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Need advice about first road bike selection

@OreoCookie
Oh, I never had a carbon frame bike before so all my perception was based on my friend's comment and what I read online, definitely not saying they are all absolutely right but just something for me to consider about. After a few phone calls to LBS around the area, they are telling me a force that is strong enough to break a carbon frame will as well damage aluminum frame too, and in fact aluminum frame are harder to fix than carbon, so that kind of got me back to starting point haha. I guess taking risk is part of starting your road bike adventure.

I have been reading around and also lurking around Yahoo Auction!
Currently I'm bidding for a 2018 Specialized Allez (105 gearset) at size 54, its around 60k++ now, but I'm not sure how far should I go up until, will keep my eye on it.

On the other hand I'm also looking at Scott's Speedster 20 Disc since Y's is taking it in stock now.

But for the price it comes with mechanical disc brake and also weights 10.20kg, so I'm not sure if it's good value, but I do like that it comes with 32mm tyre right away.

Gotta keep finding more and thanks for all the kind inputs!
 
Currently I'm bidding for a 2018 Specialized Allez (105 gearset) at size 54, its around 60k++ now, but I'm not sure how far should I go up until, will keep my eye on it.

It's pretty dirty (suspect little to no maintenance done) and will need a service (which you will need to pay for) and a new chain at least. Adding that into the equation I'd stop bidding before 70,000. good luck.
 
It's pretty dirty (suspect little to no maintenance done) and will need a service (which you will need to pay for) and a new chain at least. Adding that into the equation I'd stop bidding before 70,000. good luck.

Yeah! If I manage to win it I'm thinking of sending it to cleaning at the LBS in front of my apartment, a new chain should be in order but I am not sure about should I change the brake caliper since it looks rusty...
 
This is not your final bike so you don't want to spend any more than you have to.

will get you a very good carbon rim bike with 105 a light and simple computer (may work). Head tube is 145mm so it's a semi enduro fit. might be worth considering.

 
This is not your final bike so you don't want to spend any more than you have to.

will get you a very good carbon rim bike with 105 a light and simple computer (may work). Head tube is 145mm so it's a semi enduro fit. might be worth considering.


Oh wow! This looks really great! Thank you so much for sharing the link.
But currently I'm still locked by the Allez as the auction ends tomorrow, let's see if i got taken over today then maybe i will switch over to this one since this one looks more well maintained for sure!
 
@Ratchet21
Looking closely at the Allez, the chain and cassette are dirty but there doesn't look to be any rust under there. Cassette and chain might be just fine after cleaning off the crud.
The front brake is rusted but consideirng it's not Shimano it could be shit anyway. If it is, putting on a Shimano 105 front brake is a good idea.
 
@Ratchet21
Looking closely at the Allez, the chain and cassette are dirty but there doesn't look to be any rust under there. Cassette and chain might be just fine after cleaning off the crud.
The front brake is rusted but consideirng it's not Shimano it could be shit anyway. If it is, putting on a Shimano 105 front brake is a good idea.

The derailer looks a little rusty too, is it possible to just replace the rusty screw? or I shouldn't worry too much about it?
And yes, can't really see whether the front brake is Shimano but iirc allez might have full groupset for the higher end ones, in the case that its a Shimano 105 will you recommend to continue using as it is?

1601002826364.png
 
That amount of rust in Japan is to be expected. Many of the screws on my then-new mountain bike started rusting after about 1-2 weeks of being exposed to Kyushu's super humid and hot summer. You do not want any rust on your chain or cogs, though.
 
Hey there @Ratchet21,

Lots of good advice so far on the thread. I'll try to condense all of my learnings into a framework that makes sense as well as exceptions where applicable.

Most of this is what I understand as (somewhat opinionted) theory and first principles, which may or may not translate to useful information in how you feel individually on your future bike. Even after all of this, what was imparted on me is that understanding bike fit and your ideal bike type is at some point a personal journey, but the advice given thus far is to have you avoid common beginner pitfalls for your first bike. So, my goal is to give you enough balanced information to empower you without overwhelming you with details that may not be necessarily relevant to how you like to ride.

Anything that I have not commented on in terms of componentry, accessories, or brands/models is due to lack of experience, so please don't take this as a comprehensive post!

How you like to ride

Some things that you'll be asked about regarding your preferred style prior to fitting and/or being recommended a bike will be things like
  • Aggressive/low vs. relaxed/upright (i.e. endurance) positioning
  • Preferred cadence
  • Riding out of the saddle vs. in the saddle (i.e. on climbs)
  • Hand position (how wide? on tops vs. drops?)
In my experience, you don't really know until you have experience on different types of bikes and rides. Ultimately, you'll probably change your preference depending on many factors, although there are a few tips that are recommended to beginners:
  • Endurance positioning to maximize comfort, whilst sacrificing rider aerodynamics. This is especially important on rides >2hrs and at speeds <30-50kph.
  • Cadence usually at 70-90 rpm (switch into the gear ratio that allows you to maintain this)
  • How you climb is deeply personal. I used to climb exclusively out of saddle, now I almost always stay seated. The thing that changed was available gear ratios, allowing me to pedal at higher cadence, which is more comfortable for me naturally (also more comfortable whilst seated).
  • Hand position should be equivalent to shoulder width. This translates mostly to ~40 cm wide handlebars (38cm for smaller individuals, 42cm+ for larger individuals)
I'm sure I've left out some key factors here, but I've avoided being too comprehensive due to the circular logic of these questions (i.e. how do you know your personal preferences if you've never seriously ridden a bike? How does a bike fitter know how to fit you if you don't have a sense for how your body should feel while cycling?). The answer is here is most likely to get a "good enough", quick estimate of fit, make purchases that give you flexibility (financial and future usability), and experiment with adjustments here and there as you listen to your body and have more time on the bike.

Bike fit
What professional bike fits are trying to achieve is an awareness of how your body comfortably moves while on a bike to maximize power output and comfort whilst minimizing repetitive strain injury and discomfort at your joints and contact points. What they track is the locations of your contact points on the bike and the angles and orientation of your body and limbs that result as you adjust these contact points (in this order):
  • Cleats
  • Saddle
  • Hand placement on bars/hoods/drops/TT bars/etc.
This order is important as your body is a single connected structure, although cleats mean that you are rigidly connected to your bike, whereas hands can move around more freely. Thus, we start with cleat position and alignment, then work our way up your body through all the joints and contact points, ending with your hands.

