Need a road bike frame, but clueless

[baxb]

I’m having a crack at a few triathlons this year culminating with an attempt at an Ironman distance one in mid-August. So I need to sort a road bike out, a mate who was into his road racing until recently has kindly offered to kit the frame out with his spare groupsets wheels etc. So I’ve got up to £700ish to spend on a frame/fork combo but would prefer to spend less if I could. Tell me why I should (or shouldn’t) buy carbon, someone mentioned to me they may not be suitable for a ‘big unit’, I’m 6ft 2 & currently 16st, but will be sub 14½ st by summer.

My short(ish) list is something like this

Top end of budget:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

Bottom end of budget
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/R...

Middle
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/R...

I know the ribbles need £100 - £150 worth of fork/headset added to bring parity with the others.

So what do you think of the above, anything else to consider ? I need to get something sorted fairly quickly as I may enter the Dambuster Duathlon this week (race on 19th March)

Thanks.

[andySC]

Don't worry about your size being an issue regarding a carbon frame. It isn't. For your budget I would have a look at what Planet X have to offer. Their Nanolight Hi-mod is £499 including the headset & fork. Slightly extending your budget would get you a Cervelo S1. This is an aluminium frame that features aero tubes. These machines are well liked & Winstanleys bikes have them for £799.

[jodypress]

Personally I would check out Bikeradar classifieds or Ebay.

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/viewforum.php...

You can get some cracking deals.

[curlie467]

You definitely need to check ribble out, they have a frame clearance section where they are dirt cheap, it links through to a pdf file where they have a list of frames (spec, colour, size etc) available.
I picked up a blue 7005 race frame with carbon rear stays as an ex-display frame (scratch under bb shell) for £89.95, plus if you buy one they will sell you a headset (fitted) for £10 and carbon forks for £49 (with crown race fitted if buying headset).

It is absolutely gorgeous and pretty damn light to boot!

[Roman]

I've got a Ribble Gran Fondo and it's a great choice for a bigger rider (I'm around 15st & 6'2") but would you not be better with a dedicated TT frame for competing over longer distances?:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/pp/road-track-bike/F...

Edited by Roman on Tuesday 15th February 13:28

[anonymous-user]

your size/build wont be an issue.

do you want drop bars or aero bars with bar end shifters (not just extensions)? ie what sort of courses are you planning to race on, flat or hills, does the bike need to be versatile enough for regular rides as well as competition?

if its purely for racing and you are going with aerobars, the planet x stealth is probably your best option. the ribble aero bikes get good reviews and the carbon stuff is good, the ally stuff is cheap and quite popular too.the cheap white frame anda set of nice wheels would be a great starter aero bike and there is probably more to be gained form a good set of deep wheels than a pimp frame and gash wheels.

loads of people are now buying the carbon frames off ebay, there are loads of threads about them on, google "roadbikereview cheap chinese carbon frame" and they are worth a look. almost every comment on the frame is positive but you pays your money and takes your choice as they say. be under no illusion though that these frames are somehow back street specials, they are very good at reverse engineering out there and many of these frames will come from jigs ientical to those used by the big names if not the same jigs...

look for "deng fu bikes" for more info

there are loads of frame/forks around seconhand hand too, have a look on timetriallingforum too if you fancy a secondhand bargain,
cannondale slices, specialized transitions, giant trinity, kuota etc etc etc you may get lucky and be able to pick up a cervelo s1 or something too.

if you want drop bars, again the planet x nanolight is hard to beat but there is a wealth of stuff out there, Dolan or Argon 18 are worth a look too. you might only be able to get ally frames in budget but they ride well and are tri-orientated so have a nice rigid rear end.

finally, get a bike fitting session regardless of where/what you buy, htey will sort out the best position for you on the bike which will help to conserve energy/maximise effort in a triathlon

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/frames...

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/frames...

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 15th February 13:23

[baxb]

Thanks for the replies, some good points to consider. Having only ridden mountain bikes for the last 15 yrs I want to go for something that is going to be comfortable for the hours in the saddle. I'm more intrested in getting off the bike feeling up for the run as opposed to going a bit faster at the expense of suffering on the run. With that in mind I was looking at a drop bar (but will fit tri bars) on a sportive type frame as opposed to the full TT option. The August course is reasonably flat with undulations rather than hills (Challenge Copenhagen), but am planning to enter the tour of Pembrokeshire as part of training which has a few proper hills in it.

Rather than having a pure race bike I want something that will do the tri stuff, but I can also use if I fancy just having a ride out for a few hours & i'm happy to sacrifice a bit of speed to have this flexibility.

I've seen the chinese carbon frames on ebay, but for me i'd rather spend another few quid & have the bit of security that goes with the warranty & UK point of contact if needed.

The planet X nanolight looks like a good call & i've also been pointed in that direction by my aformentioned mate.

Will have a proper look later & probably get something ordered tonight/tomorrow so if anyone else has any ideas please shout !

Edited by baxb on Tuesday 15th February 14:23

[robpearson]

Link to the ribble clearance frames mentioned above :
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/assets/images/FrameC...

[spongy]

Bud i have a very nice massi race frame.Its about 8 year old but only ridden about 200 miles.I ordered the wrong size its a 60 cm and is just a tad too big for me.The frame was the top frame for that year costing me 800 pounds at the time,its yellow/blue with red flame flashes,very very close wheel clearance and i mean close.Would love too keep it but it is just sat in the loft.At the mo i ride a cannondale 6/13 and have a ribble hack bike,but neither look as good as the massi when it was built up.Chuck me 50 quid and its yours;)

[dubbs]

Ebay - Cervelo frame.

Planet-X are good as well if you really want new.

I can't think of any other bike I'd rather be using for Triathlon than the S3 I bought last year... it works so well for both Tri and for longer cycles as I've kept the drops. Accept you'll not get something as light as the S3 for your budget but the rest of the cervelo range S1/S2 P1/P2 might at 1-2year old frame only.

Realistically most people don't get any discernable difference from the aeros bars and extreme geometry as it takes a fair bit of training to both maintain the position long enough to stay *that* aero and not negate the speed/time benefit by sitting up too much and, you need to be going consistently above 25mph (avg) iirc to get sufficient aero benefit. The majority of any aero benefit you can get is pretty easily achieved with the drops

Where you can get a decent benefit however is getting a bike with a "Tri" position or dual set seatpost (again, like the Cervelo) as this allows your legs to use muscles slightly differentyl and means they're less buggered for the run

lots of useful info on tritalk forums on all of the above if you want to get check it out and correct any errors I've just made

[mowog]

Cervelo S1 FTW

You'd probably need a 58 (I'm 6'0" and at the upper limit of the 56).

At your budget/ intended use wouldn't look anywhere else IMHO.

Who needs carbon?

[baxb]

Thanks for all the input chaps, I don't tend to faff about much so ordered Tuesday evening & this turned up this morning

Thumbs up to Planet X for the quick delivery, phase one of build tonight (i.e. work out what bits I can nick from my mate ! & make a list of what else to order) I have entered the Dambuster Duathlon on 19th March for the fisrt competitive run.

I'll bung a pic up in Show your bikes off when i've got it finished.

Cheers