Question from new forum user

yellow banana

I am about to spend £1000 on a road bike and have been offered a Claude Bulter full carbon 2009 bike with 105 groupset reduced from £1399 to £950 which I am keen on but I have heard recently that carbon frame bikes don't take kindly to the wet (rain and upspray). Is this the case and why?

:?

Aggieboy

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12650882

yellow banana

Thanks for that. More confused now as the thread has some very good and serious issues re what could happen versus don't take it too seriously!! The bike will be stored in a gardend shed (alarmed of course!) overnight but outside of my office (locked bike stand) at work. I was more concerned about the effects of it getting wet.

As there are literally hundreds of half alloy half carbon (the forks being carbon) bikes being sold perhaps this isn't a problem I should be worrying about - perhaps I should stick to all alum frames/forks!

kafkathedog

Seriously, it will be fine.

2alexcoo

As others have said, it will be absolutely fine.

Re the Claud Butler, looking at their website I'm guessing it's the Torino. It's not worth £1400 but at £950 it seems a reasonable buy. On the plus side it has 32 spoke wheels with decent Mavic rims and 105 hubs; even at £1000 a lot of bikes come with rubbish wheels that need upgrading. On the downside, it only comes in 3 sizes, so make sure it fits.

The £1000 price point is very competitive so make sure you check out the alternatives (Planet X, Ribble, Boardman, Focus etc).

rogerthecat

To answer your question IMO, yes m8 a Carbon baike with a 105 full groupset is a good buy at 950 notes, a bit more info would help though

yellow banana

Thanks guys, Yes it was the Torino. The only issue I had was the colour - just carbon black with the name in white. I like my bikes to be a bright visible colour - for safety reasons. Am also considering:
Univega Via Modena £950 half carb/alu, full Ultegra, Fulcrum 7 wheels
Cube Attempt £839 half & half, mix Ultegra/105 triple (a bit heavy though at 14kg)
Cube Streamer £959 half & half, full Ultegra triple
Boardman Road Team £999 full carb, SRAM - just not sure on the colour
Boardman Comp Team £799 half & half, SRAM
Trek 1.9 £980 half & half, mix Ultegra/105 triple
Raleigh Race Pro £1000, half & half, full Ultegra
Focus Culebro £919, half & half, full Ultegra, Mavic Aksium wheels

Any views - preferences?

BTW forgot to mention I'm a young 61 who just wants to keep on the road as I enjoy the feeling and think that it's about time I treated myself after years of sub £400 bikes!!

rogerthecat

m8 I love the CUBE's have an X-race Camp, next ride to be a Storck CD 1.0, with SRAM Force 2010, almost when for another CUBE, it was only the paint job that gave me doubts.

The Boardmans are IMO better value, however the Halford connection stops me.

Raleigh, Trek Yuk

The Focus okay, however you need to have a test ride first, difficult with the Focus.

yellow banana

agree about the Bike Hut mechanics! Had considered buying the Boardman but taking it to another local bike shop (reputable guys) to set it up

yellow banana

CHECK THIS OUT........... from Wiggle, a FOCUS Culebro Tria for £877 - a saving of 35% from the original £1349!!!

It is a true TT bike with SRAM Force groupset 11-28 and 53-42 and Cole Shuriken wheelset.

As a bike would you consider this to be OK for the daily (fast) commute plus weekend pleasure? I quite like the idea of changing from the road race style to this.

sturmey

No offence but there is nothing more guaranteed to draw attention to yourself as being a newbee/recreational/non-serious cyclist than riding a TT bike for general road use-unless of course you look completely awesome and ride at a commensurate speed.

Sorry to say this but you have been warned.

yellow banana

Yeah....perhaps you're right!