CINELLI EXPERIENCE- A good first buy? Or alternatives sub 1k

hora

Prefer steel, now I know Carbon is where it is at but from personal experience (clumsy) I will drop and scrape the frame.

Is the Cinelli Experience a good first buy though for £900? Are there others I should look at? Ideally I wanted Ultegra-spec but I can't find any within the sub <£1000 price range anywhere.

Here is the spec (I don't know my ass' from my elbow on road specs):
Columbus Zona tubing, Columbus Tusk Carbon forks
Campagnolo Mirage groupset
Campagnolo Khamsin wheels
Cinelli VAI handlebar and stem
Cinelli VAI seatpost
Selle Italia XR saddle
Vredestein Ricorso tyres

Many thanks for your help

alfablue

What about the FocusVariado Expert? It is full Ultegra Ice except the chainset, highly rated, £809 (currently 10% discount). Oh, except it is Alu not steel. What about a Condor Acciaio - steel with Tiagra in your budget, Ultegra a bit more, nice looking bike though.

STEFANOS4784

How about;
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Surly ... 360015706/
With one of these
http://www.shinybikes.com/bikes/shimano ... upset.html
this;
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Deda_ ... 360031503/
this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Race_ ... 360027896/
this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Campa ... 360007769/
and these
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Shima ... 360033690/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Shima ... 360027436/
then some of this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Bike_ ... 300002601/
So there we go, comes to £880.58, so leaves you enough to pay for lbs to put it together, dunno if this is all compatible by the way and probably forgotten some vital parts but hey killed a bit of time at work. 8)

STEFANOS4784

Or e-bay, i got a right bargain Kuota Ksano there recently

STEFANOS4784

Forgot this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Syste ... 360006738/
and this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/WTB_S ... 360025853/
and finally one of these
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/MPart ... 360007961/
Think that's it........i really need a new job :oops:

STEFANOS4784

(total £903.35)

acorn_user

Yes it is, but, as you have no doubt noticed, there are a lot of alternatives. I think a Cinelli would be cool. However, are you sure it is Zona steel and not Zonal aluminium? Most recent Cinellis have been made from Columbus aluminium. Mirage is a decent groupset with a slightly tacky matt black finish. If you can afford Veloce, I would ask the shop to build it with Veloce instead if the cost is not too great. Also, no bike is a good first bike if the fit is rotten. Make sure you can get the bars high enough initially. As you get more flexible, you will be able to bring them down.

acorn_user

Yes it is, but, as you have no doubt noticed, there are a lot of alternatives. I think a Cinelli would be cool. However, are you sure it is Zona steel and not Zonal aluminium? Most recent Cinellis have been made from Columbus aluminium. Mirage is a decent groupset with a slightly tacky matt black finish. If you can afford Veloce, I would ask the shop to build it with Veloce instead if the cost is not too great. Also, no bike is a good first bike if the fit is rotten. Make sure you can get the bars high enough initially. As you get more flexible, you will be able to bring them down.

System_1

Bad news hora, but acorn_user is right, the Cinelli Experience is Columbus ZONAL aluminium, not Zona steel. The only Cinelli made in steel these days is the Supercorsa which at £1500+ for frame and fork alone is a wee bit over your £1000 budget for a complete bike. Also, £900 for a Mirage equipped aluminium bike is a bit steep IMO. You can get Centaur/Ultegra equipped aluminium bikes for that money.

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

How about;
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Surly ... 360015706/
With one of these
http://www.shinybikes.com/bikes/shimano ... upset.html
this;
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Deda_ ... 360031503/
this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Race_ ... 360027896/
this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Campa ... 360007769/
and these
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Shima ... 360033690/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Shima ... 360027436/
then some of this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Bike_ ... 300002601/
So there we go, comes to £880.58, so leaves you enough to pay for lbs to put it together, dunno if this is all compatible by the way and probably forgotten some vital parts but hey killed a bit of time at work.

Forgot this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Syste ... 360006738/
and this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/WTB_S ... 360025853/
and finally one of these
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/MPart ... 360007961/
Think that's it........i really need a new job Embarassed8)

Surly are nice bikes, but there's one major flaw. That's a touring frame with cantilever bosses so the brakes in the Ultegra groupset won't fit. You forgot the tyres too.

This is about the cheapest off the peg steel racing frame I could find but it's pretty basic cromoly and is likley to be pretty heavy. You might just about be able to bring in under £1000.

To be honest though aluminium and carbon are by far the best value for money at this price point.

STEFANOS4784

Dammit!! Ah well try this if you can strech to it
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/106937.html
a little over budget but worth the extra to get what you want

STEFANOS4784

Blah, sorry wrong material :oops:
I give up :evil:

dennisn

I have a steel Gios Compact Pro that I really like. Not sure what the price is "over there".
Over "here" (US) the frame goes for around 900.00 dollars.

Dennis Noward

acorn_user

You could get a really nice custom steel frame for 500 pounds.... Now that really would be a great first bike.
Btw, try the zonal. You might like it. Not all aluminium frames are super stiff and unyielding.

blackhands

How about a Bob Jackson

http://www.bobjacksoncycles.co.uk/defau ... 13064e02cd

The frames are only £360 and I'm sureyou will get Ultegra for under £1,000

neilmassey

Surly Pacer is a steel frame for £300. I've had one for a couple of years. Rides very nice, tidy welds, clearance and eyes for mudguards but still uses standard drop brakes. Not the lightest of bikes, the frame and fork weighs 3 kg.
Couple this with Campag Veloce groupset for around £280-£300, Fulcrum Evo 5 wheels for £150 and you're well on the way to getting a steel bike with good components and wheels.

System_1

I found a proper bargain for you. In fact if I had the money I'd get one myself. A Jamis Quest. Looks really good value with a Reynolds 631 frame (a lot of manufacturers would charge £350-£500 for this alone), full carbon fork, Aksiums and a mix of 105 and Ultegra for £700 which leaves you £300 to upgrade the 105 bits to Ultegra if you felt the need, though I wouldn't bother, at least not until the 105 stuff has worn out. Jamis page here.

acorn_user

The problem with the Surly is that it is too expensive. 300 pounds is only just shy of some of the UK frame builders. In the US, that frame is about 400$.