£800 Road bike - options?

[okgo]

Yep, to buy that bike you'd need to spend probably double at Trek etc.

What a spec for the cash! Even comes with £60 tyres!

[anonymous-user]

Kermit power said:

Jimbo. said:

Say "No" to cheap carbon bikes, kids! It means they've cut corners with the spec and/or lobbed in a cheap cookie-cutter frame to begin with. Not cool.

I would've thought that until finding out that the Ribble Stealth (iirc) is apparently out of the same mould as my new De Rosa. I suppose it could be made with a completely different grade of carbon, but if it's not, then it's a serious amount of frame for the money.

The R838/Stealth debate has been going on for some time. Some geometry sleuths found that both were labelled the RS3 and made by a company called Pedalforce. its pretyt clear that since manufacturers stopped making their own bikes and outsourced the builds, for all but the very high end stuff, the brands go to a manufacturer like pedalforce and choose a frame, the bigger brands will spec a proprietry frame design but i dont think the likes of de rosa are big enough to do that and jsutify the modelling and development costs.

I doubt very much that the likes of pedalforce will change the way they make a frame they design dependant upon name that ends up on the side. its more likely a case of, thats what we make, buy it or go elsewhere.

De rosa label their carbon as "Mizuno high modulous", Ribble, Pedalforce et al refer to it as "Toray T800". plenty of anoraks with time to investigate these things now appear to say that they are one and the same.... after all one is a generic marketing type label dreamt up in a boardroom, the other is just a design spec.

to be fair, the cost of the de rosa incorporates many people having to make a profit along the way, ribble just eliminate these people. De Rosa, the UK Importer (?) etc all need a cut from the R838 hence the higher price.

each to their own, but Jimbo's comment is still bks!

[mig25_foxbat2003]

itsnotarace said:

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/roadbikes/bike.html?b=25... all day long

Lovely, lovely bike (as mentioned, that's one hell of a spec for the money, even the Cube equivalent is over £1k) but that'll be over £850 delivered and that's too much for me at the moment when I still have to buy pedals and shoes. Cheers for the suggestion though, and I hope someone else buys one so we can hear about how nice it is!

[mig25_foxbat2003]

Well, look what Postman Pat brought for me yesterday...



Unfortunately I wasn't home at the time so I had to wait patiently (translation - show the above picture to my increasingly bored colleagues) until I got home yesterday evening. This morning I immediately unpacked it and started piecing it together - but fear not, it will be going straight to Lakeside to be properly tightened and configured (I don't trust my own fists of ham!)

EXCITED!! I have taken one of the "Train for a Century" training plans and built it into my own little spreadsheet complete with all the other exercise (gym, 5-a-side) I'm doing, and am using this to track my progress. I did a 26-miler @ 14.9mph average with a headwind on my old hybrid at the weekend without too much difficulty - going to attempt my first 40-miler this weekend on the new bike, and I am excited to see how much of a difference it makes...

[mig25_foxbat2003]

A few allen keys and a spanner (well, two spanners, one to do up the pedals and the other to put the bike together) later...




Things I love already:

- How light it is
- The fact it came with basic pedals and pedal straps, even though I didn't spec any - just to get me started
- The fact that the bolts (eg front brake hanger, headset clasp) were all greased from the factory
- The little alignment cross on the bars to ensure I got them central.

Off for a little spin around the block at lunchtime... I need to work out how Tiagra shifters work, as far as I can see there is only one plane of movement in them! Could be an interesting experience!

Edited by mig25_foxbat2003 on Saturday 21st April 08:06

[Gizmo!]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

Off for a little spin around the block at lunchtime... I need to work out how Tiagra shifters work, as far as I can see there is only one plane of movement in them! Could be an interesting experience!

Ooooh, nice. I may very well have a similar box soon

Tiagra uses the brake lever itself to shift up and the mini lever behind the brake lever to shift down. Both sides push inwards towards the centre line of the bike.

[Kermit power]

At first glance on my phone, that photo looked like it was a tabletop, with whatever is behind the box to the left looking like pot of pens and stuff.

