£1500 bike - help needed

TechnoBuddhist

I guess at the £1500 price point I'm going to be very happy with whatever I buy, but I'd still like people's thoughts and opinions please.

I'm not a racer, but I may change my mind in the future. Time Trials appeal, rather than the scary bunching of the peloton. Longer rides are the order of the day as are hard training rides to increase my fitness. I own a Bianchi SL3 '04 with Veloce double and have been very happy with it over the years.

It's time for a new bike and I've narrowed my choice down to;

Bianchi 928 C2C Ultegra - http://www.bianchi.it/en/products2007/Road_Y7B01.aspx. This has really great looks and will come down in price over the next few weeks when the 2008 Bianchi models come out.

Pearson Nuovo Pro - they do a spec starting at £1549, but the price is mostly for the sweet looking frame, so it's either Shimano 105 or Campag Veloce. Nuovo Pro

Focus Cayo Expert - after the 10/10 that Cycling Plus gave it last month.

Specialized Roubaix Expert - uninspiring to look at, but undoubtedly a smooth ride over distances. http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22194

The Bianchi and the Pearson look the best and I'm drawn to both of them more so than the Focus and Specialized. I've been used to Veloce for several years now so what what would higher spec components give me? I'm all in a kerfuffle oh what to do? anybody got thoughts or suggestions please?

TechnoBuddhist

Just going thro my C+ ready to throw it out and found a small review of the Pearson Nuovo Pro in the same issue as the 10/10 Focus.

Apparently it's suitable for TT but is also good for sportives and training... sounds better than I thought. It's just gone up a notch on the the scorecard.

andrew 7

Hi Techno
Have you considerred Titanium ? Sunday Bicycles are getting good press for their Silk Road frameset , and can do a complete bike around your price point .
I was looking at very simillar bikes to the ones you are thinking about but I think I am going to put my money in the direction of Sunday .

If you are set on Carbon , have you looked at Ribble ?

Andrew

TechnoBuddhist

Hmmm there is something about the look of the Sunday Silk, I'll spend some time looking at it and look for reviews. I'd seen a couple of Ribbles in passing, but they didn't grab my attention, bu tI just looked at their bike builder and the carbon frame looks very nice.

Ti or CF, I need to investigate the differences and pros and cons.

Sunday's frame replacement 1/2 price seems good so will give it some consideration and review.

Thanks

domtyler

Time trialling is good fun but riding on your own on a dual carriageway is nothing like as exciting as riding in a mass start event, sure it's scary for the first ten minutes the first time you do it but you'll soon get used to it. Do yourself and your new bike a favour and buy a BC licence.
________
Box Vaporizers

Aidocp

Technobuddist,

Ive got a C2C 928 Carbon Veloce Bianchi, and I have to say its great, for me it was a good compromise of looks, performace and price. It looks idenditical on spec to the C2C 928 Carbon Ultegra, without the Ultegra of course. Ive only done 630 miles since I bought it 7-8 weeks ago, I wish I'd done more its a great ride. The veloce is a great piece of kit too well worth the extra £50 I had to pay, I'm comparing it to Tiagra so it was an improvement to me, Ive no idea what differece the Ultegra components will make.

I had 1st looked at a Roubaix in mags but when I seen the Bianchi and tested it out I fell in love with it and never went to the Specialized shop.

Can't really comment on the others or the ride quality of the Roubaix though.

rohloff-rich

Forgive me for making some assumptions, but it seems you are like me in that looks of your 'weapon of choice' are quite important?! Personally I don't think that's any bad thing as the happier you are with the look and feel of your machine the happier you will be to ride it.

I would consider Ti if it is available within your price range - I've never ridden a Ti road bike but my Ti MTB was stupidly comfortable, and there's none of the worrys over what paint job to choose or "it's lovely, but the colour is naff" etc. Raw Ti looks amazing! A Ti frame will also last forever!

For what you have available to spend you could get a Dura-Ace spec Planet-X carbon which could be worth considering. There's also '06 and '07 spec Cannondales available for the money you have - I think you might even be able to find an '06 or '07 Six13 with 105 or Ultegra for that money. Try http://www.bikebike.co.uk and speak to Simon (he's very helpful), they currently have an '06 Ultegra going for £1750ish so you might be able to bid him on that if they have your size?!

Ti V's carbon is a tough call though...[/url][/i]

beckenham

I recently bought a Focus Cayo Expert. I haven't tried the others so I can't compare but the Focus seems like an excellent bike. It's light with good gears and fairly comfortable, although I haven't gone more than around 20 miles on it yet. I only got it last weekend!

I did look at the Roubaix but through the Focus was better equipmed. Too be honest the review in C+ did it for me in the end.

wastelander

rohloff-rich wrote:

Forgive me for making some assumptions, but it seems you are like me in that looks of your 'weapon of choice' are quite important?! Personally I don't think that's any bad thing as the happier you are with the look and feel of your machine the happier you will be to ride it.

