Bike upgrade time, just where best to buy?

[dave0010]

I bought a few years back a 2012 Specialized Roubaix Elite for my first proper road bike. This was done on the back of another deal and has done me proud learning the ropes and enjoying riding.

As it seems the bike bug has stuck with me I'm now thinking of using this as commuter bike the future. I'd like now to start looking for my next bike. General use will be dry rides and sportive.

So where does everyone else do there bike shopping?

[anonymous-user]

Depends what bike you want really, you must have an idea of the brand or models you are interested in so that will largely determine where you buy the bike, eg BMC are pretty much exclusive to Evans so if you do want a BMC, you arent going to get one from Wiggle.... For every bike, regardless of budget, there are at least a dozen almost identical alternatives from other manufacturers. Trek D.omane is worth a look, super comfy over long rides and widely available, a bit dull though..

[dave0010]

Just going on looks alone this specialized Venge has always appealed to me

[thesyn]

Oooh liking that!

[yellowjack]

dave0010 said:

Just going on looks alone this specialized Venge has always appealed to me

That's such a lovely bike.

However. If I were to own one, I'd never be able to ride it in daylight. The embarrassment at my level of "overbikedness" would overwhelm me before I got the garage door open, and it'd probably end up on the living room wall as "art".

[Dammit]

Best thing to do is to take as many test rides as possible, on as varied machinery as you can.

I'd always recommend getting a proper bike-fit done, there are a number of Retul places now that are reasonable, or you can go to someone like the Bike Whisperer over Newbury way, who is a genius at this sort of thing.

You can then take your established/confirmed stack and reach figures and asses which bikes out there will work best for you.

Or go for a custom frame if your requirements are not met by the off-the-shelf frames.

[anonymous-user]

Halfords/Evans/Decathlon

[BadgerBenji]

Local bike shops, the more you use them the more they know you and the more they look after you. Also if you get a problem it's easier to sort, than with a postal company.