£1250 Carbon bike HELP

lfc_westy

hey guys,

i know there is a post about a topic like this a few topics ago but i really need some help

like the other post, yeah i have taken a good intrest into CB team carbon but since i got my last bike from halfords i really really want to avoid thier again.

Ah good friend as suggested i make my own bike with a planet x frame,kryserium equipe wheels and sram froce ... but the possibility of it was slim and overall cost came to around £1500 ( inc set up cost)

Recentley saw a Vitus Vitesse on CRC and it has caught my attention with great significance. I want this bike.

Problem. there is one size avaliable for £1250 which is a 52cm. the only thing is i dont know if this is top tube length or seat mast ... i need a 55+ top tube length bike but the vitesse has sram froce and is carbon.. couldnt ask for much more at that price...

Anyone got the Geo for the vitus or any other ideas for a £1250 Carbon BIKe with something like ultegra or Rival/force NOT 105 !


thanks Dan,

majormantra

Can't find geometry info for that bike but I don't think there's any way a 52cm could have a TT long enough for you - it's not a sloping frame.

I think PX or Ribble (Carbon Sportive) offer the most value for money apart from Boardman. My new Ribble is lovely:



Matthew

newcrossroadie

Hi MajorMantra. I'm tempted by the ribble sportive and it looks great in your pic. Can i ask what frame + stem size you went for, and how tall are you?

Im 5ft8 and the ribble website suggests at 52 frame, but the 55cm reach on this seems a bit long to me.

Also, is it nice and light?

rokkala

newcrossroadie wrote:

Hi MajorMantra. I'm tempted by the ribble sportive and it looks great in your pic. Can i ask what frame + stem size you went for, and how tall are you?

Im 5ft8 and the ribble website suggests at 52 frame, but the 55cm reach on this seems a bit long to me.

Also, is it nice and light?

You said in your original post you needed 55+cm TT, thats what the Ribble Sportive with 52cm frame gives you, whats the problem?



Thats mine, i got the 55cm frame with 110mm stem(100mm would be ok too) and i'm 5'11. Fits very nicely!

It's very good, weighed it the other day and mine was just over 18lbs.

newcrossroadie

Hi Rokkala

I think you got my post mixed up with lfc_westy's who started the thread - he needs 55cm+ top tube, not me.

Your bike looks nice though!

rokkala

newcrossroadie wrote:

Hi Rokkala

I think you got my post mixed up with lfc_westy's who started the thread - he needs 55cm+ top tube, not me.

Your bike looks nice though!

Ha, oopsy What sort of TT length you think you need?

Thanks btw!

newcrossroadie

No worries!

I think I may need a 54cm t.tube. I currently ride a specialized allez 56, which has a 56.5cm effective t.tube. But i feel like i am over reaching on it, and my neck/shoulders are usually sore after 50 miles or so. Initially I thought it was that i was not used to longer distances, but after 7 months hard training for the etape it hasn't got any better, much to my frustration.

The Ribble 52cm is a smaller bike than my specialized, but just a bit worried the 55 cm reach won't make much difference. It looks awesome though and sounds like it's a cracking ride.

Quite like the look of the boardman team cbn small, but none in stock anywhere...

rokkala

Well your automatically losing 1.5cm from the effective TT length. What stem size is on your current bike? Say your currently using an 11cm stem, can lose another 2cm just going to 9cm stem length.

Don't know what your current bike is like, but led to believe the Ribble is compromise between full sportive and race, so that might give you a bit more comfort too. Great ride, not been able to keep myself off it since it was delivered earlier in week!

majormantra

newcrossroadie wrote:

Hi MajorMantra. I'm tempted by the ribble sportive and it looks great in your pic. Can i ask what frame + stem size you went for, and how tall are you?

Im 5ft8 and the ribble website suggests at 52 frame, but the 55cm reach on this seems a bit long to me.

Also, is it nice and light?

Oops, didn't see this til now. I'm about 5'8.5" and I went for the 52cm frame with a 100mm stem. I had similar hesitations to you but I'm pretty sure I made the right choice - the reach feels good as it is and if I want a more aggressive position in future I have the option of lowering the bars by taking out some spacers.

I have had similar problems to you on all my road bikes with shoulder pain. I think it's partly a matter of core and upper body strength. I've found that the pain is greatly reduced by supporting my upper body with my core and lower back. This is because the alternative is leaning heavily on my arms which puts everything in tension and causes stiffening and pain.

Matthew

Angus444

MajorMantra wrote:

Can't find geometry info for that bike but I don't think there's any way a 52cm could have a TT long enough for you - it's not a sloping frame.

I think PX or Ribble (Carbon Sportive) offer the most value for money apart from Boardman. My new Ribble is lovely:



Matthew

Nice looking bike, Matthew!

majormantra

Angus444 wrote:

Nice looking bike, Matthew!

Cheers!

Matthew

newcrossroadie

Thanks for your post Matthew.

Just found a 54 cm carbon boardman in stock - the dliemma! The ribble looks great too. Might have to flip a coin.

Just of interest, how racy is the geometry on the ribble? Presumably if i get sore shoulders etc, a racy geometry may not be right?

majormantra

newcrossroadie wrote:

Thanks for your post Matthew.

Just found a 54 cm carbon boardman in stock - the dliemma! The ribble looks great too. Might have to flip a coin.

Just of interest, how racy is the geometry on the ribble? Presumably if i get sore shoulders etc, a racy geometry may not be right?

The chances are you'll have to wait for the Ribble unless they've caught up with their orders, which I doubt. The Boardman is a great bike - it's only drawbacks are the rear spokes issue (mentioned in the review) and the fact that you have to get it from Halfords.

I'm no expert on geometry so take anything I say with a pinch of salt. This is the Ribble's geometry:



The Boardman's is here:

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_team_carbon.html

On the face of it they appear quite similar. I think the biggest factor for stiff shoulders and neck is the saddle to bars drop. As long as you don't get a tiny frame that forces you to have a large drop you should be able to get a setup that's not too extreme. As you can see from the photo the drop on my Ribble isn't huge and I have the option of increasing it int he future.

Matthew

rokkala

Regarding ordering from Ribble, i placed order for my sportive at end of June and it was built and delivered 2 and a half weeks later, which is what i was told from them.

joewhitebaby

Guys, you can't go just by geometry charts.
I'm also 5'8" ish and the top tube on my new bike will be 52cm. I have a 33" inside leg so obviously i have a shorter upper body, so my bike may look weird with a tall seat post and low bars but it'll perform just perfectly.
You need to speak to someone who knows what they're talking about with regards to frame sizing.
As far as this Ribble Sportive goes, what are they like for ride comfort and stiffness? I'm sceptical as to whether it'd be suitable for racing on. An alternative would be the Nero RC.
For a £1250 bike its not easy to make it full carbon with a nice groupset and wheels. As far as carbon frames go Planet X are currently the cheapest at £400 for frame and forks, some £50 cheaper than the Ribble and a bit more aggressive in shape.
Groupset wise you'd be lucky to get SRAM on it. Shimano is very common at this price range, but if you want a bit more class and reliability I'd say look at Campag Centaur.

lfc_westy

Ah thank you who ever you are,

went and ordered planet x and put my hope on a website called spa cycles for some sram. this build is gonna be great thank you joewhitebaby and all the other guys who posted i will inform my friend immediately !

cheers !

adukeofkent

Wiggle - Focus - Focus Cayo Ultegra 2009 - £1,279.20

Ribble smibble