Before I continue, it's perhaps important to consider that no one has a perfectly proportioned and symmetric body. In addition, people also tend to have an asymmetric range of motion of each of their joints due to flexibility, past injury, body type/morphology, etc. All of this has a significant impact on fit and how you interface with your bike.

In general, you have 3 degrees of freedom (forward/backward, left/right, up/down), as well as the ability to rotate along these axes. Each contact point on your bike has the ability to adjust some of these 6 degrees of freedom (the original 3, plus their 3 rotational axes), within the constraints of the fixed geometry of your bike tube orientations and lengths (i.e. sizing). Where this is relevant might look as follows (all directions are relative to your point-of-view when sitting on the bike):
  • Cleats. These can be attached to your cycling shoes:
    • more forward/backward, which changes which part of your foot imparts power to the pedal. In general, less issues with potential knee pain come with moving the cleat completely rearward.
    • more left/right, which impacts how "wide" your stance is on the bike and thus whether pressure and power to your pedal is coming from inside your foot vs. the outside of your foot.
    • angled inward/outward, which changes where your toes point and thus has a direct effect on your knees. In general, your feet are pointed slightly outward when standing or sitting, so locking your feet in so that both sets of toes point straight ahead could be uncomfortable or damaging to the tendons and ligaments in your knee.
    • Shoes are recommended to fit well to avoid having your foot move inside of the shoe, which would change this orientation. In addition, sole stiffness is desired to avoid losing power due to flexing of the shoe platform. However, you should pick a shoe that is just a hair larger than a perfect fit, as most cyclists feet will swell over a long ride. The idea of a perfect fit will change across brands and models, so best to try on in store prior to purchasing.
    • The idea is to understand which part of your foot applies pressure the "best" without hurting other parts of your foot, whilst naturally seated. In general, this recommended to be under the ball of your foot (i.e. just behind the tips of your metatarsals) and somewhere in the vicinity of your middle to outside of your foot.
    • There is also a concept of "float" or the amount of "wiggle' in your cleat-pedal interface as you swing your heel left and right. This is important as it is also this motion of swinging your heels outward that allows you to unclip from clipless pedals. This float range can be modified with a hex wrench and varies across different pedal systems (a very dense topic), although the general tip here is more float is better for casual riders (i.e. non-racers that aren't putting a ludicrous amount of pedalling power and acceleration down). Road shoe cleats are color coded for their amount of float (yellow as most "floaty", followed by blue, followed by red which is fixed at no float). MTB shoes and cleats are plenty flexible and useful for hobbyist training and even long distance touring. Shimano SPD and SPD-SL pedal systems are the defacto standard worldwide, although this may upset those who grew up on Speedplay or Look systems.
  • Saddle
    • Adjusting up/down will increase or decrease available leg length. This is related to a common length metric known as stack or stack+. This is also impacted when wearing cycling shoes, as the thickness of a cycling shoe from sole to cleat bottom is usually greater than that of a normal trainer or sandal that you might typically cycle with. Differences of literal millimeters do matter here.
    • Adjusting forward/backward will increase or decrease how "stretched out" you are in relation to the handlebars. However, it will also change how your knees and hips are positioned over the pedals, which will obviously impact your pedaling motion and cleat placement. Due to this, many bike fitters suggest fitting your cleats first, as it locks in your foot position, which directly affects the relative placement and positions of the rest of your connected body. This is related to a common length metric known as reach or reach+.
    • Adjusting tilt forward/backward will change the angle and subsequent pressure on your nether regions. In general, this is rarely modified from completely horizontal except for specialized (pun intended) cases of certain types of racing/hill climbs to fiddle with how your center of mass might be distributed as you stay seated (e.g. tilting saddle forward makes it easer to stay seated while doing long, steep climbs).
    • One outlier here is ISM saddles, which change how you sit and thus the angle of your pelvis by requiring your contact point to be on your sit bones (pelvic floor bones; ishium) as opposed to your soft tissue (i.e. taint). This might be something to try if you have a hard time feeling comfortable on stock saddles. A less extreme modification might be saddles with central cutouts to relieve pressure to those nether regions (something like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=cut...IAQ&bih=937&biw=1920&rlz=1C1GCEA_enJP816JP816)
  • Hand placement & arms
    • A more aggressive position will force you to put more bodyweight on your wrists and hands, potentially causing finger numbness (particularly in your pinkie and ring fingers). In addition, this means you have to crane your neck up more in order to look straight ahead, which is something that is unsustainable over several hours, more so on rough road conditions. During normal commuting, this might not be an issue, but it does limit your ability to peep your head up above the crowds and tops of cars as you enter an intersection.
    • Locking out your elbows causes your arm to effectively become a rigid rod, transferring all those road vibrations right up to your shoulders and neck. A good tip is to have your elbows slightly bent and tucked into your body, and to loosen your hand grip on the bar (or even adjust your grip position frequently). This forces your core and upper body to stabilize your position and be the primary shock absorber, whilse your hands and elbows stay loose to effectively act like suspension to channel these vibrations to your core.
    • Cycling gloves with gel padding also help with finger numbness.
The topic of ideal bike fit took me a long, long time to digest and understand in practice. GCN has good content on YouTube to get you through the quick basics, as well as Francis Cade's Bike Fit Tuesdays playlist (absolute goldmine of technical expertise).

What helped me immensely was to think about the concept of designing a bike for the general public. As a manufacturer, how do you determine which range of sizes or geometries is "best" for the human population and different styles of riding? How do you quantify "feel" due to each bike component? How does this meaningfully change across short people, tall people, people with long/short torsos, people with short/long limbs, people with different levels of flexibility, others? (We see significant differences in helmet and shoe fit between Asians and non-Asians, as an example)

There's also a point where you may be trying to understand too many narrow concepts and their use cases, which may not all be relevant for you specifically. Awareness of these principles was helpful as a starting point, after which I listened to my own body and spent considerable time on the bike experimenting and tweaking with my position and fit. The main constraints here are your finances, bike geometry/sizing (which effectively limits your range of available modifications), and patience.

