New rider - will this bike do?

peanut

try the Giant if you like it tell the bike shop you'll take it providing they fit your choice of pedal for the same price.
What are they going to do ? lose a £500 sale ? me thinks not. Most lbs will be more than willing to change the saddle and pedals to make a customer happy. If not explain to the shop manager why you will be buying elsewhere

fuzzynavel

Thanks Peanut....It doesn't feel right holding them to ransom but I will give it a go. It will be a few weeks until I am in a position to buy anyway...Hopefully more of the 2009 ranges will be out and I can get a bargain going into the closed season.

custom-freak

hello while you are in edinburgh cycles have a look at the revolution brand bikes, ive al;ways seen them as great value and you can try before you buy! (unlike ribble) is this just a leisure rid or is it a commute? how about one of the revoluton tourers? they are within budgetband will come with mudguards and a rack,(both easy removed or re-fitted) this would give you the option of longer weekends out into the wilds and also these will come with lower gearing which might be better for your knees

eg

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c002912

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c002912

Cf

fuzzynavel

I was in a different bike shop in Edinburgh and they said that the 2008 Giant SCR3 is discontinued and they can't get any more stock. Being the helpful chaps that they are they ushered me in the direction of the FCR 3 instead. They said that the only difference was that the FCR 3 had straight handlebars but they could give me drop bars and sora shifters for about £100 less than the SCR 3....what do you think..worth it?
Seems too good to be true....surely there must be a major difference between the bikes!

Both have 24 gears....the wheels are different but the same size 700x26mm.

the front cranks are different...the SCR 3 has 30/39/50t whilst the FCR 3 has 30/42/52

I'm sure the frames must have different geometries but can find no proof.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://www.ashcycles.com/power/index.ph ... urrency=BP has the FCR3 in several sizes for £270, £80 below the rrp... Don't know how that compares to your quote about getting an FCR3 modded with Sora shifters and drop bars!

Oops! That should be £270!!

peanut

NitrousOxide wrote:

http://www.ashcycles.com/power/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=836&currency=BP has the FCR3 in several sizes for £170, £80 below the rrp... Don't know how that compares to your quote about getting an FCR3 modded with Sora shifters and drop bars!

that is cheap but its also extremely heavy :shock: . It is built of very cheap components from the parts bin . You get what you pay for I'm afraid.
I wouldnt recommend this myself if you have another £75.00 you can buy a much better bike. One that will not only be a pleasure to ride but should keep you happy for a while and be easier to sell on when you want to upgrade

fuzzynavel

I have just been looking at 2007 SCR 2's on the net for about the same price as a 2008 SCR3....Tiagra gears instead of Sora seems to be the main difference....not sure how much stock will still be kicking around though! I guess that they may be old web pages. Will have a call around and see if I can find one!

Nitrous, I followe the link and the bike shows up as £269.99?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Was simply pointing out a nice price in response to fuzzynavel's post about the offer had during their bike shop visit

fuzzynavel

NitrousOxide wrote:

Was simply pointing out a nice price in response to fuzzynavel's post about the offer had during their bike shop visit

Nitrous,
All help is appreciated..thanks

peanut

NitrousOxide wrote:

Was simply pointing out a nice price in response to fuzzynavel's post about the offer had during their bike shop visit

hey no worries Nitrous .I wasn't being critical of your helpful post

. I was just pointing out that the bike is very heavy at 21.5 lbs ! and the parts used are the cheapest in the range and in some cases are not even marked with a manufacturer.
It would seem the shop did not point this out .

I think too many people taking up cycling are persuaded to buy bikes that are not suitable. Within a few months the riders begin to see the limitations of their first bikes and realise too late that its difficult to justify upgrading them with better quality components and also difficult to sell on.

fuzzynavel

peanut wrote:

NitrousOxide wrote:

Was simply pointing out a nice price in response to fuzzynavel's post about the offer had during their bike shop visit

hey no worries Nitrous .I wasn't being critical of your helpful post

. I was just pointing out that the bike is very heavy at 21.5 lbs ! and the parts used are the cheapest in the range and in some cases are not even marked with a manufacturer.
It would seem the shop did not point this out .

I think too many people taking up cycling are persuaded to buy bikes that are not suitable. Within a few months the riders begin to see the limitations of their first bikes and realise too late that its difficult to justify upgrading them with better quality components and also difficult to sell on.

