What Road Bike/Bargain Hunt!
Discussion
Well I have long promised myself a decent roadie, something to last me a long time with hopefully minimal upgrade. I am not a serious racer, though I enjoy events like L2B, and would probably consider the odd sportive or cycle tour. Something versatile basically. Budget is £1000 tops, preferably 105 or equivalent Campag/SRAM gear.
I appreciate we are in/near the end of the 2010 bargain bikes season, and whilst online bargains are great, I think it would probably be good to try and sit on one before buying, so bargains may be limited to bigger brands (ability to try locally). So far online I have seen-
Ribble Gran Fondo- Looks great, struggles for a decent groupset below £1k though, questionable Ribble service? Couldn't try one out before.
Planet X SL Pro Carbon Rival- £999, Sram gear which seems to be well reviewed, generally heard good things about Planet X service, again couldn't try one out before.
BMC Streetfire SSX01 2010, Evans, £999- Odd looking frame, never heard of them, but I can sit on one and there are still some in stock!
Specialized Allez Comp 2010, Evans, £999- Solid bet, I like Spesh stuff, base level frameset though?
My first physical search took me to a local shop today, who were all out bargains but started to sing the praises of the 2011 Giant TCR, over budget at £1175. They warned of failures of lower level carbon composite bikes, especially the likes of Boardmans, which I found surprising. They recommended sticking to Ali at this price, as the frames can often be lighter and more durable, if a little less compliant. Also the TCR has 2011 105 10 speed gears, which is apparently well worth having?
Any views on this as to whether its sales blurb or truth would be very welcome, along with any recommendations or help on my hunt! I could do with something before VAT kills me and I am stuck with new season prices...
Ta
I appreciate we are in/near the end of the 2010 bargain bikes season, and whilst online bargains are great, I think it would probably be good to try and sit on one before buying, so bargains may be limited to bigger brands (ability to try locally). So far online I have seen-
Ribble Gran Fondo- Looks great, struggles for a decent groupset below £1k though, questionable Ribble service? Couldn't try one out before.
Planet X SL Pro Carbon Rival- £999, Sram gear which seems to be well reviewed, generally heard good things about Planet X service, again couldn't try one out before.
BMC Streetfire SSX01 2010, Evans, £999- Odd looking frame, never heard of them, but I can sit on one and there are still some in stock!
Specialized Allez Comp 2010, Evans, £999- Solid bet, I like Spesh stuff, base level frameset though?
My first physical search took me to a local shop today, who were all out bargains but started to sing the praises of the 2011 Giant TCR, over budget at £1175. They warned of failures of lower level carbon composite bikes, especially the likes of Boardmans, which I found surprising. They recommended sticking to Ali at this price, as the frames can often be lighter and more durable, if a little less compliant. Also the TCR has 2011 105 10 speed gears, which is apparently well worth having?
Any views on this as to whether its sales blurb or truth would be very welcome, along with any recommendations or help on my hunt! I could do with something before VAT kills me and I am stuck with new season prices...
Ta
neil_bolton said:
Decent frame, or decent groupset/finishing kit.
Pick one.
You don't get both at that price any more I'm afraid
Define decent? It seems as though getting decent carbon may be an issue, but is 105 gear really that bad?Pick one.
You don't get both at that price any more I'm afraid
Wiggle's offerings-
Verenti Millook- £949, own brand, seems good value, well reviewed http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-millook/
Giant TCR Advanced 2010- £999, Heard great things about this in the shop, Medium only though! http://www.wiggle.co.uk/giant-tcr-alliance-2010/
Olmo Equipe 105 2010- £899, Who are these guys?? 105 though, good stock of all sizes http://www.wiggle.co.uk/olmo-equipe-105-2010/
That's my hunting done for the night!
JayPee said:
Define decent? It seems as though getting decent carbon may be an issue, but is 105 gear really that bad?
105 is fine for normal riding, training and even racing; it's not the groupset that makes winners, it's you. Cheap carbon frames might be an issue though. Last year Ribble were offering a carbon frame sourced from the same factory that my Pedalforce came from & I suspect the latest one is the same thing. That's a very light frame and has been fine for me, but the tubing is remarkably thin compared with my OCLV Trek which is notably heavier but probably more suited to heavier riders/rough roads.