Bike components and handling

Most bikes are discussed in terms of directional stiffness, which is a property of their geometry, components, material, and manufacturing processes. In general, bikes should be stiff in every direction except up/down (to smooth out those road bumps) to avoid losing energy that you impart to the pedals due to frame flex. Other typical considerations in terms of componentry are:
  • Frameset (frame + seatpost + fork/steerer)
    • Carbon vs. aluminum alloy vs. steel vs. titanium alloy vs. ????
      • Great carbon > good carbon > good aluminum alloy > cheap carbon. Great carbon is prohibitively expensive, otherwise good carbon usually provides good comfort. However, good alloy is plenty comfortable for most road surfaces and rider weights, and you can get most of your comfort against road vibrations by running wider tyres (28mm and wider) at lower pressure. "Goodness" of carbon here refers to the quality of design of the composite material, as well as assembly and manufacturing (usually done by hand).
      • Carbon frames dominate in the market due to the isotropic nature of alloy frames (meaning that material properties like stiffiness are uniform throughout an alloy, whilst carbon is a composite weave, so material properties can vary greatly along a given axis or direction of the frame and thus be designed more flexibly). However, this is changing with modern aluminium frames due to new alloy types and forming technologies. Some alloy frames (like the Cannondale CAAD13) are said to be vastly superior to many entry-level carbon frames in absorbing road vibration. I myself ride a Canyon Endurace AL 7.0, which feels plenty comfortable for those longer ~100 km trips.
      • One consideration is that steel >>> aluminum >>> carbon in terms of ease of repair and robustness. If you take a long trip and have a minor crash, it will be much more likely to have critical damage on a carbon frame that leaves you stranded. This is not strictly true if you can find a good carbon repair shop, but it's not a likely resource you could stumble across on most rides.
      • Steel supposedly gives a composed and buttery smooth ride. The designs tend to be more nostalgic and retro/classic, so you'll find plenty of these frames on hipster touring bikes and street culture fixies. I used to ride a 2010 9kg steel Bianchi and loved every second of it.
      • I'm not that familiar with titanium frames, although they're said to give a certain lively ride feel but can be hard to source and tend to be more expensive.
      • Your seatpost and steering fork will most likely be carbon at this pricepoint. There's plenty of "comfy" carbon seatpost brands and designs nowadays, but something to consider is that aero (kamtail) seatposts have less flex than their round counterparts, and flex is much more relevant if you have more exposed seatpost (i.e. > 10 cm) and dropped seatstays.
      • One important note is that many people will reference the strength-to-weight ratio of many of these materials. The reality is most production frames have to pass stringent quality standards for impact, fatigue, and stress, whilst all maintaining low weight to be competitive across brands/models. So, yes, aluminum is "weaker" than steel and steel is "heavier" than aluminum, but an aluminum vs. steel bike will be equivalently "strong" and "light" for a given bike size and style. The difference here will be in tube size/shape/wall thicknesses. Ultimately, the most important factor to consider is personal ride feel and geometry.
    • Aero vs. lightweight vs. endurance
      • It is suggested that aero is significantly more important than lightweight frames, except on grades of 8% or higher. This is because aerodynamic drag has "more" of an impact on maintaining speed than weight does on rolling friction/resistance. To be specific, the effects of drag increase quadratically as you increase speed linearly, whilst rolling friction increases linearly as you increase cumulative weight.
      • Aero savings are on the order of 3-30 watts at high sustained speeds (>30 kph). Any slower and you should consider the common drawbacks of an aero frame (usually more aggressive default position, 500-2000 USD more expensive for mid-range bike, susceptible to crosswind impact on handling when riding at low speeds, very stiff ride, etc.).
      • In all honesty, the rider is responsible for a vast amount of the aerodynamic drag that you experience (at any speed, about ~80%). To save a few hundred/thousand USD whilst being aero, you could invest in tight-fitting cycling kit, your helmet, and shoes.
      • Lightweight frames are also called climbing frames. In the current day and age, a 2020 lightweight model will usually have aero features in terms of kamtail tube shapes (see Trek's new Emonda line or the Cannondale SuperSix Evo). As a result, they tend to be 1-2 kg heavier than their counterparts from previous years. As mentioned before, weight on the rider matters a lot more, although I feel as though I'm definitely feel more "sluggish" going up any hill in Tokyo on a 8-9 kg bike vs. a 6-7 kg bike. Most of this ride feel is not in actual weight of the frame/components, but rather the distribution of mass in your wheels. Heavier wheels with more mass at the rim will feel slower to accelerate up to top speed, but will hold speed well, due to rolling inertia. There is a tradeoff here with wheel mass and wheel aerodynamics (i.e. deep carbon rims), which also impact your braking system of choice.
      • Endurance frames are championed as the generalist frame for the everyday rider. That being said, many endurance frames at premier brands like Trek and Specialized have been raced with great success in the pro peloton and have unique technological suspension features that aren't available on other frame styles. These frames are usually robust and will allow you to do some road touring/bike packing if you're careful with how you attach luggage to the frame.
  • Groupset and wheelset
    • Shifting
      • The main players are Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo (to some extent you'll see components from FSA, Praxis, Tektro, etc.) https://www.merlincycles.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-best-groupset-for-your-bike/.
      • There are some minor differences in the shifting interfaces, which I've found to be neglilble once you get used to a specific system. I particularly find Campagnolo to be most ergonomic and intuitive for my hands, although I will favor Shimano in almost all cases due to other factors (see below).
      • Shimano is often recommended for ease of maintenance and worldwide availability. Campagnolo is particularly hard to source in Japan and SRAM has an increasing presence in shops like Blue Lug. Anything that you need to import will cost you in additional time and customs fees.
      • 105 and its equivalent on SRAM/Campagnolo is a commonly referenced "sweet-spot", as you'll get diminishing returns on functionality in favor of saving weight with higher, more expensive specs. What others have said about Tiagra and even Sora being plenty good for most riders is something that I've heard as well.
      • To save costs, many brand models like Specialized will mix and match components. For example, the 2020 Specialized Allez Elite has Shimano 105 groupset except for Tektro rim brakes. The most important components to have as "high quality" are your shifters and brakes. Your crank, cassette and derailleurs are still important, albeit less so. Make sure to inspect the entire spec sheet prior to purchase.
    • Brakes
      • The important aspect here is a concept called brake modulation. That is, as you pull the brake lever, how far and hard do you have to pull in order to begin braking (and how does the braking increase/feel to you as you continue to apply lever pressure)? What's commonly advertised is hydraulic disc brakes > hybrid disc brakes > mechanical disc brakes = good rim brakes > bad rim brakes.
      • Hydraulic disc brakes have superior stopping power in wet conditions and allow for larger tire clearances, although can be tricky to maintain and troubleshoot issues. They're heavier than rims by a few hundred grams for an entire wheelset, but have more consistent modulation and avoid wear on the tyre rim.
      • Good rim brakes (Shimano 105 and up) have almost equivalent stopping power to disc brakes in dry conditions, although they begin to suffer somewhat in wet due to water "lubricating" the braking surface on the rim. This difference can be on the order of 10m vs. 3m distance traveled (30 kph to a complete stop). They also cause wear on your rims, although this is only a real concern if you sport carbon and tend to brake heavily on many downhill descents or dirty road conditions (where grit and particles can be abrasive to your rims). Alloy rims will typically outlast your desire to keep a specific bike before you upgrade ;).
      • Many will recommend disc brakes to future proof your bike (i.e. more flexibility around potential wheel upgrades, which should be your first upgrade). I agree with this completely, although I currently use Shimano 105 rim brakes and have had little trouble riding in inclement weather. Rim brakes require a bit of feathering to remove water and grit from the rim before braking action occurs, so you'll have to brake a bit earlier and generally be more careful. However, both good rim and disc brakes are plenty capable of locking up your tires to where you begin to skid across the road surface, so this tends to be a moot point except in downpours during rush hour traffic.
    • Wheels and tires
      • Most wheels for road bikes are offered in the following tire widths (note that wheel width is not necessarily equivalent to tire width. In general, a single wheel width will acommodate a range of tire widths): 23mm, 25mm, 28mm (pavement, with some gravel, domain of rim brakes) --> 32mm, 35mm, 38mm (gravel riding, with some single track, domain of disc brakes) --> 40+ (single track. offroad, sand, etc.).
      • Wheel upgrades will be to mimic effects that you might seek in different frame types (i.e. carbon, aero vs. lightweight). For the most part, stock wheels for mid-range bikes tend to be quite good for everyday riding or training. If you desire to go the carbon/aero route, you'll have much greater wheel longevity with a disc brake setup.
      • 700c tires are standard road bike tire size, 650c or 650b are smaller (for smaller frames or offroad riding styles).
      • I used to run 23 mm tires, now I run 25mm. I find this is a good blend of comfort and speed, although I would prefer a bike that could also give me the option of 28-35 mm tires for light gravel if I ever choose to go light bikepacking. Many rim brake bikes are limited to 28 mm at the upper end, whilst disc brake racing bikes can be limited to 32mm or so. Contrary to popular belief, fatter tires do not always have higher rolling friction. The truth is much more complex and available for investigation on YouTube or online if you choose to go down that rabbit hole.
Ride feel can be a tricky thing to pinpoint and benchmark for a given weight, aerodynamic frame, stiffness, friction of bearings and rolling components, tire pressure. A good place to start could be 9-10 kg fully loaded bike weight (all gear and water bottles), 25mm tires @100 psi, and decent cycling bibs to have an average "feel". Then, you'll be able to see how aerodynamics, suspension, and frame types may change that personal feel as you try different bikes. Personally, I've seen the biggest changes to feel with saddle height, drop handlebar tilt, using clipless pedals, and where I have baggage on my bike (i.e. this changes the overall distribution of mass and thus handling, not just the overall weight. Also, sweaty backs due to backpacks are no fun).

