"What bike": £800 commuter roadie

[carreauchompeur]

Afternoon all,

I've recently had both my road bike and MTB stolen (Grr!), have insurance sorted, they are directly replacing my Cube MTB (fingers crossed) however the roadbike is a tricky one-

I had a 2008 Cube Peloton which cost about £650 I believe. Full 105 kit, great value and I loved it. However, the current 2011 model has gone up to £850 with inferior groupset. So aaahm oot I think.

Insurance are giving me £800 voucher for use at Evans Cycles. I don't want to spend much more than that, since I already have to pay the £160 insurance excess.

Bike ideas welcomed, I do like the look of the Bianchis. I generally go to/from work and the occasional weekend ride.

[carreauchompeur]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I have been looking in Evans today and have identified a Jamis for £850, Cannondale CAAD 8 for about the same price. I'm not as keen on the looks of the Jamis but the groupset is great for the price.

Does anyone have experience of Sora shifters and how annoying they are? To be honest it's the only thing stopping me from a slightly down-range Cannondale. I've already had to pay an excess of £160 so would prefer not to spend over the £800- A £700 bike would enable me to replace locks, lights etc. within budget.

I love the look of the Bianchis but they don't stack up as a "sensible" choice...

[carreauchompeur]

Roman said:

Personally I'd upgrade to this if any of the sizes are OK or if not, a Synapse or CAAD8 with Tiagra:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bmc/street-fir...

Good call, although I don't think the voucher allows me to buy sale bikes

[carreauchompeur]

Mr Will said:

shalmaneser said:

carreauchompeur said:

Good call, although I don't think the voucher allows me to buy sale bikes

No reason why it won't. It's as good as cash as far as the staff are concerned.

They'll even honour the price promise despite the fact you are paying with vouchers, so get googling once you've made your mind up

I appreciate the comments however this isn't a cyclescheme voucher- I am led to believe by the insurance company that the voucher has SPECIFIC conditions that don't allow it to be used on sale bikes.

I will reserve judgement until it arrives in the next couple of days

[carreauchompeur]

fadeaway said:

That's awesome for you.

If the OP had a Halfords voucher I'm sure they'd have found your post useful

It's not mega-silly, I did have the option of a Hellfrauds voucher :-p