Peanut may be right and this is why I have joined this forum. I need advice on what to buy as I have no experience with road bikes and their parts. I want to be able to make an informed decision that I shouldn't regret.

fuzzynavel

djbarren wrote:

Hi there, I am also new to this scene. Does your work offer the cycle to work scheme?
www.cyclescheme.co.uk here is the link. I am currently looking at a Genesis equilibrium 1200GBP but through the scheme final cost is about 600GBP, or a Cinelli Unica, this is my two options as i am tied to one shop www.bikedock.com. If your work place runs this scheme based on this scheme a 700GBP bike would cost 411GBP . Hard to beat thats a saving of 47% roughly . Thus you will not need the credit card, no risk of creating more debt.

Therefore your choice of bike dramatically increases Giant TCR, Specialised Allez elite, Ribble, Radley, to name but a few.

Hope this helps, hope your work run this scheme if not suggest it to HR manager, helps the image of the company.

Thanks for telling me about that....I have read about it over the last week or so and had meant to ask my employer but had forgotten.
Will fire off that email now.

peanut

DJB I would advise that you check the small print.
Our ride to work scheme works out that you do not own your bike at the end of the contract period. You have to purchase it at market prices .! :shock:
Ride to work seems to work like a lease car scheme. You ain't going to get something for nothing in this world. :roll:

fuzzynavel

fuzzynavel wrote:

djbarren wrote:

Hi there, I am also new to this scene. Does your work offer the cycle to work scheme?
www.cyclescheme.co.uk here is the link. I am currently looking at a Genesis equilibrium 1200GBP but through the scheme final cost is about 600GBP, or a Cinelli Unica, this is my two options as i am tied to one shop www.bikedock.com. If your work place runs this scheme based on this scheme a 700GBP bike would cost 411GBP . Hard to beat thats a saving of 47% roughly . Thus you will not need the credit card, no risk of creating more debt.

Therefore your choice of bike dramatically increases Giant TCR, Specialised Allez elite, Ribble, Radley, to name but a few.

Hope this helps, hope your work run this scheme if not suggest it to HR manager, helps the image of the company.

Thanks for telling me about that....I have read about it over the last week or so and had meant to ask my employer but had forgotten.
Will fire off that email now.

I work for a huge $5 billion dollar + multinational and no cycle to work scheme!!

keef66

Me too. Global company, thousands of employees, corporate literature sprinkled with sustainable this and carbon footprint that.

Local HR can't be arsed to administer a scheme.

Sod 'em. I'll have to pay full price.

fuzzynavel

djbarren wrote:

what a bunch of w*****s :twisted: we had to hound the life out of our HR and she finally cracked, although she is determined never to run it again.. Do not understand as it costs the company nothing they actually save money, bunch of tits the whole lot of em. Ah well worth the try.

Quite true....you never get anything if you don't ask!

peanut

keef66 wrote:

Me too. Global company, thousands of employees, corporate literature sprinkled with sustainable this and carbon footprint that.

Local HR can't be arsed to administer a scheme.

.

another bluddy jobsworth

fuzzynavel

peanut wrote:

keef66 wrote:

Me too. Global company, thousands of employees, corporate literature sprinkled with sustainable this and carbon footprint that.

Local HR can't be arsed to administer a scheme.

.

another bluddy jobsworth

Not really...they have looked into a scheme before and decided that there wasn't enough interest to bother with the admin.

alfablue

fuzzynavel wrote:

peanut wrote:

keef66 wrote:

Me too. Global company, thousands of employees, corporate literature sprinkled with sustainable this and carbon footprint that.

Local HR can't be arsed to administer a scheme.

.

another bluddy jobsworth

Not really...they have looked into a scheme before and decided that there wasn't enough interest to bother with the admin.

If the company was serious about their environmental impact they would do their best to create the necessary interest! Losers!!!

Look at the different attitude of my employer. I am not usually one to praise them but they seem to have embraced the idea very positively.

fuzzynavel

To be honest, work is 40 miles away and I have no intention of riding there and back every day....that would just be insane!
I just wanted a good bike but cheaper!

fuzzynavel

djbarren wrote:

fuzzynavel wrote:

To be honest, work is 40 miles away and I have no intention of riding there and back every day....that would just be insane!
I just wanted a good bike but cheaper!

You see this scheme is just a fancy name for a tax break. There is no audit carried out with regard to who actually cycles to work and who does not, and you as the rider are not required to keep any form of records as to how many miles you do in the week.

Got to be worth the effort? No?? :?

I have tried but they are not interested.

fuzzynavel

has anyone tried the Fuji Newest 2.0???

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... st_20_2008

Looks decentenough at first glance but don't fuji make cameras?

keith0066

Fuzzy, sorry to bang on about it but although the Fuji looks ok the spec is similar to the Giant SCR3, and as you can get a 2007.5 for £375 delivered what is the extra 24% for?