Almost every rider I've ever met, from hobbyists to absolute pros, prefer what they prefer at the end of the day. Subjective things like color, ride feel, and getting a specific brand or model may be superficial to the more pragmatic amongst us, but is every bit as valid if you have the disposable income to shop and if it motivates you to spend time on your bike.

Bike brands and their models

I've listed them as such:
  • Bike brand
    • Lightweight "climbing" bike
    • Aero bike
    • Endurance bike
    • Gravel bike (a good "all-around" bike, albeit more pricey than a dedicated entry-level road bike). I would choose these over cyclocross bikes unless you only intend to commute and have 1-2 hr, racy rides on bad terrain.
Most reviews for the different model specs can be found on Bikeradar, road.cc, CyclingWeekly, Cycling News. The prices will vary greatly as you add/subtract basic components like 105 vs. Ultegra and higher, rim vs disc brakes, mechanical vs electric shifting, base wheelsets, so it'll be more useful for you to deepdive their home product pages to get a sense of basic pricing per spec level, then you can compare with other sellers online or in-store. Personally, I had to track all of these options (and how to distribute my budget) on a spreadsheet in order to begin to see pricing patterns more specifically.

There are also plenty of price calculators that somehow compute the price depreciation from MSRP if you buy a specific used bike model.
  • Trek
    • Emonda
    • Madone
    • Domane
    • Checkpoint
  • Specialized
    • Tarmac
    • Venge
    • Roubaix (also the Allez series)
    • Diverge
  • Giant
    • Defy
    • Propel
    • TCR
    • Revolt
  • Cannondale
    • SuperSix Evo
    • SystemSix
    • CAAD (CAAD 12 was a legendary favorite prior to the newer CAAD 13)
    • Topstone
  • Canyon
    • Ultimate
    • Aeroad
    • Endurace
    • Grail
  • I also hear good things about various BMC, Cube, Merida, Ribble, Scott, Cervelo, Genesis, and Focus models at these price points (100k-350k JPY), although I'm not so familiar with their brands. Bianchi is a classic brand and very attractive aesthetically, although usually underspecced compared to average competitors at a given price. Also, you referenced Decathlon, which is probably the antithesis of Bianchi (no frills, extremely good specs for the price) and the Triban 520 disc is a common beginner bang-for-your-buck bike.
In general, aero > gravel > lightweight > endurance in terms of initial cost, although the upper end in each category can be quite similar. I'm personally looking at lightweight or all-around race bikes as my next, "forever" bike as my preferred cycling style is short to mid-length rides (<150km per day) with the ability to surge and accelerate quickly (particularly in the city). Maintaining a ludicrously high average speed (i.e. high end endurance or aero) is less important to me in a group ride as you have the ability to draft and wayfinding means frequent stops.

One last thing to consider is the additional budget that you may need for all of your accessories (cycling kit + helmet, shoes, bags, tools, water bottles + cages, bike bag, pedals, on top of "luxury" items like trainers, power meters, bike computers, etc.). I think I ended up spending close to the full cost of my bike on all of these accoutremonts for base models (not including the luxury items) for good bibs, shoes, tools, lights, and helmet. These will also require a bit of research and trying out on your part to fit your needs.

This post is far from complete or comprehensive, so I may come back and edit (especially if others reading find errors or have meaningful comments to add). Hope this helps a bit with your search and consideration :).

Cheers,

Thien
 
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The derailer looks a little rusty too, is it possible to just replace the rusty screw? or I shouldn't worry too much about it?
And yes, can't really see whether the front brake is Shimano but iirc allez might have full groupset for the higher end ones, in the case that its a Shimano 105 will you recommend to continue using as it is?
If you look at the rear brake it says "axis" and the front brake is the same shape so not Shimano.
That said, I would not automatically replace it based on the surface rust in the image. I would first check if the brake cable pulls smoothly, then put light oil in all the nooks and crannies of the brake to lubricate it, then see how it works. Or just leave it to the LBS to decide.
The derailleur looks okay to me. Should be fine. Prob just some surface rust on a (nonreplaceable) pin.
 
