Road bike £600-£1000

[okgo]

Morning chaps,

Well seeing as I now ride my biek to work each day on the road (at first I was riding the thames towpath, but it was taking too long), and my new work place do the cycle scheme, I thought it was time to take advantage.

Now at the minute the commute is about 3.5 miles either way, and I blast the rockhopper through that in ten mins. But that is with slicks etc.

So my thinking is save my rockhopper for off road and get a road bike for the commute and longer weekend rides.

Will I see any benefit (bearing in mind I am 15~ stone) in a 1k road bike? I was thinking boardman team carbon?

Or is a £600 Allez going to do what I need just as well?

If someone coudl give me pointers on this, as I don't mind spending the 1k (which eqautes to a lot less) but if I will not see the difference between that and a £600 allez or something I shan't bother..

Thanks

[Lord Croker]

I've got a Trek 1.7 - nice alu frame, carbon forks, full 105, Bontrager wheels etc. It's a great bike, fast, fairly light, everything works very well, £925

I'm not convinced about relatively cheap carbon frames at all, especially for someone heavier than average. I know that the mags love them but I can't help thinking that there must be some serious corner cutting going on somewhere. Over time they may start to develop problems, especially if used for commuting on poor roads.

[okgo]

Well the allez I saw for around 600 has carbon fork etc, so I would guess it might well do me...

Any other thoughts?

[Roger645]

I've been looking at the same sort of things but wanted something rack friendly and came up with:

Felt Z80
Specialized secteur
Condor Frattello

Edited by Roger645 on Tuesday 25th August 12:58

[esuuv]

I guess really you have to think about what your going to use it for? if its primarily for the commute then you might want to look at something with lugs / mudguards?

I recently bought (not to commute on thouhg) a Bianchi Nirone 7 - Aluminum frame, carbon forks and seat post, full 105 for 999 - I did look at the grand carbon bikes but just didn't really like the look - am 6'6 and about 15 stone myself so didnt really want something that may or may not be fragile.....

[okgo]

Don't care about mudguards and that..And the commute is a minor part of the use it will see, most of the riding I want to do will be long jaunts at the weekend..

[anonymous-user]

boardman team carbon is a really nice bike, i have had an 08 team for about 12 months now and love it to pieces. you simply can not get better value for money. SRAM rival and a carbon frame/forks for under a grand is a steal, the wheels arent great though so there is a small penalty to pay.

other things to consider are the Orbea http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/orbea.htm Aqua mortirolo and the Aqua Gavia. both well designed and well specced bikes.

there is nothing wrong with the allez, i just think specialized represent poor value for money and over the last few years, the low end road bikes have become unit shifters in the comapnies eyes and they have lost the sparkle of a few years ago. people rave about the 08/09 allez bikes but if they rode an 05-07 bike they would notice a big difference.

the cannondale caad9 frame is awesome but because of that, isnt as well specced as others in the same price range.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa...

all in all though, its about what fits, check the geometry of the bikes you like online and then hunt them down... should be able to get a few 09 bargains now...

[okgo]

Well I am stuck untill the cycle to work scheme is open in october again..

But thanks for all of that

Might just get the boardman you know

Is it worth the extra over yours to get the carbon?

[AyBee]

Boardman carbon team

ETA: Haven't got one, but desperately want one

Edited by AyBee on Tuesday 25th August 23:51

[Parsnip]

pablo said:

a carbon frame/forks for under a grand is a steal

Why? A good alloy frame will be better than a crap carbon one. Just because it is carbon, does not make it better. There are good carbon frames and bad carbon frames, and from people I have spoke to, the boardman/PX cheapies seem to be closer to the bad end of the scale.

For under 1000, a alloy frame, carbon forks and a 105 groupset are what you want.

Persoanlly, I wouldn't even think about a full carbon frame untill about 1500, up to there, something like a cervelo soloist with ultegra would be my choice.

[anonymous-user]

Parsnip said:

pablo said:

a carbon frame/forks for under a grand is a steal

Why? A good alloy frame will be better than a crap carbon one. Just because it is carbon, does not make it better. There are good carbon frames and bad carbon frames, and from people I have spoke to, the boardman/PX cheapies seem to be closer to the bad end of the scale.

For under 1000, a alloy frame, carbon forks and a 105 groupset are what you want.

