New Bike - really appreciate some guidance

Ffluff

Hi All,

Have trawled the forum to get me to where I am now with a shortlist.

Am new to road having been mtb'ing for several years and want to find something that I can use year round, will be able to cope with short blasts, the occasional longer ride (50-75) and hopefully, one day a bit more (but that depends on me I guess).

Budget is £600 and am looking at:

- Giant SCR
- Specialized Allez

Ideally a triple (due to the mtb background) and tiagra kit.

Any thoughts/comments gratefully received

Cheers

gkerr4

hmm - well both good bikes with strong followings here - both available as a triple and both under your £600 budget.

They both even have similar geometry although the allez is available in more sizes and might be a better fit if you are between sizes.

I think that the SCR has mudguard mounts but the allez does not - so perhaps the SCR would be a better bet as an 'all year round' bike

you need to try them and see which fits best, but assuming fit is not an issue on either bike then, personally - I'd go for the allez - I think it looks better, I prefer the specialized 'brand' to Giant and I believe it has a very lightweight frame for the money which might make a better base for future upgrades (oh yes - you WILL want to upgrade it - this is unavoidable and addictive!)

mea00csf

You can get last year's SCR 1's for about £600 now which is full 105 kit. A bit of a bargain! Depends on the fit really tho.

But if you do go for an SCR be careful to double check the number of chainrings! The first batch of 2007 were triples, the spring releases were compact doubles and i believe the 2008 are all compact doubles

acorn_user

They are very different bikes. If you want to go fast all the time and don't mind getting low, the Allez or similar (plenty of similar bikes around) would be a good bet. If you want to have the bars up higher, and are thinking about longer distances or rain, get the SCR. They are a great idea, they really are. The Trek Pilot series is somewhat similar, but otherwise they are pretty unique (in the UK at least, here Raleigh has a range too).

To get Tiagra on an Allez, you will not be able to buy the base model though...

aznulrizal

having said that you are new to road biking, i would suggest the Giant SCR. The SCR ranges are meant for those who are about to get into the road riding style as the geometry of the frame promotes more upright riding position.

For £600, that is far than comfy to spend for an entry level bike... Both SCR 1.0 and 2.0 fall below that budget. SCR 2.0 is cheaper because of the Tiagra and tripple chairing, while 1.0 is equipped with 105 and the new Compact style chainring.

mh130

The 2008 Specialised Allez Sport is tiagra-equipped but comes with a compact double. It's also over budget at £699. The £500 Allez is Sora-equipped.

I was in a similar position about 6 weeks ago and decided to up the budget and go for the Allez. I had wanted triple but have found the compact fine for getting me up the stepper hills where I live. To be honest, I don't know if it's a better bike than the Giant but I bl00dy love it!

HungryCol

It's great you've shortlisted two bikes you like. The Specialized always get a good following on this forum. Personally I think Giant are too mass produced. Perhaps economies of scale allow Giant to do good frames at smaller prices, I dunno.

Best advice is to test ride them and make a decision.

If I had to choose between the two I'd punt for the Specialized.

Rich Hcp

I've MTB'd for years the transition was easy

I bought a 2007 Allez Sport Triple for £599.

There may still be some around in your size.

I've hardly used the Granny Wheel, so a compact double may be OK for you

gkerr4

acorn_user wrote:

They are very different bikes. If you want to go fast all the time and don't mind getting low, the Allez or similar (plenty of similar bikes around) would be a good bet. If you want to have the bars up higher, and are thinking about longer distances or rain, get the SCR. They are a great idea, they really are. The Trek Pilot series is somewhat similar, but otherwise they are pretty unique (in the UK at least, here Raleigh has a range too).

To get Tiagra on an Allez, you will not be able to buy the base model though...

I'm not so sure about that - the allez has a pretty forgiving riding position too.

I have a Trek Pilot - which as you say, is the relaxed trek model, but I also have a specialized langster which has identical geometry to the allez and the riding positions of both - when accurately measured - are surprisingly similar. In fact, the langster has marginally higher bars (only about 4-5mm mind) and both are very comfy for long durations in the saddle (although the langster fixed gear tends to rule out long distances anyway!)

Ffluff

all good advice, thanks very much.. mudguards will come into it i think as this will be a year roound bike.. i much prefer the allez in terms of how it looks, is it considered as an out and out racing bike? in terms of the SCR the thing that appealed was the slightly more user friendliness of the relaxed geometry
should i cast the net a little wider do you think? if so, any suggestions? now seems to be a good time to look at 07 models..
thanks

DavidTQ

I got the scr 1 for £600 I originally tested the scr 2 nad immedeatly knew the frame fit me perfectly, went for the scr 1 when I saw it on offer, originally planning on upgradeing wheels etc, but once I rode it decided it really did do the job nicely in standard form, its now got guards and panniers and serves as a nice comfortable fast commuter, does feel better on the corners without panniers though...

Ffluff

Where did you find it at £600?

cheers

DavidTQ

got mine from winstanleys cycles http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/ there were a few other places with the same offers on though.