That amount of rust in Japan is to be expected. Many of the screws on my then-new mountain bike started rusting after about 1-2 weeks of being exposed to Kyushu's super humid and hot summer. You do not want any rust on your chain or cogs, though.

Roger!

Hey there @Ratchet21,

Lots of good advice so far on the thread. I'll try to condense all of my learnings into a framework that makes sense as well as exceptions where applicable.

Most of this is what I understand as (somewhat opinionted) theory and first principles, which may or may not translate to useful information in how you feel individually on your future bike. Even after all of this, what was imparted on me is that understanding bike fit and your ideal bike type is at some point a personal journey, but the advice given thus far is to have you avoid common beginner pitfalls for your first bike. So, my goal is to give you enough balanced information to empower you without overwhelming you with details that may not be necessarily relevant to how you like to ride.

Anything that I have not commented on in terms of componentry, accessories, or brands/models is due to lack of experience, so please don't take this as a comprehensive post!

How you like to ride

Some things that you'll be asked about regarding your preferred style prior to fitting and/or being recommended a bike will be things like
  • Aggressive/low vs. relaxed/upright (i.e. endurance) positioning
  • Preferred cadence
  • Riding out of the saddle vs. in the saddle (i.e. on climbs)
  • Hand position (how wide? on tops vs. drops?)
In my experience, you don't really know until you have experience on different types of bikes and rides. Ultimately, you'll probably change your preference depending on many factors, although there are a few tips that are recommended to beginners:
  • Endurance positioning to maximize comfort, whilst sacrificing rider aerodynamics. This is especially important on rides >2hrs and at speeds <30-50kph.
  • Cadence usually at 70-90 rpm (switch into the gear ratio that allows you to maintain this)
  • How you climb is deeply personal. I used to climb exclusively out of saddle, now I almost always stay seated. The thing that changed was available gear ratios, allowing me to pedal at higher cadence, which is more comfortable for me naturally (also more comfortable whilst seated).
  • Hand position should be equivalent to shoulder width. This translates mostly to ~40 cm wide handlebars (38cm for smaller individuals, 42cm+ for larger individuals)
I'm sure I've left out some key factors here, but I've avoided being too comprehensive due to the circular logic of these questions (i.e. how do you know your personal preferences if you've never seriously ridden a bike? How does a bike fitter know how to fit you if you don't have a sense for how your body should feel while cycling?). The answer is here is most likely to get a "good enough", quick estimate of fit, make purchases that give you flexibility (financial and future usability), and experiment with adjustments here and there as you listen to your body and have more time on the bike.

Bike fit
What professional bike fits are trying to achieve are an awareness of how your body comfortably moves while on a bike to maximize power output and comfort whilst minimizing repetitive strain injury and discomfort at your joints and contact points. What they track is the locations of your contact points on the bike and the angles and orientation of your body and limbs that result as you adjust these contact points on a bike (in this order):
  • Cleats
  • Saddle
  • Hand placement on bars/hoods/drops/TT bars/etc.
This order is important as your body is a single connected structure, although cleats mean that you are rigidly connected to your bike, whereas hands can move around more freely. Thus, we start with cleat position and alignment, then work our way up your body through all the joints and contact points, ending with your hands.

Before I continue, it's perhaps important to consider that no one has a perfectly proportioned and symmetric body. In addition, people also tend to have an asymmetric range of motion of each of their joints due to flexibility, past injury, body type/morphology, etc. All of this has a significant impact on fit and how you interface with your bike.

In general, you have 3 degrees of freedom (forward/backward, left/right, up/down), as well as the ability to rotate along these axes. Each contact point on your bike has the ability to adjust some of these 6 degrees of freedom (the original 3, plus their 3 rotational axes), within the constraints of the fixed geometry of your bike tube orientations and lengths (i.e. sizing). Where this is relevant might look as follows (all directions are relative to your point-of-view when sitting on the bike):
  • Cleats. These can be attached to your cycling shoes:
    • more forward/backward, which changes which part of your foot imparts power to the pedal. In general, less issues with potential knee pain come with moving the cleat completely rearward.
    • more left/right, which impacts how "wide" your stance is on the bike and thus whether pressure and power to your pedal is coming from inside your foot vs. the outside of your foot.
    • angled inward/outward, which changes where your toes point and thus has a direct effect on your knees. In general, your feet are pointed slightly outward when standing or sitting, so locking your feet in so that both sets of toes point straight ahead could be uncomfortable or damaging to the tendons and ligaments in you knee.
    • Shoes are recommended to fit well to avoid having your foot move inside of the shoe, which would change this orientation. In addition, sole stiffness is desired to avoid losing power due to flexing of the shoe platform. However, you should pick a shoe that is just a hair larger than a perfect fit, as most cyclists feet will swell over a long ride. The idea of a perfect fit will change across brands and models, so best to try on in store prior to purchasing.
    • The idea is to understand which part of your foot applies pressure the "best" without hurting other parts of your foot, whilst naturally seated. In general, this recommended to be under the ball of your foot (i.e. just behind the tips of your metatarsals) and somewhere in the vicinity of your middle to outside of your foot.
    • There is also a concept of "float" or the amount of "wiggle' in your cleat-pedal interface as you swing your heel left and right. This is important as it is also this motion of swinging your heels outward that allows you to unclip from clipless pedals. This float range can be modified with a hex wrench and varies across different pedal systems (a very dense topic), although the general tip here is more float is better for casual riders (i.e. non-racers that aren't putting a ludicrous amount of pedalling power and acceleration down). Road shoes are color coded for their amount of float (yellow as most "floaty", followed by blue, followed by red which is fixed at no float). MTB shoes and cleats are plenty flexible and useful for hobbyist training and even long distance touring. Shimano SPD and SPD-SL pedal systems are the defacto standard worldwide, although this may upset those who grew up on Speedplay or Look systems.
  • Saddle
    • Adjusting up/down will increase or decrease available leg length. This is related to a common length metric known as stack or stack+. This is also impacted when wearing cycling shoes, as the thickness of a cycling shoe from sole to cleat bottom is usually greater than that of a normal trainer or sandal that you might typically cycle with.
    • Adjusting forward/backward will increase or decrease how "stretched out" you are in relation to the handlebars. However, it will also change how your knees and hips are positioned over the pedals, which will obviously impact your pedaling motion and cleat placement. Due to this, many bike fitters suggest fitting your cleats first, as it locks in your foot position, which directly affects the relative placement and positions of the rest of your connected body. This is related to a common length metric known as reach or reach+.
    • Adjusting tilt forward/backward will change the angle and subsequent pressure on your nether regions. In general, this is rarely modified from completely horizontal except for specialized (pun intended) cases of certain types of racing/hill climbs to fiddle with how your center of mass might be distributed as you stay seated (e.g. tilting saddle forward makes it easer to stay seated while doing long, steep climbs).
    • One outlier here is ISM saddles, which change how you sit and thus the angle of your pelvis by requiring your contact point to be on your sit bones (pelvic floor bones; ishium) as opposed to your soft tissue (i.e. taint). This might be something to try if you have a hard time feeling comfortable on stock saddles. A less extreme modification might be saddles with central cutouts to relieve pressure to those nether regions (something like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=cut...IAQ&bih=937&biw=1920&rlz=1C1GCEA_enJP816JP816)
  • Hand placement & arms
    • A more aggressive position will force you to put more bodyweight on your wrists and hands, potentially causing finger numbness (particularly in your pinkie and ring fingers). In addition, this means you have to crane your neck up more in order to look straight ahead, which is something that is unsustainable over several hours, more so on rough road conditions. During normal commuting, this might not be an issue, but it does limit your ability to peep your head up above the crowds and tops of cars as you enter an intersection.
    • Locking out your elbows causes your arm to effectively become a rigid rod, transferring all those road vibrations right up to your shoulders and neck. A good tip is to have your elbows slightly bent and tucked into your body, and to loosen your hand grip on the bar (or even adjust your grip position frequently). This forces your core and upper body to stabilize your position and be the primary shock absorber, whilse your hands and elbows stay loose to effectively act like suspension to channel these vibrations to your core.
    • Cycling gloves with gel padding also help with finger numbness.
The topic of ideal bike fit took me a long, long time to digest and understand in practice. GCN has good content on YouTube to get you through the quick basics, as well as Francis Cade's Bike Fit Tuesdays playlist (absolute goldmine of technical expertise).