I would consider Ti if it is available within your price range - I've never ridden a Ti road bike but my Ti MTB was stupidly comfortable, and there's none of the worrys over what paint job to choose or "it's lovely, but the colour is naff" etc. Raw Ti looks amazing! A Ti frame will also last forever!

For what you have available to spend you could get a Dura-Ace spec Planet-X carbon which could be worth considering. There's also '06 and '07 spec Cannondales available for the money you have - I think you might even be able to find an '06 or '07 Six13 with 105 or Ultegra for that money. Try http://www.bikebike.co.uk and speak to Simon (he's very helpful), they currently have an '06 Ultegra going for £1750ish so you might be able to bid him on that if they have your size?!

Ti V's carbon is a tough call though...[/url][/i]

The call is indeed tough...which is why I went for both! Ti frame with columbus carbon seat/chainstays...the absolute best of both worlds and rohloflf-rich is quite right...laquered raw Ti looks stunning.

TechnoBuddhist

Thanks for all your responses. You're right, the bike has to look the part. Everybody is different and what I like isn't what others will like. Just the way it should be too. The Ti doesn't grab me for looks tho I have to say. I've looked at pics of them side by side and it looks like I'm a Campag Carbon boy.

Aidocp, your c2c looks sweet!! I love my Bianchi, my 1st sports machine. After consideration tho and lots of reading, I don't think it has the geometry for racing(TT in particular).

I briefly investigated Kuota bikes, but the availability isn't great and 'seems' to be aimed at the tri/tt market, whereas I need a bit of everything.

I read lots of forum posts for bikes around that price point and became even more confused. However, it boiled down to the Pearson Nuovo Pro with Veloce group or Ribble 12k Carbon(Diadecciai Carbon) with Campag Chorus!! Given that you always get a cheaper price on groupsets when you buy a new bike than when bought on their own, I thought this was a better way to get the better groupset. From other peoples experiences of a range of bikes including my shortlist above, it had to be the Ribble.

Their online Bike Builder is good(even if you wanna dream, have a play) and I can get;

Ribble Nero Corsa 12K Carbon & Carbon Forks(Diadecciai)
Campagnolo Chorus 10spd Ultra-Torque Double Groupset (53/39 & 11-25)
Campagnolo Pair Wheels Scirocco Silver Clincher
Deda Mara 31 Handlebars
Deda Regolabile 31 Adjustable Handlebar Stem
San Marco SKN Ti (Titanium)
CSN Carbon Seatpillar
Silver/black carbon fibre bar tape.

£1557, not to shabby for Campag Chorus full Carbon bike! (I'm not telling the missus I went over budget, but she's getting a different car and borrrowing my Bianchi, so that sweetens the deal ). I could have sliced it down by £300 if I went for Centaur instead of Chorus, but at my age I've 'made do' for long enough. And the Carbon brake levers look kewl

Unfortunately their 10% Tour discount isn't available on bike builder bikes . 2-3 weeks to wait... which gives me plenty of time to finish my 7 week training program so that I can do it justice when it gets here

I'm thinking about hooking up with Glos ccc and trying them out for a club. Who knows they might get me into racing so I can enjoy the excitement of the bunch. If I wait until next year I'll be the youngest in the Vet categories and I should have at least some kind of advantage

El Tel

You won't be disappointed with the Ribble plus Chorus. I've got one and it's great (and two fellow-club-members with Ribbles plus Record would agree).

Two of us have Campag Neutron Ultras, which are excellent with it.

One tip: chuck the Deda seat pin clamp, which is ludicrously fragile, and substuitute a Campag one. Or I'll give you a Hope one for a fiver inc postage.

Terry

TechnoBuddhist

Good! That makes me feel a lot better, somebody else who has the same frame and group. I was playing with the bike builder and opted for Record, but by the time I got to the wheels, everything else was really crap spec to stay in budget anyway.

I was gonna get the Zondas, but they had crap reviews, so I dropped the spec of the wheels and upped other things.

Thanks for tip about seat clamp, I'd heard of seat clamp threads shearing when tightening up. I might take you up on that if my Bianchi doesn't fit. I don't expect the missus will use it much so I can do a swap. I'll bear your offer in mind thx.

powenb

Does anyone have any picture of their Ribble's made up that they could post?

TechnoBuddhist

Yeah that'd be kewl, I can see what I'm getting! El Tel ?

El Tel

Tomorrow. OK?

El Tel

Here you go. Weight inc pedals and cages = 7.5 kg. Not sure how to get these to work...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1088/866 ... 5011bf.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1061/866 ... 6177a4.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1374/866 ... 9a4d07.jpg

TechnoBuddhist

Kewl. Thanks. I'd have looked sooner, but the local floods have had my internet down for nearly 2 days!

Nice looking, black is back! I'm getting silver wheels instead of black, I hope it doesn't look all "in ya face". :?

I totaled the weight of all components and it added it up to 7.5kg so that looks spot on.

Thanks very much. Just need to make sure I put the training effort in so I don't look like a poseur with too much money 8)