Would I buy one of the £1000 carbon framed bikes ? Yep, sure I would, no problem. The difference between dura ace & 105 won't be an issue when you're riding it.
buy cycling weekly and see what the shops are selling off, dont just search the web. try places like hargroves as well as the usual suspects too.
dont decide on a bike and set your heart on it, dont get hung up on a groupset, tiagra is more than capable of shifting gears and stopping you if its serviced every now and then. a good set of wheels is worth far more than an ultegra rear mech and a pair of shimano rs20s are around £150 so if you see a bargain at £800 go for it and upgrade the wheels.
look for the lesser known brands like merida, cube, focus and felt, dont just hunt for specialized and giant as they are the brands everyone knows and defaults too.
dont decide on a bike and set your heart on it, dont get hung up on a groupset, tiagra is more than capable of shifting gears and stopping you if its serviced every now and then. a good set of wheels is worth far more than an ultegra rear mech and a pair of shimano rs20s are around £150 so if you see a bargain at £800 go for it and upgrade the wheels.
look for the lesser known brands like merida, cube, focus and felt, dont just hunt for specialized and giant as they are the brands everyone knows and defaults too.
b2hbm said:
JayPee said:
Define decent? It seems as though getting decent carbon may be an issue, but is 105 gear really that bad?
105 is fine for normal riding, training and even racing; it's not the groupset that makes winners, it's you. Cheap carbon frames might be an issue though. Last year Ribble were offering a carbon frame sourced from the same factory that my Pedalforce came from & I suspect the latest one is the same thing. That's a very light frame and has been fine for me, but the tubing is remarkably thin compared with my OCLV Trek which is notably heavier but probably more suited to heavier riders/rough roads.
Would I buy one of the £1000 carbon framed bikes ? Yep, sure I would, no problem. The difference between dura ace & 105 won't be an issue when you're riding it.
If you're getting 105 on a £1k carbon bike, it's not going to be the best of frames. And when I say a carbon frame, I mean one with a decent reputation, a proper warranty, and not one of Mr Ling Longs specials where the headsets a bit off.
Spend your money on a decent frame with a low end groupset and if it really bothers you, buy a groupset off Chain Reaction or Ebay and swap it out.
Either way, they way the market has panned out with exchange rates etc, the days of the bargains are long gone.
ETA: 105 is good stuff, I would have no issues riding a bike with it. Anything below 105 can be annoying occasionally though.
Edited by neil_bolton on Wednesday 8th December 11:31
Very pleased with my Gran Fondo, very sturdy with a high quality finish, great to ride too. Available as a special edition with Rival for £1020 or 105/Apex/Veloce for under £1k. The Evo Pro is cheaper and both get excellent reviews on bikeradar:
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/...
I've only had positive dealings with Ribble personally but I can understand if you'd prefer to be able to try a bike locally in which case I agree the BMC Streetracer (lighter & newer groupset for £35 more than the Streetfire) at Evans is nice & the Boardman team carbon is available for £1k at the moment.
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/...
I've only had positive dealings with Ribble personally but I can understand if you'd prefer to be able to try a bike locally in which case I agree the BMC Streetracer (lighter & newer groupset for £35 more than the Streetfire) at Evans is nice & the Boardman team carbon is available for £1k at the moment.
mrandy said:
buy the bike with the absolute best frame and wheels you can get a deal for,in the long run this will be the most cost effective.Also leave some money aside for clothing etc
the fact is though, you get gash wheels on all new bikes these days because the manufacturers know that most peopel walk off the street and see a shiny dura ace mechs and go all weak at the knees, the fact that the wheels are probably budget mavic askisums or something gets overlooked. take this as an example, cannondale caad10 2001 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa... £1900 bike, ultegra throughout with £150 wheels..... i would quite happily take 105 with some ultegra or krysium wheels... pablo said:
mrandy said:
buy the bike with the absolute best frame and wheels you can get a deal for,in the long run this will be the most cost effective.Also leave some money aside for clothing etc
the fact is though, you get gash wheels on all new bikes these days because the manufacturers know that most peopel walk off the street and see a shiny dura ace mechs and go all weak at the knees, the fact that the wheels are probably budget mavic askisums or something gets overlooked. take this as an example, cannondale caad10 2001 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa... £1900 bike, ultegra throughout with £150 wheels..... i would quite happily take 105 with some ultegra or krysium wheels... I have a similar-ish bike and Christmas is coming, after all...