What helped me immensely was to think about the concept of designing a bike for the general public. As a manufacturer, how do you determine which range of sizes or geometries is "best" for the human population and different styles of riding? How do you quantify "feel" due to each bike component? How does this meaningfully change across short people, tall people, people with long/short torsos, people with short/long limbs, people with different levels of flexibility, others? (We see significant differences in helmet and shoe fit between Asians and non-Asians, as an example)

There's also a point where you may be trying to understand too many narrow concepts and their use cases, which may not all be relevant for you specifically. Awareness of these principles was helpful as a starting point, after which I listened to my own body and spent considerable time on the bike experimenting and tweaking with my position and fit. The main constraints here are your finances, bike geometry/sizing (which effectively limits your range of available modifications), and patience.

Bike components and handling

Most bikes are discussed in terms of directional stiffness, which is a property of their geometry, components, material, and manufacturing processes. In general, bikes should be stiff in every direction except up/down (to smooth out those road bumps) to avoid losing energy that you impart to the pedals due to frame flex. Other typical considerations in terms of componentry are:
  • Frameset (frame + seatpost + fork/steerer)
    • Carbon vs. aluminum alloy vs. steel vs. titanium alloy vs. ????
      • Great carbon > good carbon > good aluminum alloy > cheap carbon. Great carbon is prohibitively expensive, otherwise good carbon usually provides good comfort. However, good alloy is plenty comfortable for most road surfaces and rider weights, and you can get most of your comfort against road vibrations by running wider tyres (28mm and wider) at lower pressure. "Goodness" of carbon here refers to the quality of design of the composite material, as well as assembly and manufacturing (usually done by hand).
      • Carbon frames dominate in the market due to the isotropic nature of alloy frames (meaning that material properties like stiffiness are uniform throughout an alloy, whilst carbon is a composite weave, so material properties can vary greatly along a given axis or direction of the frame and thus be designed more flexibly). However, this is changing with modern aluminium frames due to new alloy types and forming technologies. Some alloy frames (like the Cannondale CAAD13) are said to be vastly superior to many entry-level carbon frames in absorbing road vibration. I myself ride a Canyon Endurace AL 7.0, which feels plenty comfortable for those longer ~100 km trips.
      • One consideration is that steel >>> aluminum >>> carbon in terms of ease of repair. If you take a long trip and have a minor crash, it will be much more likely to have critical damage on a carbon frame that leaves you stranded. This is not strictly true if you can find a good carbon repair shop, but it's not a likely resource you could stumble across on most rides.
      • Steel supposedly gives a composed and buttery smooth ride. The designs tend to be more nostalgic and retro/classic, so you'll find plenth of these frames on hipster touring bikes and street culture fixies.
      • I'm not that familiar with titanium frames, although they're said to give a certain lively ride feel but can be hard to source and tend to be more expensive.
      • Your seatpost and steering fork will most likely be carbon at this pricepoint. There's plenty of "comfy" carbon seatpost brands and designs nowadays, but something to consider is that aero (kamtail) seatposts have less flex than their round counterparts, and flex is much more relevant if you have more exposed seatpost (i.e. > 10 cm) and dropped seatstays.
      • One important note is that many people will reference the strength-to-weight ratio of many of these materials. The reality is most production frames have to pass stringent quality standards for impact, fatigue, and stress, whilst all maintaining low weight to be competitive across brands/models. So, yes, aluminum is "weaker" than steel and steel is "heavier" than aluminum, but an aluminum vs. steel bike will be equivalently "strong" and "light" for a given bike size and style. The difference here will be in tube size/shape/wall thicknesses. Ultimately, the most important factor to consider is personal ride feel and geometry.
    • Aero vs. lightweight vs. endurance
      • It is suggested that aero is significantly more important than lightweight frames, except on grades of 8% or higher. This is because aerodynamic drag has "more" of an impact on maintaining speed than weight does on rolling friction/resistance. To be specific, the effects of drag increase quadratically as you increase speed linearly, whilst rolling friction increases linearly as you increase cumulative weight.
      • Aero savings are on the order of 3-30 watts at high sustained speeds (>30 kph). Any slower and you should consider the common drawbacks of an aero frame (usually more aggressive default position, 500-2000 USD more expensive for mid-range bike, susceptible to crosswind impact on handling when riding at low speeds, very stiff ride, etc.).
      • In all honesty, the rider is responsible for a vast amount of the aerodynamic drag that you experience (at any speed, about ~80%). To save a few hundred/thousand dolars whilst being aero, you could invest in tight-fitting cycling kit, your helmet, and shoes.
      • Lightweight frames are also called climbing frames. In the current day and age, a 2020 lightweight model will usually have aero features in terms of kamtail tube shapes (see Trek's new Emonda line or the Cannondale SuperSix Evo). As a result, they tend to be 1-2 kg heavier than their counterparts from previous years. As mentioned before, weight on the rider matters a lot more, although I feel as though I definitely feel more "sluggish" going up any hill in Tokyo on a 8-9 kg bike vs. a 6-7 kg bike. Most of this ride feel is not in actual weight of the frame/components, but rather the distribution of mass in your wheels. Heavier wheels with more mass at the rim will feel slower to accelerate up to top speed, but will hold speed well, due to rolling inertia. There is a tradeoff here with wheel mass and wheel aerodynamics (i.e. deep carbon rims), which also impact your braking system of choice.
