What Road bike from Evans for £1000

MonkeyMurphia

I've got a £1000 Evans bike to work voucher burning a hole in my back pocket, what should i get from this selection:

2008 Cannondale Synapse
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec000086

2009 Specialized Allez Elite
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec016880

2008 Specialized Tarmac Elite
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec001382

2008 Bianchi B4P 1885 TB Hydro Carbon
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bia ... e-ec000016

cheers

mclarent

For me it's between the Bianchi and the Tarmac Elite. I'd probably get the Bianchi.

gkerr4

i would doubt they would honor the "sale" price with a cycle2work voucher - they usually only accept them against full retail price - which reduces your options somewhat (in which case I'd have the allez)

if they will give you those bikes at those prices then (IMO) the tarmac is in a different league to the others.

get it - save up to upgrade the wheels next summer and you will have a fairly top-end bike for your money.

MonkeyMurphia

according to their website sale bikes are included. and funnily enough i've got a pair of ultegra wheels gathering dust at home!

felgen

Have you ridden any of them? Not that I rode mine before getting it (Planet X D-A£999) but I would have liked the opportunity to do so so take it if you can. Obviously the Bianchi looks lovely, but I have to say, part of the beauty of my bike is its light weight, and the tarmac has a carbon frame which will be lighter/and/or stronger so as gkerr says - the tarmac would be the best choice on this count, and equipment-wise there doesnt seem to be much in it other than compact/non compact - either way its 105 which is more than reaosnable to start with and you can upgrade later when you catch the bug (I say 'when' rather than 'if' as I haven't seen anyone who hasn't become totally addicted on getting back on a bike)...

morrisje

There is a 5th option

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec015463

Better wheels than the Specialized

edhornby

I'd say go and have a ride of them, if you're giving them a grand then a test ride is the least they could do

are there reviews on the main bike radar site for these machines ???

MonkeyMurphia

trouble is with evans, they don't stock any of these bikes in store. they are all mail order/ship to store. The Chiswick store is 2 minutes round the corner from my office and they have in total about 8 road bikes in there and i've been into Evans' specialist road bike store at Waterloo Cut and even though they have a wider range, they didn't stock any of the bikes i've listed in this post. very frustrating.

dombo6

Get them to bring in the ones you want to try, ride them and pick the one that fits best. I tested a Bianchi and Lemond last year and they brought them from Glasgow to Croydon for me to ride about on before choosing.

pintoo

gkerr4 wrote:

i would doubt they would honor the "sale" price with a cycle2work voucher - they usually only accept them against full retail price - which reduces your options somewhat (in which case I'd have the allez)

I bought my bike through Evan's c2w scheme and that was on sale price. They collect the same amount of money regardless - the tax free element comes off the payer's end, not the retailer's. They have an admin overhead, but they still get the same amount on the sale.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec001393

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fel ... e-ec000581

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/rid ... e-ec017145

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kon ... e-ec017287