I was all set to commend Cannondale on catering to 6 inch cyclists!

Enjoy your new bike!

[mig25_foxbat2003]

Gizmo! said:

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

Off for a little spin around the block at lunchtime... I need to work out how Tiagra shifters work, as far as I can see there is only one plane of movement in them! Could be an interesting experience!

Ooooh, nice. I may very well have a similar box soon

Tiagra uses the brake lever itself to shift up and the mini lever behind the brake lever to shift down. Both sides push inwards towards the centre line of the bike.

Nice! What will be inside it?

Cheers for info on Tiagra shifters - I sat down and RTFM in the end, so worked it out eventually. Downshifts feel very strange until you get used to them!

After a brief test run, I realised that the rear derailleur isn't set up right at all, meaning that I can't get into the last four cogs without the chain hitting the guide on the crank derailleur. I'm damned if I am going to bugger about with it and make it worse! Unfortunately, the next time my LBS can see it is next Friday, so I've tucked it up in the garage and tried to forget about it until then - my 36-miler today will have to be done on the hybrid. I'll also get them to fit SPDs and a water bottle carrier, and check all of the bolts, at the same time.

To Be Continued...

[Gizmo!]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

Nice! What will be inside it?

.

Either a 2012 CAAD8 Tiagra or a Trek 2.1 105. Haven't quite decided

[Jimbo.]

[B]After a brief test run, I realised that the rear derailleur isn't set up right at all, meaning that I can't get into the last four cogs without the chain hitting the guide on the crank derailleur. I'm damned if I am going to bugger about with it and make it worse! Unfortunately, the next time my LBS can see it is next Friday, so I've tucked it up in the garage and tried to forget about it until then - my 36-miler today will have to be done on the hybrid. I'll also get them to fit SPDs and a water bottle carrier, and check all of the bolts, at the same time.

To Be Continued...[/B]

<10 minutes work for all that, for which I suspect the bike shop will still charge.

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/front-der... for setting up the front mech.

[mig25_foxbat2003]

No doubt they will charge me an hour's labour, but I've spent (to me) a lot of money on this bike, so I'd rather it were set up by someone who knew what they were doing - even if they overcharge me somewhat.

[Gizmo!]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

No doubt they will charge me an hour's labour, but I've spent (to me) a lot of money on this bike, so I'd rather it were set up by someone who knew what they were doing - even if they overcharge me somewhat.

I was in Evans Fenchurch St the other day, and a girl came in to ask them to investigate a slow puncture.

I nearly choked.

[Snowman23]

I've very recently bought the CAAD 8 Sora from Paul's.

So far so good, got some SPD SL pedals and had my first go at riding clipped in this morning....

The weight vs. my Carrera mountain is stunning, really looking forward to my first ride to work on it

[mig25_foxbat2003]

Got the bike set up properly by Cheltenham Cycles today - £22 well spent, as they tightened up and checked everything out. I will be returning there after payday (and holiday) for a set of SPDs, cycle computer, and bottle cage.

Took her out for her first proper test ride and - wow. Can't believe the difference between this and my trusty Saracen, which is not, in itself, a bad bike (light enough, semi-road tyres, but completely different geometry). The weight of the Cannondale is in a different league, and the riding position is completely different! At 56cm, the frame is slightly oversized for me - I am 6ft but I have short legs and a long body, long arms and big hands (you know what they say about guys with big hands...) I took the decision to get this over the 54cm frame as I figured I would be risking a somewhat cramped riding style on the smaller frame, and so far, with the saddle slightly low (erring on the side of caution) my decision appears to have been vindicated, as I found the riding position very comfortable.

The headline figure was an easy 38 minute lap of my 10 mile flat-ish circuit with several minutes wasted at traffic lights. I'd never bettered 45 minutes on the Saracen, even with all of the lights in my favour. Me and the Cannondale are going to get on rather well together, it seems.