      • Endurance frames are championed as the generalist frame for the everyday rider. That being said, many endurance frames at premier brands like Trek and Specialized have been raced with great success in the pro peloton and have unique technological suspension features that aren't available on other frame styles. These frames are usually robust and will allow you to do some road touring/bike packing if you're careful with how you attach luggage to the frame.
  • Groupset and wheelset
    • Shifting
      • The main players are Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo (to some extent you'll see components from FSA, Praxis, Tektro, etc.) https://www.merlincycles.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-best-groupset-for-your-bike/.
      • There are some minor differences in the shifting interfaces, which I've found to be neglilble once you get used to a specific system. I particularly find Campagnolo to be most ergonomic and intuitive for my hands, although I will favor Shimano in almost all cases due to other factors (see below).
      • Shimano is often recommended for ease of maintenance and worldwide availability. Campagnolo is particularly hard to source in Japan and SRAM has an increasing presence in shops like Blue Lug. Anything that you need to import will cost you in additional time and customs fees.
      • 105 and its equivalent on SRAM/Campagnolo is a commonly referenced "sweet-spot", as you'll get diminishing returns on functionality in favor of saving weight with higher, more expensive specs. What others have said about Tiagra and even Claris being plenty good for most riders is something that I've heard as well.
      • To save costs, many brand models like Specialized will mix and match components. For example, the 2020 Specialized Allez Elite has Shimano 105 groupset except for Tektro rim brakes. The most important components to have as "high quality" are your shifters and brakes. Your crank, cassette and derailleurs are still important, albeit less so. Make sure to inspect the entire spec sheet prior to purchase.
    • Brakes
      • The important aspect here is a concept called brake modulation. That is, as you pull the brake lever, how far and hard do you have to pull in order to begin braking (and how does the braking increase/feel to you as you continue to apply lever pressure)? What's commonly advertised is hydraulic disc brakes > hybrid disc brakes > mechanical disc brakes = good rim brakes > bad rim brakes.
      • Hydraulic disc brakes have superior stopping power in wet conditions and allow for larger tire clearances, although can be tricky to maintain and troubleshoot issues. They're heavier than rims by a few hundred grams for an entire wheelset, but have more consistent modulation and avoid wear on the tyre rim.
      • Good rim brakes (Shimano 105 and up) have almost equivalent stopping power to disc brakes in dry conditions, although they begin to suffer somewhat in wet due to water "lubricating" the braking surface on the rim. This difference can be on the order of 10m vs. 3m distance traveled (30 kph to a complete stop). They also cause wear on your rims, although this is only a real concern if you sport carbon and tend to brake heavily on many downhill descents or dirty road conditions (where grit and particles can be abrasive to your rims)
      • Many will recommend disc brakes to future proof your bike (i.e. more flexibility around potential wheel upgrades, which should be your first upgrade). I agree with this completely, although I currently use Shimano 105 rim brakes and have had little trouble riding in inclement weather. Rim brakes require a bit of feathering to remove water and grit from the rim before braking action occurs, so you'll have to be brake a bit earlier and be generally more careful. However, both good rim and disc brakes are plenty capable of locking up your tires to where you begin to skid across the road surface, so this tends to be a moot point except in downpours during rush hour traffic.
    • Wheels and tires
      • Most wheels for road bikes are offered in the following tire widths (note that wheel width is not necessarily equivalent to tire width. In general, a single wheel width will acommodate a range of tire widths): 23mm, 25mm, 28mm (pavement, with some gravel, domain of rim brakes) --> 32mm, 35mm, 38mm (gravel riding, with some single track, domain of disc brakes) --> 40+ (single track. offroad, sand, etc.).
      • Wheel upgrades will be to mimic effects that you might seek in different frame types (i.e. carbon, aero vs. lightweight). For the most part, stock wheels for mid-range bikes tend to be quite good for everyday riding or training. If you desire to go the carbon/aero route, you'll have much greater wheel longevity with a disc brake setup.
      • 700c tires are standard road bike tire size, 650c or 650b are smaller (for smaller frames or offroad riding styles).
      • I used to run 23 mm tires, now I run 25mm. I find this is a good blend of comfort and speed, although I would prefer a bike that could also give me the option of 28-35 mm tires for light gravel if I ever choose to go light bikepacking. Many rim brake bikes are limited to 28 mm at the upper end, whilst disc brake racing bikes can be limited to 32mm or so.
Ride feel can be a tricky thing to pinpoint and benchmark for a given weight, aerodynamic frame, stiffness, friction of bearings and rolling components, tire pressure. A good place to start could be 9-10 kg fully loaded on your bike (all gear and water bottles), 25mm tires @100 psi, and decent cycling bibs to have an average "feel". Then, you'll be able to see how aerodynamics, suspension, and frame types may change that personal feel as you try different bikes. Personally, I've seen the biggest changes to feel with saddle height, drop handlebar tilt, using clipless pedals, and where I have baggage on my bike (i.e. this changes the overall distribution of mass and thus handling, not just the overall weight. Also, sweaty backs due to backpacks are no fun).

