# Which Bike for $400



## covrc (Mar 27, 2004)

Hi All,

So which do I get my most value for less than $400.
All can be had here or from a LBS.

Schwinn Madison (offered new 2008 for $365)
Dawes MTA
Motobecan Messenger
Mercier Kilo TT

I ride at night through the winter doing about 15-25 per ride. Mostly rolly, no major climbs and want to be able to ride in the nice weather and do 50-80 if I want to instead of using my road bike.

Are all the frames pretty much the same? The wheels and cranks? I want front and rear brakes. I am willing to take a less than component, and upgrade after I use that one up.

I have read allllllllll the posts and feel that just a bit of narrowing would be great.
Man you guys sure have some passion for this stuff and I am appreciative of that.

Thanks. covrc


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

covrc said:


> Hi All,
> 
> So which do I get my most value for less than $400.
> All can be had here or from a LBS.
> ...


Throw the Dawes MTA out and compare the Dawes SST.

SST, Madison and messanger are all road geometry and the Kilo is track.

I have the SST and I am happy, but want and will get a 08 Madison in the next month or less.

But all the bikes are pretty equal parts and quality wise with Schwinn having a small advantage in paint.

Are you going to use a rear brake? The Madison does not have brake braze-on.

Pick if you want road or track feel. then go based on looks and color.

I prefer the Madison.

But here is my Dawes which I like.


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## The Green Hour (Jul 15, 2008)

DIRT BOY said:


> SST, Madison and messanger are all road geometry and the Kilo is track.



I'm not sure of the SST or Madison, but the Messenger does have a high bottom bracket. The 49 size I ride has 165 cranks and a 58mm BB drop = good clearance. The rest of it seems to be conventional road(ish) geometry.

My take is the frames are very similar in quality and general appearance...go with what appeals to you best, they're all pretty good.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

The Green Hour said:


> My take is the frames are very similar in quality and general appearance...go with what appeals to you best, they're all pretty good.


+1. go with what floats your boat...

The only one not in the same league is the Dawes MTA... as Dirt boy said, the Dawes SST in similar to the others...

My choice would be the Madison only because I think it's the best looking of the group....


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

The Green Hour said:


> I'm not sure of the SST or Madison, but the Messenger does have a high bottom bracket. The 49 size I ride has 165 cranks and a 58mm BB drop = good clearance. The rest of it seems to be conventional road(ish) geometry.
> 
> My take is the frames are very similar in quality and general appearance...go with what appeals to you best, they're all pretty good.


Yes a small bit. its 10mm higher. Its almost the same frame. The TT is .5cm shorter, same HT and ST angle. The Messenger is in between road and track geo from what I can tell with my limited knowlegde of track frame.


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## DDolan (Nov 3, 2007)

DIRT BOY said:


> ...The Madison does not have brake braze-on...


The Madison comes with brakes front and rear


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## Richard (Feb 17, 2006)

Having seen first hand all the bikes you mentioned, at under $400 the Madison is a hands down winner. While the Jalco rims are just OK, the rest of the spec is pretty good. And the finish is first rate.

As to the Bikes Direct offerings, all that I have seen are decent bang-for-the-buck but have some compromises to meet a price point such as cheesy quill stems or so-so saddles and average finish quality.

Now expecting the flame.


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## The Green Hour (Jul 15, 2008)

Richard said:


> Having seen first hand all the bikes you mentioned, at under $400 the Madison is a hands down winner. While the Jalco rims are just OK, the rest of the spec is pretty good. And the finish is first rate.
> 
> As to the Bikes Direct offerings, all that I have seen are decent bang-for-the-buck but have some compromises to meet a price point such as cheesy quill stems or so-so saddles and average finish quality.
> 
> Now expecting the flame.


No flaming here... 

My BD Messenger came with a very bad headset, which was changed to a King that I had. The seat, stem and pedals were goners too. The thing is, most people buying these have a good supply of spare parts to put on to make the purchase really "economical".

That said, $400 for a complete Taiwanese framed bike is still a good deal.:thumbsup:

I liked to see a Madison up close after reading about them here....


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

DDolan said:


> The Madison comes with brakes front and rear


I know. I meant brake cable stops. So you must use full length housing and something to hold it. I never said no brakes


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## DIRT BOY (Aug 22, 2002)

Richard said:


> As to the Bikes Direct offerings, all that I have seen are decent bang-for-the-buck but have some compromises to meet a price point such as cheesy quill stems or so-so saddles and average finish quality.
> 
> Now expecting the flame.


You are spot on, so no flaming here. I wrote that in my review. My Dwes paint is flaking/peeling at the fork dropouts :mad2:. If you sneeze you will scratch up the paint as well.


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## ultimatesoldierfanatic (Oct 28, 2008)

covrc said:


> Hi All,
> 
> So which do I get my most value for less than $400.
> All can be had here or from a LBS.
> ...


I was wondering where you found a Madison for that cheap?


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