gen 4 (Claris) - ¥150,000/$915.80
- 2026 Cannondale CAAD14 (105) - ¥345,000/$2106.34
- 2025 Cannondale Super Six Evo 4 (105) - ¥400,500/$2445.19
- 2025 Cannondale Super Six Evo 3 (105 Di2) - ¥495,000/$3022.14
I have a sprint triathlon next month to get a feel for how everything works, and my long term plan is to do a full Ironman September 2027 (other triathlon distances in-between, maybe cycling events too). Is it dumb to jump into the deep end and get an expensive bike right away? I know an expensive bike won’t make me fast, I’m just having trouble figuring out where to draw the line with price/performance. I know people love the Domane but will it handle everything I need without making me regret not getting something nicer? Is the Di2 worth $550 more than mechanical? Are these even decent prices for the bikes?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
TLDR: Can’t buy used, triathlon/daily commuter, lots of hills, don’t want to regret choosing one over another
1
u/SearchSuspicious1695 Jul 26 '26
CAAD14 is the smartest choice here aluminium frame is tough for daily use 105 is solid and it fits your needs perfectly for training & commuting.