First Road Bike

julietp

My Partner is buying his first road bike via the cycle to work scheme. He has a budget of £600 (ish) and has seen two particular bikes which he likes:

The Bianchi CTC - Mainly for the Look and the comfort frame
http://www.bianchi.it/uk/products2007/Road_Y7B10.aspx

and the TREK 1.5
http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/20 ... series/15/

He is an regular rider (33yrs ols) on an old hybrid bike (which weighs a ton) doing a regular 23mile route in about 1hr 10/15m butknows very little with regards to the components and what difference they really make.

Whilst I am sure that there will be many other bike recomendations, he really wants your advice/ enxperiences on either of these two and accepts that in a couple of years he will may need to significantly upgrade it when he knows exactly what he needs.

So, what should it be?

babyshambles

That is very strange.... I am similar rider and was looking at the same couple of bikes so all tresponses would be helpful to me too :-)

gkerr4

been said before but ...

first principle is fit - different frames, diferent geometries will fit different people.

if there are no fit considerations (i.e. they BOTH fit well) then go for the one you like the look of best as that will keep you motivated to keep onriding.

of the two you have picked there, you have a little side-bet on the make of groupset (the gears, brakes, levers etc) - the Bianchi is Campagnolo the trek is shimano. There are pro's and cons of each make (i'm a campagnolo person although a recent convert to the campag cause)

for my money (and excluding fit issues) i'd have the bianchi every day - I think that the bianchi looks better - especially in that celeste green colour - and has a certain brand appeal that the trek doesn't.


just my 2p - good luck to both of you and welcome to the forum!

Rexy100

Hi Juliet

GKerr is spot on. At 39 I've just moved from a Trek hybrid to a Trek 1.7 roadie & having been properly measured for the bike, it feels and (I think) looks superb. My Geordie mate loves the Bianchi styling and colour too, but then he's a Geordie.

Seriously though, have him get sized properly for the thing and if he's not made the switch, strongly consider moving to clipless pedals, SPD or similar, if practical. The ability to pull up with your legs as well as push down improved my performance massively. Just wished I hadn't been such a girl and done it ages ago.

Sorry for giving you s'thing else to consider, but whatever you're choice, once he's accustomed to the new position, I'm sure he'll love it.

Regards

allaction

Both responses above spot on. There is such a huge difference betweeen how bikes 'ride' that he'd be advised to actually ride them for a little while (test ride) to see if he likes it.

babyshambles

i think i'm going for the Bianchi, loks alone (i was always shallow!!) dunno what JulietP's BF is going for?

gkerr4

babyshambles wrote:

i think i'm going for the Bianchi, loks alone (i was always shallow!!) dunno what JulietP's BF is going for?

nothing wrong with that - if the bike looks good to you then go for it.

now - are you going for the shimano or the campagnolo version?

timoid.

gkerr4 wrote:

babyshambles wrote:

i think i'm going for the Bianchi, loks alone (i was always shallow!!) dunno what JulietP's BF is going for?

nothing wrong with that - if the bike looks good to you then go for it.

now - are you going for the shimano or the campagnolo version?

Campagnolo is your only option for an Italian bike. Its fine to use Shimano for any other country of manufacture, but putting it on a Bianchi is criminal.

BTW: I use both and think both are good manufacturers