What Road BIke
Discussion
Hi guys been a silent reader for a while, appreciating the good advice.
I am looking to get a new road bike and have circa £600-900 to spend (hopefully getting it through the cycle2work scheme), I'm new to road bikes so any pointers would be great and any recommendations for shops in the Southwest/Berkshire would be great (I live in Swindon)
The bike will mainly be used for a 36 mile country lane commute with the odd long ride, like the Dunwich Dynamo.
At the mo I have an old Kona hardtail with slicks and have been covering 50-100 tarmac miles a week so a full road bike is the natural progression.
I'm quite drawn to bikes from Kona or Bianchi and want something that encourages me to push harder as opposed to being comfortable, although are open to ideas as stockists seem quite thin on the ground nr me!
I am looking to get a new road bike and have circa £600-900 to spend (hopefully getting it through the cycle2work scheme), I'm new to road bikes so any pointers would be great and any recommendations for shops in the Southwest/Berkshire would be great (I live in Swindon)
The bike will mainly be used for a 36 mile country lane commute with the odd long ride, like the Dunwich Dynamo.
At the mo I have an old Kona hardtail with slicks and have been covering 50-100 tarmac miles a week so a full road bike is the natural progression.
I'm quite drawn to bikes from Kona or Bianchi and want something that encourages me to push harder as opposed to being comfortable, although are open to ideas as stockists seem quite thin on the ground nr me!
Bianchi are quite good although I think their bottom of the range bikes really do take the mickey with low end components (or did last time I looked 2-3 years ago). I have to say I really like my Specialized Allez and at the price point you have it should be well specced. Shimano 105 at the rear, carbon forks and post and they even put decent Body geometry saddles as standard on them.
Personally I found the drops a PITA on the commute (admittedly this is Sidcup to Canary Wharf though) so have gone for carbon flats and it is easier. For country guessing not so much of an issue.
If you can stretch to the extra... this http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cyc... was getting great reviews.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cyc... - Bargain?!?
Personally I found the drops a PITA on the commute (admittedly this is Sidcup to Canary Wharf though) so have gone for carbon flats and it is easier. For country guessing not so much of an issue.
If you can stretch to the extra... this http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cyc... was getting great reviews.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cyc... - Bargain?!?
Cheers for the quick reply the 2 on wiggle look good buys, the only downside being that I cant test ride the bikes. Therefore I think I'm going to stick with a physical shop as I tend to be in-between sizes. Specialized seem to be stocked in several shops near me , so going to have a look tomorrow.
Drops should be OK, its just open flat roads mainly, I want to knuckle down and cycle as efficiently as possible, to knock time off my commute
hmmm that Giant does look appealing though.....
Drops should be OK, its just open flat roads mainly, I want to knuckle down and cycle as efficiently as possible, to knock time off my commute
hmmm that Giant does look appealing though.....
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff