Discussion
quick, light and smart looking... hmm...
although £700 is a lot of money for most people to shell out on a bike, its quite near the bottom of the "serious" bike range so you will be strugling to get something lighter than 20 lbs. thats not to say it wont be a good bike, but it will not be light compared to the rest. a good frame though will be perfect for a few upgrades over time.
at that price, the frame and forks will be aluminum and the groupset either sora or tiagra. dont get hung up about it. sppec wise they will all be much of the same, probably tiagra or sora shimano groupsets with some other bits thrown in like textro. fear not, its not the stuff the pros use but its all reliable and good enough.
the obvious choice is a specialised allez, they are solid and reliable, and at that price will be almost identical to many other brands. remember 95% of bikes at this price range will come from one of a small number of factories in taiwan and will most likely share many components including frame. this is no bad thing, you are basically paying the same price for a brand a as you are fr a brand b but with different colours and a different name.
the biggest brands like trek, giant and specialised will be offering very similar bikes, its a tough market at that price as its entry level so they all want a piece of the market.. you might get a slightly better bike from the likes of jamis or merida but its only likely to be a slightly upgraded groupset or parts of. have a look at the raleigh airlite range too. they are under rated and good bikes.
although £700 is a lot of money for most people to shell out on a bike, its quite near the bottom of the "serious" bike range so you will be strugling to get something lighter than 20 lbs. thats not to say it wont be a good bike, but it will not be light compared to the rest. a good frame though will be perfect for a few upgrades over time.
at that price, the frame and forks will be aluminum and the groupset either sora or tiagra. dont get hung up about it. sppec wise they will all be much of the same, probably tiagra or sora shimano groupsets with some other bits thrown in like textro. fear not, its not the stuff the pros use but its all reliable and good enough.
the obvious choice is a specialised allez, they are solid and reliable, and at that price will be almost identical to many other brands. remember 95% of bikes at this price range will come from one of a small number of factories in taiwan and will most likely share many components including frame. this is no bad thing, you are basically paying the same price for a brand a as you are fr a brand b but with different colours and a different name.
the biggest brands like trek, giant and specialised will be offering very similar bikes, its a tough market at that price as its entry level so they all want a piece of the market.. you might get a slightly better bike from the likes of jamis or merida but its only likely to be a slightly upgraded groupset or parts of. have a look at the raleigh airlite range too. they are under rated and good bikes.
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