Persoanlly, I wouldn't even think about a full carbon frame untill about 1500, up to there, something like a cervelo soloist with ultegra would be my choice.

with regards to good/bad carbon i totally agree, a good alloy frame will be better than a cheap carbon frame however, i dont think chris boardman would put his name to anything ste personally.

i guess we have heard mixed reviews then and we'll leave it at that... most brands lower end carbon frames come from a small number of far east suppliers these days anyway so people buying a "brand" name are easily fooled into thinking they are getting something better than they are.

he has too much too lose. furthermore, team GB seem to like them and i dont think they would use whatever they were told/paid to use....

[okgo]

Right ok..

So where should I put my money?

I ideally would like to spend between the two figures, I want the best bike for the money that is going to suit the heavier rider

With regards to pedals, must I have clip pedals? Or can I just put normal ones on there? I don't like bike shoes you see..

[Parsnip]

Never heard of them, but just spotted this:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/...

Seems a cracking deal - 105 group and light for that price range

Personally, I would go to a bike shop, find someone who is willing to talk, and spend some time chatting - discuss the different options - compact or standard chainset, different fit options etc.

If possible, test ride a few, picking a road bike is all about fit - I have super long legs for my height, but a short body, so certain frames fit me better than others.

I have never bought a bike in that price range (has always been way lower or way higher) so I can't reccomend any one bike specifically, but i stand by my statement that you cant really go wrong with an alloy frame, carbon fork and a 105 groupset.

I also wouldn't rule out the Boardman carbon, but i'm just providing the contrasting view - just because it is full carbon, does not mean it is good, or better than a similar alloy frame.

As for clipless pedals - huge difference, you don't NEED to have them, but it is about the single biggest bang for your buck improvement you can make to a road bike - I would wager that I would be quicker on my 500 quid winter bike than my 2000+ race bike if I put flats on my race bike. If the asthetics of bike shoes is the issue, look at MTB clipless pedals - you can get some fairly normal looking shoes to work with them.

Edited by Parsnip on Wednesday 26th August 10:16

[okgo]

Next issue is that is can only be from Evans


so the more obscure brands are out..

What now..?

[Lord Croker]

You're hard work

Looking at their site between £700 - 800 these look the favourites:

Univega bargain with 105 group
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/univega/via-an...

Kona as above
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/zing-2009...

Sizes for these two are limited but there's a good range. If you're over 6'0" then you'll need to look at something else, maybe:

Cannondale with Tiagra
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caa...

[okgo]

I know I am

Tbh, I have seen you can get the next groupset up for around 1k.. Ultrega..

However, I suppose the way to do this whole thing is wait till I have the voucher in my hand and go see what they have of 09 stock!

Anyone know if you can top up on the vouchers with your own cash?

[Lord Croker]

Don't know anything about the vouchers TBH. I reckon a 2009 £1k bike with Ultegra is best avoided as there will be some corner cutting going on somewhere with it, but fine if it's from last year.

Also I've read that Evans staff have a nasty habit of selling the brand that they get the most commission from, so be careful! Independant shops which stock the same brands as Evans might be the best place for advice, but in the end all the bikes within a price range are very similar. As mentioned above the fit of it is the most important thing.

[okgo]

Lord Croker said:

Don't know anything about the vouchers TBH. I reckon a 2009 £1k bike with Ultegra is best avoided as there will be some corner cutting going on somewhere with it, but fine if it's from last year.

Also I've read that Evans staff have a nasty habit of selling the brand that they get the most commission from, so be careful! Independant shops which stock the same brands as Evans might be the best place for advice, but in the end all the bikes within a price range are very similar. As mentioned above the fit of it is the most important thing.

You are aware that 09 models are now out of date and 2010 models are awash?

So 09 bikes that are around £1000 are being reduced from £1200~ There was a trek that looked good in this range.

Evans staff can do one, I will do all my research and then go and pick it from them.

[anonymous-user]

as i said, get the one that fits. there is little difference between 105 and ultegra bar weight and looks, ultegra is very precise shifting, i havent used 105 yet would imagine its very similar. Ask for an allen key so you can play around with seat position etc. test in a variety of positions too.

[okgo]

Thanks chaps.

I now just have to wait till we can enroll again, typical work get the timing wrong, by oct there be FA 09 stock left