Captain Beaky said:
pablo said:
mrandy said:
buy the bike with the absolute best frame and wheels you can get a deal for,in the long run this will be the most cost effective.Also leave some money aside for clothing etc
the fact is though, you get gash wheels on all new bikes these days because the manufacturers know that most peopel walk off the street and see a shiny dura ace mechs and go all weak at the knees, the fact that the wheels are probably budget mavic askisums or something gets overlooked. take this as an example, cannondale caad10 2001 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa... £1900 bike, ultegra throughout with £150 wheels..... i would quite happily take 105 with some ultegra or krysium wheels... I have a similar-ish bike and Christmas is coming, after all...
pablo said:
mrandy said:
buy the bike with the absolute best frame and wheels you can get a deal for,in the long run this will be the most cost effective.Also leave some money aside for clothing etc
the fact is though, you get gash wheels on all new bikes these days because the manufacturers know that most peopel walk off the street and see a shiny dura ace mechs and go all weak at the knees, the fact that the wheels are probably budget mavic askisums or something gets overlooked. take this as an example, cannondale caad10 2001 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa... £1900 bike, ultegra throughout with £150 wheels..... i would quite happily take 105 with some ultegra or krysium wheels... and get fed up of telling people that upgrading wheels and tyres will make a bike feel a zillion times different than changing to a carbon seat pin and some 20 quid cork tapemrandy said:
pablo said:
mrandy said:
buy the bike with the absolute best frame and wheels you can get a deal for,in the long run this will be the most cost effective.Also leave some money aside for clothing etc
the fact is though, you get gash wheels on all new bikes these days because the manufacturers know that most peopel walk off the street and see a shiny dura ace mechs and go all weak at the knees, the fact that the wheels are probably budget mavic askisums or something gets overlooked. take this as an example, cannondale caad10 2001 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa... £1900 bike, ultegra throughout with £150 wheels..... i would quite happily take 105 with some ultegra or krysium wheels... and get fed up of telling people that upgrading wheels and tyres will make a bike feel a zillion times different than changing to a carbon seat pin and some 20 quid cork tapeApologies to the OP for a slight hijack.
Wow, thanks for the response to this thread guys, Already it has been a great help! The number of choices is growing and growing at the moment and I am sure it will become difficult soon! Interestingly up until now I had overlooked the wheel situation, however at this budget I haven't seen one yet with wheelset worth north of £150, whether there is a best of these bad bunch I don't know?
I'm till very indifferent about the choice of Carbon or Aluminium, the £999 Boardman seems great value along with the Planet X in terms of Carbon bikes, but the frameset at this level may not necessarily be any better than an Ali bike? I am going to try and sit on a Giant Defy tomorrow, as if I am a medium on that (5ft 11) then the last few TCR Alliances at Wiggle seem like good value.
Not to discount the Aluminium bikes, the suggestion of the BMC Streetracer 2011 was a good one as that seems like decent value, and I still quite like the Velenti Millook too!
Decisions Decisions!
I'm till very indifferent about the choice of Carbon or Aluminium, the £999 Boardman seems great value along with the Planet X in terms of Carbon bikes, but the frameset at this level may not necessarily be any better than an Ali bike? I am going to try and sit on a Giant Defy tomorrow, as if I am a medium on that (5ft 11) then the last few TCR Alliances at Wiggle seem like good value.
Not to discount the Aluminium bikes, the suggestion of the BMC Streetracer 2011 was a good one as that seems like decent value, and I still quite like the Velenti Millook too!
Decisions Decisions!
esuuv said:
Don't they're horrific. And that's from someone who sells them.Buy the BMC, Specialized are crap value at the moment and the BMC frame is lovely. Just move fast because they won't stay around for long!
Captain Beaky said:
mrandy said:
pablo said:
mrandy said:
buy the bike with the absolute best frame and wheels you can get a deal for,in the long run this will be the most cost effective.Also leave some money aside for clothing etc
the fact is though, you get gash wheels on all new bikes these days because the manufacturers know that most peopel walk off the street and see a shiny dura ace mechs and go all weak at the knees, the fact that the wheels are probably budget mavic askisums or something gets overlooked. take this as an example, cannondale caad10 2001 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa... £1900 bike, ultegra throughout with £150 wheels..... i would quite happily take 105 with some ultegra or krysium wheels... and get fed up of telling people that upgrading wheels and tyres will make a bike feel a zillion times different than changing to a carbon seat pin and some 20 quid cork tapeApologies to the OP for a slight hijack.
shalmaneser said:
esuuv said:
Don't they're horrific. And that's from someone who sells them.Buy the BMC, Specialized are crap value at the moment and the BMC frame is lovely. Just move fast because they won't stay around for long!
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