What Sportive Bike £ 1,500.00p To Spend

grantway

Hi guys please can you help I am looking to buy a carbon bike for £ 1,500.00p

Did look at the Ridley Orion I dont know if anyone as any views on this and
other sportive bikes.
Thank you for your help

the_jackalcp

Mate, you will get more responses in Road gear or the beginners section.

However to help you along thing about a Spec Robauix. I don't have one but they are suppose to be good and generally considered the specifically designed geometry wise for sportives. Having a quick read up on the Orion is sounds like a full on racer rather than a sportive bike which generally has slightly more relaxed geometry.

sicrow

The Jackalcp wrote:

Mate, you will get more responses in Road gear or the beginners section.

However to help you along thing about a Spec Robauix. I don't have one but they are suppose to be good and generally considered the specifically designed geometry wise for sportives. Having a quick read up on the Orion is sounds like a full on racer rather than a sportive bike which generally has slightly more relaxed geometry.

As Jackalcp says a roubaix elite at £1099 which leaves you lots for new shoes, pedals etc. Its really comfortable and I would recomend to anyone - I am biased as I have one

grantway

Ok thats great guys and thank you for your time
Thank you

feel

Condor Fratello, not carbon, but comfortable for a long ride and has mudguards for when it's wet. Ultegra would leave you well within budget LINK

johnbirkby46213

no question if comfort is the object of the game. Spech Rubaix. You can even hire them for a weekend to really give them a proper try-out, (which is what I did and bought the company) , oops showing my age with that advert :oops:

Jeff Jones

I'm riding one of these: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... p-08-30177 in the sportives I'm doing this month. So far it's survived Paris-Roubaix and carried me to 44th place in Franja (a great sportive in Slovenia). Handles brilliantly and is very comfy. For a sportive bike it's ideal. There are others in this price range too, of course.

My only criticism of it is that because of its long head tube, it's hard to get a really low position over the bars. But that's the racer in me talking. A really aero position is probably not that important for sportive riders.

Scott08

Tried the Spesh, but didn't like the high head tube. Also fancied something a bit less "Ford Focus"-like so went for this: http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/images/Bia ... lt1000.jpg Best bike I have ever had - fast, comfy, great spec, fast, and classy...oh, and did I mention it was fast :twisted: Copied this from the shop's site - 2008 Bianchi 928 C2C Ultegra SL SE - £1499.99:
Bianchi 928 Carbon K-Vid frame
Bianchi FF9 K-Vid Full Carbon fork
Shimano Ultegra SL 10sp groupset with Fsa Team Issue MegaExo Compact 50/34 chainset
FSA Carbon Pro Oversize stem and FSA K-KING Carbon Aero handlebars
FSA SLK carbon fibre seatpost
Shimano RS10 Wheelset

grantway

Thank you guys some good bikes to try.

Jeff Jones whats the difference to the Tarmac as to the Roubaix
I thought the Tarmac was an out road bike.
And the Roubaix was for distance, is the new Tarmac made for both?

Jeff Jones

grantway wrote:

Thank you guys some good bikes to try.

Jeff Jones whats the difference to the Tarmac as to the Roubaix
I thought the Tarmac was an out road bike.
And the Roubaix was for distance, is the new Tarmac made for both?

I've also ridden this Roubaix:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... 927?_brc=0

IMO, there's not a huge amount of difference between a Roubaix and Tarmac with similar specs. They both handle very well, but the Roubaix is a bit cheaper and strangely less comfy (I found) than the Tarmac. So if I had to choose between the two for sportive riding, I'd go for the Tarmac.

I'd like to see Specialized make more of a difference between the Tarmac and the Roubaix, e.g. by making the head tube shorter in the Tarmac in keeping with a racier feel. They do this for Quick.Step with a custom SL2 Tarmac: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/racing/ar ... -sl2-14870 Why not for the rest of us?

andy_wrx

The Tarmac used to be the 'full-race' bike and the Roubaix the 'sportive' bike, but this year's Tarmac has a much longer headtube than they used to have, plus a compact c/set and 11-28 rear cassette....

I have a Spesh Roubaix with cut-down steerer and all the stem spacers removed - I reckon it's probably lower at the front than an 08 Tarmac.

Simon Notley

This is 1p below budget:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... der%202008

I have a bike built around the previous incarnation of this frame and it's an amazing ride. Comfy for sportives and super-quick for racing. If you haev a good LBS who do such things, you could look into getting someting built up around a Time frame which is what I did - best bike related decision I've ever made! You could even do it yourself if you fancy a project.

Simon

Gary D

Scott08 wrote:

Tried the Spesh, but didn't like the high head tube. Also fancied something a bit less "Ford Focus"-like so went for this: http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/images/Bia ... lt1000.jpg Best bike I have ever had - fast, comfy, great spec, fast, and classy...oh, and did I mention it was fast :twisted: Copied this from the shop's site - 2008 Bianchi 928 C2C Ultegra SL SE - £1499.99:
Bianchi 928 Carbon K-Vid frame
Bianchi FF9 K-Vid Full Carbon fork
Shimano Ultegra SL 10sp groupset with Fsa Team Issue MegaExo Compact 50/34 chainset
FSA Carbon Pro Oversize stem and FSA K-KING Carbon Aero handlebars
FSA SLK carbon fibre seatpost
Shimano RS10 Wheelset

I'll second the 928. I have had one for about 3 months and it is great. Very comfy and fast. Not done anything longer than about 45 miles on it yet but some rides planned later in the Summer.
That is also a good price from Epic for the Ultegra equipped bike. I think it is listed as £1,625. Only difference from the standard spec is that they are offering Shimano RS10 wheels instead of Mavic Aksiums.

Gary.