Road Bike - Alloy Vs Carbon Frame

[Pot Odds]

My cycling evolution continues and 3 years after getting my 1st road bike I'm contemplating a 2nd.

Current ride is a 2012/13 Boardman Comp - Alloy frame, carbon fork and SRAM Apex. Runs a 10spd cassette with a 32 big ring which I really like as a climbing gear.

I've been looking around at entry level carbon road bikes (approx 1k) and wondered whether at this price point it made any sense ?

I've been eyeballing the Planet X Pro Carbon with either SRAM Rival or Force (in bare carbon - not a fan of the latest colour/graphic design):

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPRIV22/planet-x...

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPFOR22/planet-x...

Just wondered whether anyone had one and whether they rated them or indeed had moved over from an alloy bike and how they'd found it. Sadly budget would max out at around the 1k mark and looking around at the known brands you seem to get less bang for your buck. This includes Boardman (have really liked my road comp) whose spec seems to have taken a slide on bikes around this price point - seems to be tiagra on their 1k carbon bike now.

Will need to be SRAM as I prefer double tap and to be able to get Rival at 799 or force at 1k seems a great deal. Im aware Planet X seem to fluctuate on deal pricing and wondered if the current prices were good or if there have been better deals on these bikes recently.

I currently ride 2 - 3 times a week typically 2x15/20 and then a 35/40 at the weekend with occasional 50-60's and an aim to crack a century this year. Comfort more important than out and out race geometry as I'm 40+ with a liking for chocolate and cider (nothing too bad). Quite like attacking (by my standards) hills and the odd race against myself on a few strava segments to gauge where i am at this year.

Other options at the price point with similar spec seem to include this RIbble:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/catalog/product/view...

Would be interested in any other suggestions/comments/advice people may have.

Cheers

Pot Odds

[Banana Boy]

My understanding from the reviews I've read and research carried out while shopping around for my own bike, is that at the £1k price point a high quality alloy frame will often be better value than a cheap carbon frame.

Generally I found that the £1k carbon bikes were either a decent frame with severely compromised finishing kit, or a average/unquantified frame with average finishing kit.

I ended up spending £1900 on a decent carbon framed bike with decent finishing kit (Trek Emonda SL5) because I decided that I wanted to buy a bike that I would be happy riding for five years plus. (based on the face that I might not be able to spend that sort of money again...)

Halfords have got end of season deals on Boardmans too.

Edited by Banana Boy on Wednesday 4th May 06:19

[smifffymoto]

If you want metal have a look at Cannondale,lovely frames.

[matt-ITR]

Dolan L'Etape is worth a look at - L'Etape Rival 22
I have one on test at the moment with a much more expensive groupset, but the frame is a peach.

I would recommend Eastway as well, but they don't have a SRAM build.

[jamiebae]

I've ridden carbon and alu frames, and at that price point I'd be looking for a decent aluminium bike rather than a budget carbon one.

The basic PX frames are the lowest priced Chinese ones possible - nothing wrong with that per-se but a good aluminium frame (CAAD12 or 10, Bowman Palace, Kinesis Racelight etc) will be lighter, stiffer and better to ride.

Wanting SRAM does complicate things slightly, I was in the same position but eventually just switched to Shimano for ease of availability.

What I would be inclined to do is the following - there are a few Cannondale CAAD10 105 models around still, and at good prices (I've seen them at £850-900) and I'm pretty sure this is the best all-round bike you'll find for the money. Buy this and remove the shifters and mechs, the chainset, brakes and other bits will all still work fine with SRAM, and pick up some Force or Rival 22 replacements. The new Shimano bits will make you back £100-150 on eBay so you should still be sub £1k for a fantastic bike with all the bits you want.

[Herman Toothrot]

I've an Ultegra equipped Planet X pro carbon and think it's a great bike and stunning value, on offer they were frequently available at £899. Had an alloy Ribble before and it's way lighter and more comfortable.

[matt-ITR]

jamiebae said:

I've ridden carbon and alu frames, and at that price point I'd be looking for a decent aluminium bike rather than a budget carbon one.

The basic PX frames are the lowest priced Chinese ones possible - nothing wrong with that per-se but a good aluminium frame (CAAD12 or 10, Bowman Palace, Kinesis Racelight etc) will be lighter, stiffer and better to ride.

Lighter? Nope. (unless you go for the best alloy frames, which will be ~£500 minimum.)
Stiffer? Nope.
Better to ride? Possibly. Depends on the frame.

I have a Kinesis Aithein and it is fantastic, but its not a £1k bike.

