road bike question

Question
i have a 2008 specialized allez triple and someone i know is selling a 2001 Trek 5500 USPS edition carbon frame for dirt cheap in good condition will components on allez fit and if not what all has to be done and would it be real expensive and would you recommend i dont have alot of money and i want to get on carbon but also be riding good

Answer
Hi Phil,

I believe that most of the components will fit without any real problem. Are you planning on doing the work yourself or having someone do it? If you are doing it yourself you will need some special tools like a bottom bracket remover and others. If you are having someone do it then you will probably be talking in the neighborhood of 75-100 to have everything switched over. If you have anything worn on the Allez you will want to replace that on the Trek frame.

You don't want to put any worn parts on the carbon frame. The only problem you may have is he bottom bracket and crank, I would check with your local shop to be sure they are the same size. If at all possible I would take both bikes to the shop and have then verify that everything will fit. I am not sure that a 2001 Carbon Frame will ride any better than a 2008

Also since the Specialized has an integrated headset, you may have some difficulty, a little more expense that is with that area of the bike.

It may be cheaper to do  Buy the frame, then purchase other parts to build it up. I picked up a nice Botrager Race Lite Crank with Bottom Bracket for 60.00 on Ebay, Shop wanted 200.00 for the same crank without the bottom bracket and then 25.00 to install.

Once you have the complete Trek bike built which you should be able to do for less than 1000.00 in parts unless you go with Dura-Ace which would really be the best choice then sell the Allez. You can probably recoup 300-400 and depending on what you pay for the frame be able to upgrade to Carbon for a very low dollar figure. You can probably go to either Ultegra, or Tiagra with STi Shifters like the Specialized has and a nine speed Ultegra Hub for reasonable amounts.

You can probably pick up the tools and the parts on ebay or one of the other auction sites for a reasonable price and you can be riding the allez until you get the Trek built up. I am doin the same thing right now, My Giant has pretty much died so I am rebuilding here a few parts here and there to get it back up.

I am running the Specialized Expedition Mountain Bike until I get the OCR2 repaired. I am doing the work myself and if you are willing to do that you can save even more.

Hope this helps,

Have a great day

Jerry