new road bike - what should I spend my money on

ecdonnelly

Hi

I currently have a Ridgeback Panorama touring bike which i use for daily commuting (20mile return), and i am really pleased with it. I was thinking of buying a "faster" road bike budget up to £1000 for longer distant week-end fun runs.

Are there any good stainless steel bikes in this price range or should i go alloy

I notice that Halfords do a carbon frame for £999, however I have read some reviews that suggest these have a more limited life and also can fail more drastically is this correct?


Thanks for your advice

E

Dazza2280

Cannondale CAAD 9 every time.

matt.rochfort

1+ for the CAAD 9 - look at the recent review in cycling plus. 999 will get you a tiagra equiped bike. i've got an ultegra Sl - quite simply a superb bike!

rich164h

ecdonnelly wrote:

I notice that Halfords do a carbon frame for £999, however I have read some reviews that suggest these have a more limited life and also can fail more drastically is this correct?

Can you point me to where anyone has had one of these bikes fail through normal use (i.e. not an accident, car crash etc)? I've not seen such a thing and I've been looking as I'm seriously tempted to buy one.

I've heard people speculate about them having a shorter life, more often that not as a justification of why they are cheaper than other brand's carbon bikes, but so far I'm yet to see any evidence that they are lower quality and/or really do have a limited life.

ex-pat scot

I've got a few carbon (and steel, and aluminium) bikes.

Never had a problem with failure.

And some of them are pretty old now - from early '90s.

schweiz

ecdonnelly wrote:

Are there any good stainless steel bikes in this price range or should i go alloy

I

I think you'll struggle to find a stainless steel bike anywhere. Although I believe Columbus made/make SS bike tubing, most steel bike frames made of carbon steel alloyed with other metals for improving structural properties.

Titanium! - it won't rust and will last you a lifetime

Down/Up

Planet X are also doing some amazing deals on their Carbon road bikes at the moment. Amazing value for the £1k mark. Plenty of folks on here who are loving them at the moment.

Slow Downcp

Isn;t Reynolds 953 and Columbus XCR stainless steel? You won't get one for your budget though. As already said, CAAD9 is probably the best for a grand.

cougie

The Boardman bikes for a grand get good reviews too. I do quite fancy one of them next.

Carbon is absolutely fine. Just dont drop heavy objects on them, but thats the same for all bikes really.