Hi, I have pretty nice Giant OCR-1 with ksyrium elites, ultegra, etc. that I like to ride on weekends up to 40 miles per ride. I'm relatively new to sport road cycling. I want to start commuting on a bike but don't want to ride my giant.

I'm looking for an older road bike that doesn't cost an arm and a leg but I want a fairly good one as I'm spoiled by my current bike. what are some brand/models that are mid range to higher end bikes in the 15 year old range give or take?

For example, I'm considering an early 90's schwinn paramount with 105 gear. I missed an early 80\s cannondale on ebay that looked good.

What do you think of the schwinn paramount from early 90's?

Can you give me some other recommended models to look for?

Thanks you have an awesome forum here.

Why not ride your giant? Miles won't hurt it. Just make sure you clean and lube it regularly and change the chain when necessary.

Agree, ride your nice OCR 1! The Schwinn Paramount you found wouldn't be a bad commuter, but not ideal. You might want to beef up tire size to accomodate some baggage and for less flats over debris strewn and occassionally wet roads. Neither the Paramount nor your OCR 1 probably have enough clearance behind the seat tube for any tire larger than 25C. And forget about fenders. Fenders are great for commuting. You don't have to worry about getting road grime all over you and your bike if the roads are wet.

A great commuter bike should have eyelets for rack and fenders, and enough clearance behind the seat tube and under the brake bridges for at least 28C tires and fenders. A few old Treks, Bianchis, Schwinns, Univegas, Fujis, Cannondales have those features, but they are rare. The most recent candidates would be cyclocross bikes. They can fit big tires, fenders and racks just fine, and they're geared a little lower than road racing bikes, useful for riding with some added weight.

You can ride any darn thing you want for commuting, including a contemporary road bike. If you ride frequently in the rain, you might want something with fittings for fenders; if you ride really lousy roads, you might want something with clearance for slightly wider tires (many, but not all, road race frames will tolerate 25s, which are good in my book for rough pavement, and some folks prefer to look at 28 or so touring tires which means that you need more clearance still). If you're carrying a few light things, a small cycling backpack, lumbar pack, or messenger bag might be great, but if you're lugging a ton of stuff you might really want racks and panniers. If the thing needs to be locked outside, that's another can of worms.

Road bikes from the nineties? The Paramount might be good and somewhere around the mid-90s I think there were bikes labeled "Waterford" -- there are all kinds of good things you might find at a great price -- Serotta Colorado or CSi, Colnago Master, Merckx MXL, Pinarello, Merlin was already building ti bikes I think -- all sorts of smaller builders, including famous and not-so famous could fill the list out quite a bit (Spectrum -- Sachs probably won't be cheap if it's in good shape, even if it's fifteen years old). A touring bike with fittings for racks and fenders? Trek made a pretty nice one and, again, there were all sorts of things from smaller builders, and some very nice older things sometimes go pretty cheap.

Commuting and recreational riding are two different animals. A good commuter will not make a good recreational road bike and visa versa. Get the right tool for the job. How long is your commute and under what conditions? Will you be commuting in work clothes or changing at work? How much stuff do you need to carry? Performance carries a pretty decent commuter with racks (it's a Schwinn) for under $400. You might consider trying something like that out first.