[jamiebae]

matt-ITR said:

Lighter? Nope. (unless you go for the best alloy frames, which will be ~£500 minimum.)
Stiffer? Nope.
Better to ride? Possibly. Depends on the frame.

I have a Kinesis Aithein and it is fantastic, but its not a £1k bike.

Compare a CAAD10 to a basic PX offering and it will be all of the above and is a £1k bike too. At the 1k price point you're getting the absolute cheapest carbon frame possible which will be 1,500g+, and a bike which got middling reviews five years ago.

[matt-ITR]

jamiebae said:

Compare a CAAD10 to a basic PX offering and it will be all of the above and is a £1k bike too. At the 1k price point you're getting the absolute cheapest carbon frame possible which will be 1,500g+, and a bike which got middling reviews five years ago.

I can't comment on the PX frame/bike, but most carbon frames now, even on sub £1k bikes are 1000g to 1200g in medium size and I can't imagine a PX being much different. That compares to an Aithein, CAAD10, Emonda ALR, etc.

[jamiebae]

matt-ITR said:

I can't comment on the PX frame/bike, but most carbon frames now, even on sub £1k bikes are 1000g to 1200g in medium size and I can't imagine a PX being much different. That compares to an Aithein, CAAD10, Emonda ALR, etc.

Their website quotes a frameset weight of 1520g (excluding headset, seat clamp, barrel adjusters or front mech clamp).

It's a frame which has been around unchanged since before 2010 and carbon has come on massively in that time, as has frame design. Something like the new Eastway stuff from Wiggle is a different kettle of fish, as are some of the other more modern PX designs, but the old Pro Carbon is a long way off the pace now.

[Roman]

Seriously doubt you will get a better frame for the money - Cannondale Supersix Evo 105 - £1k:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5514/CANNONDAL...

[matt-ITR]

jamiebae said:

Their website quotes a frameset weight of 1520g (excluding headset, seat clamp, barrel adjusters or front mech clamp).

Frameset - so with forks?

[jamiebae]

Could be, but for most people a 'frameset' includes at least the headset so who knows

[Dixie]

Roman said:

Seriously doubt you will get a better frame for the money - Cannondale Supersix Evo 105 - £1k:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5514/CANNONDAL...

This x1000

I have both 105 and Sram Apex/Force/RED on my CX and road bikes respectively. Whilst i like SRAM i wouldn't not buy a bike due to it having Shimano over SRAM Theres not a lot in it. If anything the shifting is lighter and more precise on Shimano.

Both are Cannondale. The SuperSix is an amazing bike!

[anonymous-user]

If you don't need a brand new one, you can find some real bargains on the bay

Back in Sep 2015 I bought a Moda Nocturne titanium with SRAM Apex. Apart from the saddle and seatpost being changed and putting some Look pedals on it, it has gone through the winter beautifully

£1200 delivered and it still had the bobbles on the tyres!

It takes a bit of patience to buy a good bike on the bay, but it can be done.

[broster]

I ride a pro carbon, value for money its great, customer service can be a pain from what i have read, but my first frame was delivered cracked (damaged in transit) i had a new one sorted quick enough, so id rate them.

its not cutting edge technology, but it works and its a pretty light bike!

[rhinochopig]

You can do both. My frame was bought for a couple of hundred quid as new old stock. As a complete bike its retail was £9999. To this I added all the old low-end Campy kit from my cheap brand-x ally/carbon mix frame. I could have bought a full groupset, wheels, pedals, and headset, etc. from Merlin with the remainder of the nominal 1000 pound budget.

There are always some NOS deals going on with frames and it can be sometimes (you need to be careful because it often isn't) cheaper to build yourself using the clearance section of a website. Just a thought...

[anonymous-user]

Ribble's £1k offering looks ok. With ultegra

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-evo-pro-speci...

[anonymous-user]

I have a CAAD10 and a Cannondale supersix...both 105.The CAAD10-Alu frame just shades it for me and I tend to find myself doing far more mileage on it than the supersix.

Both excellent machines and the link above for the supersix at £999 is a bargain. My CAAD10 came from paulscycles many years ago and I thoroughly recommend them.

[mcelliott]

I bought my Planet X bike (Carbon Pro) a few years ago and can't fault it. The usual light and stiff blah-de-blah bks and all that - it's equipped with Campag Chorus and it's lighter than my 2016 Ultegra equipped Emonda SL6. I've just ordered an Emonda ALR to be matched with Ultegra, should make an interesting comparison.