BH & Orbea road bikes

[custardkid]

Help!

mountain biker buying a road bike.

was going to go for this specialized...
Specialized
it looks the bomb and comes from a mountain bike manufacturer

but these have been offered at a similar price (its abit complicated due to cycle to work scheme and halfrauds)

thoughts please
full carbon frame with 105 kit
Speedrom

carbon rear end, with ultegra and mavic wheel set.
Orbea

or should I stick with the specialised?

cheers
Custard

Edited by custardkid on Monday 22 December 12:11

[Chairman LMAO]

Buy the Specialized. Service is good, and they dont make a bad bike.

[JPJ]

Can I point you in the direction of Planet X and have a look at their SL Pro Carbon. Best value carbon frame and equipment out there at the moment.

Nothing wrong with the Specialized (I've got an '08 frame having snapped an '04 one, but not under warranty), but with the increase in component costs on '09 models they have cut corners in certain areas in order to hit a price point - you can see it with the brakes.

The Planet X comes with much better kit fitted to a carbon frame, so should be lighter and the components will last longer.

[Chairman LMAO]

^^^^ second PX if you are looking mail order. There may be some demo bikes out there.

[anonymous-user]

custardkid said:

Help!

mountain biker buying a road bike.

was going to go for this specialized...
Specialized
it looks the bomb and comes from a mountain bike manufacturer

but these have been offered at a similar price (its abit complicated due to cycle to work scheme and halfrauds)

thoughts please
full carbon frame with 105 kit
Speedrom

carbon rear end, with ultegra and mavic wheel set.
Orbea

or should I stick with the specialised?

cheers
Custard

Edited by custardkid on Monday 22 December 12:11

get yee over to Bike opposite Habitat, very good deals on 08 BHs/Orbeas at the moment. the 08 Altube is £850. if you didnt know, they coome from Northern Spain and are very highly thought of on the continent.

you could do worse than have a look at the 2009 Boardman Team. Full Carbon , SRAM Rival and Rotchey finishing kit. the Halfords in Weston Super Mare is a bikehut store and the staff there are very switched on. they know their bikes and are as good as anyone else in the south west. i bought an 08 Team form them and was very pleased (though a mate built it up for me!) yeah it comes from Halfords, get over that and its the bargain of the year... http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_team_carbon...

specialized bikes are over priced imho. £1K for 105 and no carbon in the frame?, None of the staff in the "concept" store on park street filled me with confidence so i went elsewhere, they kept referring to a book for the spec and generally didnt seem to do much riding themselves... they trade on the name and think that alone will shift the stock.

have a look and see if Evans have any of the Cannondale CAADs on sale?

also if you are in bristol at the weekends and fancy a ride give me a shout, as another ex mtber converting to road, we can offer each other mutual support!....

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 22 December 18:56

[red355]

just bought the wife a boardman hybrid super value for money. teh road bikes are very good value

but check out the Kiron from wiggle
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Kiron_Scandium_2...

Features of the Kiron Scandium 2009 Road Bike

* Easton Scandium tubeset with full Easton EC90 carbon fibre rear triangle
* Easton EC90 SL full carbon forks
* Cane Creek aheadset
* Shimano 105 10 Speed Groupset with Shimano 105 and Ultegra Mechs
* Easton EA50 Vista wheelset
* Easton EA30 Handlebars, Stem and Cork bar tape
* Easton EA30 Seatpost with Selle Italia Filante saddle
* Pariba Provolution tyres
* Available in Race or Compact chainset options

The complete bike comes in at just 17.3lbs for a 56cm frame.

[custardkid]

pablo said:

get yee over to Bike opposite Habitat, very good deals on 08 BHs/Orbeas at the moment. the 08 Altube is £850. if you didnt know, they coome from Northern Spain and are very highly thought of on the continent.
also if you are in bristol at the weekends and fancy a ride give me a shout, as another ex mtber converting to road, we can offer each other mutual support!....

Edited by pablo on Monday 22 December 18:56

Yes been into Bike, used to work there, they are willing to accept a Halfords bike to work voucher. will all places?

the Boardman pro has now been reduced which is good... just not sure i could ride a halfords bike....

Yep up for some beginner winter training rides, so will let you know when i have some skinny wheels


custard

[anonymous-user]

well Nicole Cooke rides one... nah seriously, its only a halfords bike in that it is all bulit in taiwan, gets shipped over to the UK, goes through Halfords supply chain and ends up in their store. as i said, you dont even have to get them to bulid it for you but the guys in W-S-M do seem switched on....

[custardkid]

Re build - any bike i get i would strip and rebuild any way, to check every thing is right.


Have found out that Halfords can get Focus bikes from Wiggle, this looks tempting:
[url]focus cayo|http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Focus_Cayo_105_2009/5360037591/[/pic]

Any one have any experiance of the shimano RS10 wheels.

looks like its a choice beween a half carbon frame and ultegra/dura ace parts
or
a full carbon frame and 105

on the basis that 105 vs ultegra is like LX vs XT
ie a bit less bling, heavier, but same functionality

then tempted to go for the full carbon frame as components usually get replaced after a couple of years any way????

Cheers
Custard

[moleamol]

Orbea are lovely bikes, my mate had one for about the price you are looking and it was remarkably light and had decent kit. Scott are good value as well around that price.