Recommend a bike for sportives.

[culminator]

Having decided to go back to road cycling after a brief spell on Mtbs I'm struggling to decide on what to buy next.

As I'm in my mid 40's a really good sportive bike would suit me better than an extreme pure race bike. I'd probably buy used and have a budget of circa £2k, so what's good out there?

Would prefer to have something quite special and quite keen on a Colnago c50 or a bianchi 928 but I'd also consider something titanium.

Other bikes considered so far include de rosa r838, storck, cervelo R3 etc

Help!
Mike

[Jimbo.]

Why buy used? Unless you know what fits, then it's a gamble. A good sportive - hell, ANY - bike, is one that fits. The "best" bike in the world is useless if you can't ride it for long. Especially if you've reasonably long rides in mind.

Set your budget for, say, £1-1.5K. The change will get you the stuff you'll need (pedals, etc).

[Gizmoish]

£2k should be more than enough.

Cannondale Synapse Carbon, Specialized Roubaix?

[okgo]

Jimbo. said:

Why buy used? Unless you know what fits, then it's a gamble. A good sportive - hell, ANY - bike, is one that fits. The "best" bike in the world is useless if you can't ride it for long. Especially if you've reasonably long rides in mind.

Set your budget for, say, £1-1.5K. The change will get you the stuff you'll need (pedals, etc).

You can make any bike fit you, it's not this amazing chemistry and alchemy that everyone makes out. It's why everything you attach to the bike comes in various sizes. Your paragraph gets trotted out every day by someone, and often the person fitting you in the shop will be using the most basic measures to 'fit' you to a bike anyway.

Cervelo rs is meant to be good!

[mcelliott]

Wiggle are having a pretty good sale on at the moment - worth checking that out. I've just bought a Felt F75 (105 equipped) for £660

[anonymous-user]

As others have said, you can ride a sportive on anyhitng, i've used alu bikes and carbon bikes and to be honest, a lot depends on your training and how you prepare in the 48 hours before the event if its a 100+ miler.

The Roubaix would be my first choice, its a bit bland but its purpose built for the job.

How comfy are you with the idea of buying bits in the sales and then letting a bike shop build it? If it were me I would look at a Van Nicholas frame and then build it up according to budget, Sram Apex or 105, 105/ultegra hubs on open pro rims etc. 32 spokes mean you will not have to worry about poor road quality and if you break a spoke on the events, you should be able to get home fairly easily with 31!. You get the durability and comfort of titanium with useful things like rack and mudguard mounts. the frame will last a lifetime and it will be something personal rather than just a bike off the shelf. There will be loads of components in the sales soon and you could easily buid up a nice bike for <£2k

[itsnotarace]

culminator said:

As I'm in my mid 40's a really good sportive bike would suit me better than an extreme pure race bike.

culminator said:

Colnago c50 bianchi, 928, de rosa r838, storck, cervelo R3 etc

The definition of a sportive bike is:

Long head tube
Short top tube
Short stack
Short reach

None of those bikes you went on to shortlist exhibit any of those characteristics, especially not the Colnago, Bianchi or Storck. You are looking at "extreme race bikes" as you put it. The Cervelo R3 has a longer head tube but none of the other criteria so can still be considered a race bike

So what is it that you actually want? Sit up and beg comfort or flat-back aero racing position.

[KB_S1]

I just got a Bianchi Sempre Ultegra from Wiggle.
Great deal. Very comfortable, I did a 70 mile sportive last week. First time on the bike and the furthest I have been, best I have felt on bike.
That was with an injured wrist causing problems too.

[GBDG]

mcelliott said:

Wiggle are having a pretty good sale on at the moment - worth checking that out. I've just bought a Felt F75 (105 equipped) for £660

...how!

[david968s]

Specialized Roubaix is a good mainstream choice. I am younger than you but have lower back problems, and I find this a very comfortable bike. Available in different levels of spec too, so there will be something that matches your budget.

[village idiot]

buy my colnago in the classifieds (it's now down to £695 plus delivery)... it has sportive geometry with a longish headtube, sloping compact geometry and compact gearing.... it looks like £2k's worth, but costs buttons... job done!

[Robsti]

If you want a Bianchi it has to be the Infinito!

Edited by Robsti on Tuesday 28th August 20:07

[mcelliott]

GBDG said:

mcelliott said:

Wiggle are having a pretty good sale on at the moment - worth checking that out. I've just bought a Felt F75 (105 equipped) for £660

...how!

The bike was already 25% off, take off the VAT (as I'm offshore) plus my additional 10% off courtesy of Pizza Express, and the final price was £660! Bike should arrive early next week.

[GBDG]

mcelliott said:

The bike was already 25% off, take off the VAT (as I'm offshore) plus my additional 10% off courtesy of Pizza Express, and the final price was £660! Bike should arrive early next week.

Ah, it was the VAT that i was missing.

[Barbarossa]

Scott CR1

[insurance_jon]

Using the pizza express voucher and Evans wiggle price match just got a felt f4 for 1600.

[culminator]

Thanks for all the help so far. I've narrowed it down a bit and very keen on a few but the Cube agree GTC with DI2 stands out at the mo!