Manufacturers ranked in terms of quality
Discussion
gazza285 said:
yellowjack said:
I have forward facing dropouts and the rear wheel is bolted in, not quick-release. It's 'young' enough to have had quick release, but because it was a low end bike even when it was new, it had not really benefited from any of the new technologies in component and frame design at the time.
The hanger is integral to the frame, and is folded in two directions.
We used to bend them back, and if that didn't work we would saw it off and use one of these...The hanger is integral to the frame, and is folded in two directions.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261159316102
I bought a Giant Defy 1 a few months ago when I started cycling. My intention was to keep it a few years to see if I liked cycling and then upgrade.
As it happens, 2 months in and I want to upgrade already.
So.....my view is that regardless of your best intentions to keep something for 10 years, you'll no doubt buy a bike and look to upgrade much sooner than you had originally intended, especially as technology improves and you can started getting better bikes for much less.
Had I realised this two months ago, i'd have bought a carbon framed bike that I could upgrade in the future. As it is now, i'll have to buy a whole new bike if I want an upgrade.
Have a look on the Ribble Cycles website - you can spec a bike exactly as you want on there and they build them in house. The Gran Fondo and the R872 both get decent reviews and both should come in under your budget with a 105 groupset, perhaps even Ultegra. They're both also equipped to take Di2 should you want to upgrade in the future.
As it happens, 2 months in and I want to upgrade already.
So.....my view is that regardless of your best intentions to keep something for 10 years, you'll no doubt buy a bike and look to upgrade much sooner than you had originally intended, especially as technology improves and you can started getting better bikes for much less.
Had I realised this two months ago, i'd have bought a carbon framed bike that I could upgrade in the future. As it is now, i'll have to buy a whole new bike if I want an upgrade.
Have a look on the Ribble Cycles website - you can spec a bike exactly as you want on there and they build them in house. The Gran Fondo and the R872 both get decent reviews and both should come in under your budget with a 105 groupset, perhaps even Ultegra. They're both also equipped to take Di2 should you want to upgrade in the future.
Itsallicanafford said:
a good fast road bike for 30-50mile rides. Budget £1500 or less.
The current issue (329) of Cycling Plus magazine has a review of £1500 road bikes. You might like to take a look. The Boardman Endurance SLR 9.0 comes out particularly well, although longevity isn't a criterion used in magazine reviews.Nezquick said:
I bought a Giant Defy 1 a few months ago when I started cycling. My intention was to keep it a few years to see if I liked cycling and then upgrade.
As it happens, 2 months in and I want to upgrade already.
So.....my view is that regardless of your best intentions to keep something for 10 years, you'll no doubt buy a bike and look to upgrade much sooner than you had originally intended, especially as technology improves and you can started getting better bikes for much less.
Had I realised this two months ago, i'd have bought a carbon framed bike that I could upgrade in the future. As it is now, i'll have to buy a whole new bike if I want an upgrade.
Have a look on the Ribble Cycles website - you can spec a bike exactly as you want on there and they build them in house. The Gran Fondo and the R872 both get decent reviews and both should come in under your budget with a 105 groupset, perhaps even Ultegra. They're both also equipped to take Di2 should you want to upgrade in the future.
On the other hand, I bought a cheap bike to see if I liked cycling, with a plan to upgrade the next year. In the end I didn't upgrade for a few years, then went for a totally different bike to what I thought I wanted. Those extra few years on the cheap bike, made me realise what was more important on my next bike. If I'd upgraded straight away I would have been upgrading again now.As it happens, 2 months in and I want to upgrade already.
So.....my view is that regardless of your best intentions to keep something for 10 years, you'll no doubt buy a bike and look to upgrade much sooner than you had originally intended, especially as technology improves and you can started getting better bikes for much less.
Had I realised this two months ago, i'd have bought a carbon framed bike that I could upgrade in the future. As it is now, i'll have to buy a whole new bike if I want an upgrade.
Have a look on the Ribble Cycles website - you can spec a bike exactly as you want on there and they build them in house. The Gran Fondo and the R872 both get decent reviews and both should come in under your budget with a 105 groupset, perhaps even Ultegra. They're both also equipped to take Di2 should you want to upgrade in the future.
To some degree I'd say the components / maintenance are as important as the frame brand. At the end of a day a frame is just one component.
For example a Giant Trance with a cheap front fork that hasn't been maintained will soon ride like crap. Same frame with a decent fork in good serviced condition set up correctly will be night and day on the trail.
I think if you ride a quality MTB a lot you'll need to budget £200-£300 a year on maintenance to keep it riding as new. A fork rebuild is over £100. But if you keep on top of the maintenance it will ride good as new.
For example a Giant Trance with a cheap front fork that hasn't been maintained will soon ride like crap. Same frame with a decent fork in good serviced condition set up correctly will be night and day on the trail.
I think if you ride a quality MTB a lot you'll need to budget £200-£300 a year on maintenance to keep it riding as new. A fork rebuild is over £100. But if you keep on top of the maintenance it will ride good as new.
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