Ok the components are last years models but half of that is usually down to the marketing dept, although i know the 09 Sora will be 9 speed not, 8 i would have thought the fuji will be the current one. And of course £90 will buy you alot of extras, SPD's shoes etc.

At the end of the day its you choice and you haave to be happy with it and not everyone likes to be seen of "last years" model, but for me unless the is tecnically a 25% improvement i go for the bargain every time but this means i've never got the latest kit.

fuzzynavel

keith0066 wrote:

Fuzzy, sorry to bang on about it but although the Fuji looks ok the spec is similar to the Giant SCR3, and as you can get a 2007.5 for £375 delivered what is the extra 24% for?

Ok the components are last years models but half of that is usually down to the marketing dept, although i know the 09 Sora will be 9 speed not, 8 i would have thought the fuji will be the current one. And of course £90 will buy you alot of extras, SPD's shoes etc.

At the end of the day its you choice and you haave to be happy with it and not everyone likes to be seen of "last years" model, but for me unless the is tecnically a 25% improvement i go for the bargain every time but this means i've never got the latest kit.

Personally, I don't care if it is last years model. I have a budget to adhere to. I just want the best bang for buck that i can afford.
It is fine saying that I could get a 2007.5 for £375.00 but it is getting harder to find low budget 2008 bikes....what chance have I got finding a 2007 bike?

keith0066

Yes sorry, it looks like the bikes they had listed as in stock when i did my original post have gone, as they are no longer listed. The only other place i know that regularly lists discounted stuff is Pauls cycles

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... oad_Racing

But they are not listing anything off 08 bikes at the moment. won't be long though as the 09's are being released now. Although they have a couple of GT's and a Giant SCR ltd, which is a much better spec but more money at £500.

i would e-mail both Pauls and Tredz and ask what discount they would do on an 08 spec bike of your desired spec. After all if Tredz were doing an SCR3, with a list of over £450 for £375 you can bet they were not making a loss. So an 08 SCR3 will probably not be much more than the 07 in a few weeks or months.

Best of luck

fuzzynavel

Keef,

thanks for the link. there are some nice bikes on there for decent sums of money...
I am now leaning towards waiting until the spring for a new bike.....The majority of my riding is done in the evening at the moment and I have started to notice the nights coming in and will have to think about using my gym membership for exercise/fitness. Due to a 6 month old baby I really don't have time on Saturday/Sunday to get out on long rides to make use of a decent road bike. I think I may just repair the old mtb as best as I can for the moment and push it up and down hills in the dark (I have big 6V rechargeable halogen headlights!!) Hopefully I will feel the benefit in the spring of pushing the extra weight around.......
Thanks for all the help everyone. I will keep lurking and learning so that I don't have to ask the same silly questions in a few months time. (unless anyone can convince me that I should buy before next year)

keith0066

Hmmm, i would maybe wait for a few weeks until the 09's are about in numbers and the discounts start on the 08's but if you end up buying in spring there will be less choice of 08 stuff. But you may get one of the last few and the discounts tend to be bigger.

Of course riding a poor bike is likely to put you off a bit, a nice new machine, even a relativly budget one will seem great and encourage you to get out on the not so nice evenings and weekens.

mididoctors

fuzzynavel wrote:

I have also had a look at the Giant SCR series and there is one focus bike that I can afford. I have also read the newbie stickie on the forum.

go for the giant scr

fuzzynavel

keith0066 wrote:

Hmmm, i would maybe wait for a few weeks until the 09's are about in numbers and the discounts start on the 08's but if you end up buying in spring there will be less choice of 08 stuff. But you may get one of the last few and the discounts tend to be bigger.

Of course riding a poor bike is likely to put you off a bit, a nice new machine, even a relativly budget one will seem great and encourage you to get out on the not so nice evenings and weekens.

I wouldn't say that riding a poor bike is putting me off getting out. I still go out at every opportunity I can. At the moment that is a hilly 18 mile ride every second day without fail. the only reason it is every second day is to allow recovery. If I tune the gears and stop the chain jumping around when under 17 stone of load then I will be a bit more confident and therefore faster. I may remove a couple of links to see if that helps. My cassette/derallieur could be very worn after years of abuse.

fuzzynavel

I have a chance to get a 2007 Giant SCR 2 for £380....is it worth it....condition is good....only a few hundred miles on the clock..
should I jump on it.....Considering I was looking at the SCR3 for a lot more money than this I think it is a great deal...

what do you think?