Bike brands and their models

I've listed them as such:
  • Bike brand
    • Lightweight "climbing" bike
    • Aero bike
    • Endurance bike
    • Gravel bike (a good "all-around" bike, albeit more pricey than a dedicated entry-level road bike). I would choose these over cyclocross bikes unless you only intend to commute and have 1-2 hr, racy rides on bad terrain.
Most reviews for the different model specs can be found on Bikeradar, road.cc, CyclingWeekly, Cycling News. The prices will vary greatly as you add/subtract basic components like 105 vs. Ultegra and higher, rim vs disc brakes, mechanical vs electric shifting, base wheelsets, so it'll be more useful for you to deepdive their home product pages to get a sense of basic pricing per spec level, then you can compare with other sellers online or in-store. Personally, I had to track all of these options (and how to distribute my budget) on a spreadsheet in order to begin to see pricing patterns more specifically.

There are also plenty of price calculators that somehow compute the price depreciation from MSRP if you buy a specific used bike model.
  • Trek
    • Emonda
    • Madone
    • Domane
    • Checkpoint
  • Specialized
    • Tarmac
    • Venge
    • Roubaix (also the Allez series)
    • Diverge
  • Giant
    • Defy
    • Propel
    • TCR
    • Revolt
  • Cannondale
    • SuperSix Evo
    • SystemSix
    • CAAD (CAAD 12 was a legendary favorite prior to the newer CAAD 13)
    • Topstone
  • Canyon
    • Ultimate
    • Aeroad
    • Endurace
    • Grail
  • I also hear good things about various BMC, Cube, Merida, Ribble, Scott, Cervelo, Genesis, and Focus models at these price points (100k-350k JPY), although I'm not so familiar with their brands. Bianchi is a classic brand and very attractive aesthetically, although usually underspecced compared to average competitors at a given price.
In general, aero > gravel > lightweight > endurance in terms of initial cost, although the upper end in each category can be quite similar. I'm personally looking at lightweight or all-around race bikes as my next, "forever" bike as my preferred cycling style is short to mid-length rides (<150km per day) with the ability to surge and accelerate quickly (particularly in the city). Maintaining a ludicrously high average speed (i.e. high end endurance or aero) is less important to me in a group ride as you have the ability to draft and wayfinding means frequent stops.

One last thing to consider is the additional budget that you may need for all of your accessories (cycling kit + helmet, shoes, bags, tools, water bottles + cages, bike bag, pedals, on top of "luxury" items like trainers, power meters, bike computers, etc.). I think I ended up spending close to the full cost of my bike on all of these accoutremonts for base models (not including the luxury items) for good bibs, shoes, tools, lights, and helmet. These will also require a bit of research and trying out on your part to fit your needs.

This post is far from complete or comprehensive, so I may come back and edit (especially if others reading find errors or have meaningful comments to add). Hope this helps a bit with your search and consideration :).

Cheers,

Thien

Omg Thien, thank you for the write-up, I learned a lot from it. Hope you will find your next dream bike ASAP too!

If you look at the rear brake it says "axis" and the front brake is the same shape so not Shimano.
That said, I would not automatically replace it based on the surface rust in the image. I would first check if the brake cable pulls smoothly, then put light oil in all the nooks and crannies of the brake to lubricate it, then see how it works. Or just leave it to the LBS to decide.
The derailleur looks okay to me. Should be fine. Prob just some surface rust on a (nonreplaceable) pin.

Oh yeah!! Sounds good, fingers crossed for now!
 
I won the bidding for the Allez on yahoo auction! Waiting for it to arrive hopefully in a few day!
Wonder should I start buying the chains first since the one that comes with it is really dirty and not sure can it be cleaned haha
 
Congrats!
A can of parts cleaner from the local hardware store will clean it. Something like this:
Parts Cleaner

GranT! Thank you for the advice! So i can just spray that cleaner on the chain and cassete then clean it with cloth/water or something? Do i need to grease the chain after it too?Other than the chain and cassette the rest looks okay!

Screenshot_20200927_220011_com.android.chrome.jpg
 
The cleaner is a volatile solvent that should dissolve the muck so you can wipe it off with a cloth. No need for water.
After the chain is clean put on some chain lube and it's good to go.
 
I would check the wear of the chain since it's an good indicator for the overall wear of the drive train or at least if it needs a closer look. By the pictures I get the impression that the chain has never been replaced and the bike hasn't seen that much road (unfortunately also not that much of care though).
Anyway, as @GrantT wrote, most likely a good clean and maybe a little dialing in of greas and brakes will have you set. Getting new cables and maybe brake pads could be your first step into connecting with your LBS.
Enjoy your rides.
 
well done. Like @pedalist said might be a good way to introduce yourself to a specialized dealer and ask them to do a tune up of the bike and change the cables.
BUT do try and clean it up a bit before you take it in. use a parts cleaner to get the chain and sprockets clean at a minimum. wipe off as much visible dirt as you can.
Do you have clipless pedals and cycling shoes?
 
The chain looks quite bad, and I view the chain as a canary in the coal mine. It seems the previous owner didn't put any effort into maintaining their bike, so I agree with the others: give your new bike a clean and send it off to a shop. You might need a new chain, for sure your drivetrain will need a tune-up, you might need new inner cables, new brake pads, etc.

And be nice to that shop: buy a new helmet and/or new pedals.
 
I would check the wear of the chain since it's an good indicator for the overall wear of the drive train or at least if it needs a closer look. By the pictures I get the impression that the chain has never been replaced and the bike hasn't seen that much road (unfortunately also not that much of care though).
Anyway, as @GrantT wrote, most likely a good clean and maybe a little dialing in of greas and brakes will have you set. Getting new cables and maybe brake pads could be your first step into connecting with your LBS.
Enjoy your rides.

Yes! Ordered parts cleaner spray, kure chain lube dry, and the wiping sheet from amazon for basic cleaning! The seller did say they checked the brake and all and its okay but yes changing chain and brake pad down the road sounds like a good opportunity yoto connect with my lbs!

well done. Like @pedalist said might be a good way to introduce yourself to a specialized dealer and ask them to do a tune up of the bike and change the cables.
BUT do try and clean it up a bit before you take it in. use a parts cleaner to get the chain and sprockets clean at a minimum. wipe off as much visible dirt as you can.
Do you have clipless pedals and cycling shoes?

Definitely will do some clean up! (Even though i hope the seller cleaned it up before sending it out...)
I believe specialized dealer will be hard to get in now as their mechanics are super busy assembling bikes to meet order now, but I do want to get them to tune up and maybe do basic measurement fitting for me. The bike will come in box with front wheel and possibly handlebar removed, I hope i can reassemble it without problem and good enough for temporary cycling haha

And no i dont have clipless and shoes yet, I thought if learning how to balance well on road bike first before i work on clipless! Maybe getting cycling wear first for autumn/winter because its getting really chilly lately. (Im from tropical country so cold weather is really killing me...)
 
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