New bike for £1000-£1300 budget

STEFANOS4784

Hi all, i was just wandering if any-one could offer a bit of advise, i currently have a 1999 cannondale r500 which i have been riding more and more recently, i got it second hand for £250 off a mate about 4 years ago it's only the past year or so that i've been riding more, mostly for a 10 mile hilly commute to work and back again, i was smushed off it about a year ago as a bloke in a BMW who couldn't see over the wheel side swiped me an snapped my collar bone, so gettin some money off his insurance, anyhoo done a lot of research and sort of narrowed it down to maybe the planet x or focus cayo, however i have since decided that i might prefer something more comfortable and less racy as i have ridden a couple of times to see my bro in Exeter (82 miles) and even riding my commute my lower back aches a bit so on longer rides it's nasty, maybe due to frame size and current set up (it is 54cm frame and i am 6ft with 90cm inner leg) i saw the specialized roubaix which seems to have more of an up-right position but there so much conflicting info, any help greatly appreciated, cheers all

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Generally speaking, a 54cm frame for someone with a 35.5" crotch-foot sounds rather too small! My 54cm Felt is a good-to-fractionally too small fit for me (I'm 5'10" and 31" leg). I suspect you should be looking at something more in the region of a 58cm frame.

Have a gander at this online fit calculator to get a ballpark setup... http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CC ... ATOR_INTRO

A £1300 budget will get you a very nice spec bike! If I come across any interesting 56 to 60 cm frame bike deals, I will let you know

Yeti575

I agree with the 56cm frame, I am also 5'10" and have a 56cm frame that is perfect. Have you had a look at the Scott CR1 Team. They are around £1400 but I'm sure you can get one within your budget. I love mine, carbon frame with 105 groupset, I've upgraded the wheels and will use the Aksiums as a winter training wheel.

andrewc3142

Condor Acciaio might fit the bill at that price range and for what you're looking for. Ticked the boxes for me and no regrets.

STEFANOS4784

Many thanks, to all, that sizing link was very useful by the way, cheers again

N0bodyOfTheGoat

So what size frame does it suggest then?

If the bike you like has a sloping rather than horizontal top tube, you can usually get a frame about 4cm smaller.

STEFANOS4784

58 for competetive 60 for eddy, think might go for eddie as comfort on long rides would be great, thanks again for your help, very useful

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... rtno=32941 (58cm Felt F55)

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... Tech%20105 (58cm Bianchi 928 carbon tech)

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=23681 (58cm Cube Agree GTC pro)

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/detail.asp/sku=RD014 (58/60cm Van Nicholas Euros)

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/detail.asp/sku=RD004 (56cm sloping Bottechia BS600 aviator Carbon Road Bike)

Struggling to find many 60cm horizontal frames so far, but a few "left-field" bikes to look at (i.e. not going the Focus/Ribble/Planet-X route)...

STEFANOS4784

Wow, amazed at the helfulness of your responses NitrousOxide you must be one o the nicest people out there to go outa your way like that. Anyhoo reckon i might go for the Felt at chain reaction, sent them an e-mail ragarding flexibility with there finance as not 100% sure when insurance monies will be coming through and don't really want a credit card (to dangerous) will keep ya posted and again, your help is greatly appreciated

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Glad to help, I tend to do window shopping regularly, out of habit (looking for the tempting deals)

Another "left-field" idea to throw at you, which you may well have read by me before in the forum...
Buy an "absolute steal" priced Principia RSL EVO 05 frameset ( http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=24206) for £268
Buy a groupset eg. Ultegra for ~£380
Buy other essential bike bits (saddle; post; stem; handlebars; chain)
Order a set of wheels of your choosing (good offer at Ribble for handbuilts at mo)
Get a local bike shop to put the bike together for you (obviously getting quote in advance)

... I suspect, even including the LBS assembly charge, you could create a better "bang for the buck" bike. Naturally, you may prefer a carbon/steel/titanium frame, but the Principia aluminium frames are legendary (I had a '97 RSL and so regret selling it two years ago).

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DHC-12K-Carbon-Ra ... m153.l1262

Unless I've missed something in the description, this seems like a great deal, as I believe those wheels are something like £500 worth of kit alone! :shock:

STEFANOS4784

Does seem a bargain, slightly suspicious for some reason as the wheels retail @ 549.99
http://www.primera-bournemouth.co.uk/Te ... rodID=2838
group-set 284.99 rrp 399.99
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id33891.html
2 x tires 23.98 (probably cr@p)
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Vitto ... 360018648/
seat post 29.99
http://www.dhcyclesport.co.uk/parts-acc ... d229cl2e05
saddle £16.95 rrp 29.25
http://www.parker-international.co.uk/P ... goryID/264
bar tape about a 5er
bottle cages about a 10er for both so that is 920.90 for the individual components leaving less than 200 quid for the frame cheapest could find with-out really trawling the net £243.12
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Hasa-Full-Car ... .m14.l1318
surely gotta be something wrong,
plus don't think i'm good enough to justify a bike with wheels that look so pro, lol, look like an ass in my cut off combats and officers club t-shirt, good find though, thanks again mate , think i might go for the felt 1st one you suggested, but still tempted by the more up-right position on the roubaix :? Hmmmmm decisions decisions and the more i look the harder it is, also tempted by a synapse as well but you seem to get more bang for your buck with un-heard of branded frames or on-line only dealers!