What Road Bike? Need Advice!!

RockyRelf

Hi,
I'm Josh, I'm 18 and am in the last year of school doing A Levels.
None of this matters though apart from this question (well to me anyway):
Trek 1.2 or 1.5?
I have scoured the net, looked at forums all over the place but still can't decide. I am over the colour thing, I don't mind what colour so that's not a factor. I don't know which is better value for money?!? I don't race, but as soon as it gets to March I ride on the road about 30 to 40 miles a day so I need a fairly hardy entry level bike. But I can't decide between the two. I do have loyalty to Trek as they do a trade in policy where I can trade in my old trek 7.3fx for £100 or so off the price off the new bike so in summation, any advice you can give me would be greeeaat. Is the extra money that I have to spend on the 1.5 worth different shifters and a carbon seatpost?
Thanks in advance and I will be really greatful for some advice.
Josh

fungus_the_muffin_man

Yes. I have sora shifters on my 09 trek 1.5. My thumb was that cold yesterday I couldn't press the thumb lever. The tiagra shifters are much better/ user friendly.

Plus the 1.5 looks better. It's just a shame they've changed the frame from black to white alpha. At least the shifters are a step in the right direction. IMO

alfablue

The 1.5 has a better quality frame (though the 1.2 is perfectly fine). This also means that the 1.5 will not take full mudguards, the 1.2 will (If this is an issue). The 1.2 can also take a rack and makes a reasonable tourer/commuter. If the 1.5 comes with Tiagra shifters then it is worth it if the mudguard/rack thing is irrelevant. IMHO.

fungus_the_muffin_man

alfablue wrote:

The 1.5 has a better quality frame (though the 1.2 is perfectly fine). This also means that the 1.5 will not take full mudguards, the 1.2 will (If this is an issue). The 1.2 can also take a rack and makes a reasonable tourer/commuter. If the 1.5 comes with Tiagra shifters then it is worth it if the mudguard/rack thing is irrelevant. IMHO.

I thought the 1.5 and 1.2 were the alpha white frame and same fork :?

alfablue

Fungus The Muffin Man wrote:

alfablue wrote:

The 1.5 has a better quality frame (though the 1.2 is perfectly fine). This also means that the 1.5 will not take full mudguards, the 1.2 will (If this is an issue). The 1.2 can also take a rack and makes a reasonable tourer/commuter. If the 1.5 comes with Tiagra shifters then it is worth it if the mudguard/rack thing is irrelevant. IMHO.

I thought the 1.5 and 1.2 were the alpha white frame and same fork :?

Yes, you are right, the 09 models were white 1.2, black 1.5, the 2010 models are both white. So then the shifters make the 1.5 the one to buy.

RockyRelf

The 2010 1.2 is black and red and the 1.5 is white. But I'm not really fussed about the colour anyway. If the shifters are much better then the 1.5 probs is the one to get then. I wont need to fit mud guards on as I ride off-road in the winter, dunno about the rack thing. Will have to do some thinking. Thank you everyone for all your help. Will let you know what I get when I get round to it!!! Thanks!!

alfablue

RockyRelf wrote:

The 2010 1.2 is black and red and the 1.5 is white. But I'm not really fussed about the colour anyway. If the shifters are much better then the 1.5 probs is the one to get then. I wont need to fit mud guards on as I ride off-road in the winter, dunno about the rack thing. Will have to do some thinking. Thank you everyone for all your help. Will let you know what I get when I get round to it!!! Thanks!!

Ah, the Alpha Black and Alpha White frames refer to different frames (the Black being the better one). As it turns out, for 2010 the 1.2 and 1.5 are both White (regardless of the colour they are painted). In previous years the 1.5 had the Alpha Black frame. Now the 1 series all have white, the 2 series all have black.

As they both have the same frame (sorry I may have misled you before) then the only considerations are groupset/kit/price. For me, the buttons on the Sora shifters are not great so I would go for the Tiagra equipped bike unless the budget is tight, in which case the 1.2 is still great. (I upgraded my g/f's 1.2 with Ultegra shifters that I got secondhand for £30).