One thing I am still not 100% happy with is the crankset - I think the shifter is designed for a 3-cog set, whereas my bike is fitted with a double. You definitely need to click the shifter twice to get it to move between ratios, which can get irritating. Also, when I am in top gear (large crank and smallest rear cogs) the chain click-clacks on the crank derailleur - is this normal, given that I have had the bike set up by a reputable bike shop today?

Once the teething issues have been ironed out and I have fitted my SPDs I'm going to start building up distances, starting with a 45 mile loop of Cheltenham --> Cirencester --> Stroud --> Cheltenham. Can't wait!!

[Jimbo.]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

Got the bike set up properly by Cheltenham Cycles today - £22 well spent, as they tightened up and checked everything out. I will be returning there after payday (and holiday) for a set of SPDs, cycle computer, and bottle cage.

Took her out for her first proper test ride and - wow. Can't believe the difference between this and my trusty Saracen, which is not, in itself, a bad bike (light enough, semi-road tyres, but completely different geometry). The weight of the Cannondale is in a different league, and the riding position is completely different! At 56cm, the frame is slightly oversized for me - I am 6ft but I have short legs and a long body, long arms and big hands (you know what they say about guys with big hands...) I took the decision to get this over the 54cm frame as I figured I would be risking a somewhat cramped riding style on the smaller frame, and so far, with the saddle slightly low (erring on the side of caution) my decision appears to have been vindicated, as I found the riding position very comfortable.

The headline figure was an easy 38 minute lap of my 10 mile flat-ish circuit with several minutes wasted at traffic lights. I'd never bettered 45 minutes on the Saracen, even with all of the lights in my favour. Me and the Cannondale are going to get on rather well together, it seems.

One thing I am still not 100% happy with is the crankset - I think the shifter is designed for a 3-cog set, whereas my bike is fitted with a double. You definitely need to click the shifter twice to get it to move between ratios, which can get irritating. Also, when I am in top gear (large crank and smallest rear cogs) the chain click-clacks on the crank derailleur - is this normal, given that I have had the bike set up by a reputable bike shop today?

Once the teething issues have been ironed out and I have fitted my SPDs I'm going to start building up distances, starting with a 45 mile loop of Cheltenham --> Cirencester --> Stroud --> Cheltenham. Can't wait!!

Both of what you describe re. the front mech are normal-ish The first is the "trim" function, which allows the front mech to move *slightly* (rather than a full gear change) to (almost) accommodate the more extreme chain lines. It can be an utter arse to set up: not moving at all, moving too much etc.
The second can happen: if it's *very* light, then...meh...I never normally bother about it. If it's heavy (very noisy, v. rough, you can feel it etc) then it may need dialling out. Which is why you'll be better off spending £15 on this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=searc...
That way you can get your gears the way you like 'em

[Kermit power]

Before you spend money on a bike maintenance manual, I would suggest you go and look on YouTube.

You will typically find a dozen or more "how to" videos on any given aspect of maintenance, and if you're anything like me, it's far easier to learn from watching someone do it than it is from reading instructions, even with the best photos in the world to help.

It's also free.

[Doofus]

That's one heck of a double post. 10 hours apart...

[Kermit power]

Doofus said:

That's one heck of a double post. 10 hours apart...

Ah, the happy joy of mobiles, eh!

[pattyg]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

A few allen keys and a spanner (well, two spanners, one to do up the pedals and the other to put the bike together) later...




Things I love already:

- How light it is
- The fact it came with basic pedals and pedal straps, even though I didn't spec any - just to get me started
- The fact that the bolts (eg front brake hanger, headset clasp) were all greased from the factory
- The little alignment cross on the bars to ensure I got them central.

Off for a little spin around the block at lunchtime... I need to work out how Tiagra shifters work, as far as I can see there is only one plane of movement in them! Could be an interesting experience!

Edited by mig25_foxbat2003 on Saturday 21st April 08:06

Same bike as I bought 2 months ago. Good choice.

[Ben Jk]

Pity i've only just seen this. My 2011 Cannondale Synapse Tiagra in a 56 is for sale. It's been used briefly 3 times, its as new. You could have had it.

Although looks like you got a good deal!