£700 budget for new bike. Help me spend it !

Submersiblesid

Hi everyone,

Like everyone else, I'm jumping on the ride to work band wagon.

I've got £700 to spend and I'm confused dot com :?:

The bikes I like the look of are:
Giant SCR 1.5
Trek 1.5
GT Series 3
Specialized Allez ( just over budget )

I'm just over 6ft tall and will be riding 15 mile each way year round, so mudguards are a necessity.

Help me choose. I really can't decide.

Thanks,
Jon

SCR Pedro

If it were my money, I'd consider the Giant or Trek (just my preference). The SCR has a full Tiagra groupset, whilst the Trek has a full Sora Groupset. Both are good frames and lend themselves to upgrades. I know that the SCR can take mudguards and a rack, but I'm not sure about the Trek.

Tough one, that. I'd probably go for the Giant, but I am biased...

Cheers
pedro

Mattinthezie

Providing the fit is right I would go with the Trek.

It will take mudguards, but you will only be able to use 23c tyres with mudguards, so you would need to get them to swap the tyres at the shop as it comes with 25c.

The Giant and Specialized do have slightly better components, but Sora works fine until you want to upgrade it.

I think the Trek looks the best, but that bar tape won't stay white for very long!

marcthehammer

The trex would be better value for money but i dont like them(just a personal thing) I would go for the specialized.

paulorg

SCR Pedro wrote:

If it were my money, I'd consider the Giant or Trek (just my preference). The SCR has a full Tiagra groupset, whilst the Trek has a full Sora Groupset. Both are good frames and lend themselves to upgrades. I know that the SCR can take mudguards and a rack, but I'm not sure about the Trek.

Tough one, that. I'd probably go for the Giant, but I am biased...

Cheers
pedro

I would take the Giant out of that choice, purely because the biggest fault with my first proper road bike was the lack of spokes in the wheels, which meant with the state of the UK road system and its potholes I buckled my wheels over a short time and couldn't adjust them properly, or thats what the LBS said anyway. If you arent upgrading the wheels go for the bike with more spokes in the wheels, the giant does appear to have better equipment going by what I've learned on here over the last few days.

That said I voted for the Allez

Submersiblesid

Thanks for all the input dudes.

Sooooo much choice and feebdack, yet still no decision :?

simonofthepiemans

I've just gone for aTrek 1.5 having the same problem as yourself. Saying that I may have gone for the Giant 2.5 or Specialized but both stockist were out of and I wanted to test ride them first. The spec is certainly a little better on the Giant but I found the Trek a comfy ride and I do prefer the astetics of the Trek. Green and white looks lovely.
Check out the replies for my post 'TREK 1.5 vs Giant Defy 2.5' last week to add extra confusion. Ultimately give em all a test ride see what feels best. Good Luck!

Submersiblesid

Thanks to all your help and advice, I've finally made a decision.

After trying all the models and taking their spec into account, I've decided on the Allez

Time to get my wallet out.

The Mechanic

Just send the voucher to me and I will take all the worry off you, together with hte voucher