Carbon frame bikes under a grand are they worth it?

g-sanderson

Hi,

I'm a newcommer to cycling & am looking into the bite to work scheme, therefore i would have a limit of £1,000 to spend on a bike. I've been reading reviews and comments in forums and have narrowed my choice down to 4 these are.

Focus Cayo 105 2009
Boardman Road Bike Team Carbon 09
Wilier La Triestina Mirage 2009 ***NEW***
Kiron Scandium 2009 Road Bike

Can anybody give me any advice on which of these are good or bad. I'm going to be using the bike to travel to & from work approx 16 miles return with some big hills. Is it worth getting a carbon frame bike or the light alu & carbon forks that seem to be better equipped.

All comments & advice will be very welcome.

redddraggon

Have you considered a Cannondale CAAD9? I tried one out for the first time last night, and even though it was miles too big for me, the feel of the frame compared to most other bikes I've ridden was amazing. It was the first time I'd experienced the "stand on the pedals and feel the frame go" feeling before.

Anonymous

I managed to talk WillHub and another of my mates into buying a CAAD9, lets see if we can do the same here...

It's not a grand tour winning frame for nothing!

blorg

I had a Cayo last year and it was a great bike, I would certainly recommend it. Boardman also gets very good reviews. I would also consider Planet X. You can certainly get that sense of stiffness and total power transmission from a good aluminum frame but most I have ridden have been less comfortable than carbon. The Planet X I have only test ridden briefly so don't know about long-term comfort but it is certainly mega stiff.

Anonymous

I ride quite a high end carbon frame and think the CAAD9 is far better than many many lower end carbon frames I have tried...

For a grand, the CAAD9 105 is in my opinion a very good buy indeed...

blorg

Maybe depends on what you want it for though? For racing, high-end stiff aluminum is a good idea, if it is more for long sportives, leisure rides etc. I would lean towards the vibration damping you generally get with carbon. How do you find the CAAD9 comfort wise over long days? I have only tried a CAAD5, again briefly so don't know about comfort, but it was certainly stiff, would be happy to race on it.

Anonymous

Get your tyre pressure right and some decent tyres such as Vittoria Open Pave and you'll be perfectly wonderfully happy all day long.
Otherwise you'll just be very happy all day long.
I would rather spend a grand on a Caad9 as an all day bike than on a lower end carbon bike....

My carbon bike is a Look, however I often go out all day on my monster heavy aluminium winter/training bike and have never had a problem with 'harshness', I do find the Look not only much lighter (15.5lb as opposed to 25lb) but it is more comfortable and stiffer.
I am sorely tempted to get a Caad9 frame for my second bike over steel or Ti...

gabriel959

The only carbon bike I would recommend for under a grand is the Orbea Onix Vuelta. Why? It used to be the old Orbea Orca, and although not a Grand Tour winner, it has won stages and finished many times in the top ten in a grand tour apart from winning loads of countless of other races.

blorg

Even relatively low end carbon can be pretty light and comfortable, as well as stiff- in my experience anyway. The PX is certainly stiff but as I say I haven't had a long-term test. My two entry level carbon bikes were a Focus Cayo and a Trek 5000 which were certainly light and comfortable.

My current top road bike is titanium (Litespeed Archon) and very stiff for that material's reputation. It's also light (although not as light as high-end carbon) and very comfortable. To be honest though I doubt it is better than high-end carbon, I just sort of "wanted" it and then an offer came up...

I have a few aluminum bikes now as well as an aluminum racer in my past and my experience with the racers in particular is that while very stiff and "racey" they are a harsh ride- compared to carbon or Ti. These would not have been "top end" aluminum though. I have direct comparison between Trek aluminum and Trek carbon (same geometry) and the carbon was a LOT more comfortable. I think the aluminum would get the nudge for stiffness however.

You say yourself your Look is more comfortable, lighter, stiffer than the CAAD9... Do you have direct experience of entry-level carbon yourself? Stiffer is the one I reckon it would potentially fall down on, it would tick the comfort and lightness boxes. The CAAD9 would be stiffer I reckon. But then as I say I know at least one entry level carbon (the PX) is mega stiff.

Regarding tyre pressure, I would agree with wider tyres but with 700x23s you don't necessarily have that much leeway... This is why the frame comfort differences only really come out (IMHO) on thin tyred road bikes; the Trek 5000 I had was more comfortable on 700x23s than many other bikes on x25 or even x28. Once you are up to 700x25 or more buzz etc through the frame becomes a lot less noticable.

blorg

gabriel959 wrote:

The only carbon bike I would recommend for under a grand is the Orbea Onix Vuelta. Why? It used to be the old Orbea Orca, and although not a Grand Tour winner, it has won stages and finished many times in the top ten in a grand tour apart from winning loads of countless of other races.

I sometimes wonder why people have this as a major criteria, pro cyclists will cycle whatever their sponsor puts them on. Bikes don't win races, riders win races.

joeyhalloran

i have recentle got my self a planet x and have nothing but praise for its ability to really go, specially up climbs. So much so that i now regret having to ride my (still loved) alu trek 1200. I haven't done any mega long rides on it as of yet, but been riding it quite a bit and haven't had any problems with comfort (although i may add i have it set up as a tt bike, i.e. clip on bars and aggressive saddle position).

Anonymous

blorg wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

The only carbon bike I would recommend for under a grand is the Orbea Onix Vuelta. Why? It used to be the old Orbea Orca, and although not a Grand Tour winner, it has won stages and finished many times in the top ten in a grand tour apart from winning loads of countless of other races.

I sometimes wonder why people have this as a major criteria, pro cyclists will cycle whatever their sponsor puts them on. Bikes don't win races, riders win races.

Bikes can lose you races though!

eh

Slight highjack, anyone know if you can get the CAAD9 as a frameset & forks? And if so at what price?

STEFANOS4784

I think Cannondale only sell frame-sets in the USA, only complete bikes new here i think :?

Anonymous

You can get them separate as I enquired however it is direct from cannondale.

Put it this way, you are far far better off bying a Tiagra model stripping it down and selling the parts, or getting a Cervelo S1!

Utterly ridiculous amount of money!

spanielsson

I think the CAAD9 could be a good bike, I rode a CAAD4 for a long time. Maybe I shouldn't have sold it.

I think personally I'd go for a high end Aluminium alloy frame with carbon forks as opposed to a carbon fibre frame on a £1000 package. I'd also stick to one of the larger brands like Cannondale, Specialized, Giant or Trek.

I've worked in the cycle trade and within a multi million spending engineering design and manufacturing business, as important as materials are they alone do not determine what the frame/bike is and how it behaves.

The big boys have the engineering firepower and budgets to design very good kit, not to poke at anyone (especially my friends on here) but frames from people like Ribble, Planet X etc.. carry a lower price tag but maybe don't function as well as or in the same way. Great value for money if that's what you want.

Some of these frames may be made in the same factory, but the design, testing and tooling generally is not.

If your heart is set on an all carbon bike have a look at some of the reduced price 08 bikes still available from the well known brands, the groupsets may not be as good as some packages on offer, but it's the frame you should be paying for.

spanielsson

redddraggon wrote:

It was the first time I'd experienced the "stand on the pedals and feel the frame go" feeling before.

You need to try my Madone! After using the Sabbath so much recently when I did a quick 25 tonight I felt like someone had kicked me up the arse everytime I set off!