Up to £1400 to spend.

golfergmc

I have a budget of up to £1400 to spend on a road bike and i`m looking for the bets spec and value for money that I can find, I will be buying from a local bike shop and can choose from the following makes, in no order of preference,
Cannondale
Cube
Giant
Trek
Specilazed
Willier
Merida
Can someone tell the the best out of these makes, the only one i`m not fussed on is the Willier only because I don`t like the shifters.
I`m not one for upgrading at a later date so would rather spend the money now to get the best spec I can.
I have a 57.5cm Trek 7.6fx hybrid at the minute so can someone also tell me the size I should be getting as i`ve been told buy shops to go anything from a 54 to a 61, i`m 6`2" with and inside leg of 32", thanks for any replies.

Splottboy

Got me a Giant TCR 2, Carbon/Ultegra. Except my nearly 53yr old legs are hanging off, only things I've changed are: Tyres, Contis to Kendas, coz they're red!
Will need to go to a compact or triple in next few years, but, I've had over 30 bikes, and it's the Best Road Bike I've ever ridden.

I've had Airborne Ti Zeppelin, Raleigh Team Alu/Carbon, Sintesi Alu, 853 and 531 steels.

I don't race but used to.Wish I'd had it "back in the day" or night, for that matter!
Might do some Du/Tris later this year.

Nice smooth but firm ride, excellent geometry for N.Wales mountains, groupset as good as it gets for the money. Retail was around £1,800 in 2008, but I won it in a Giant compo.
I'll never sell it, just keep replacing/upgrading stuff. Great bike, great ride too.

RonB

That sort of cash should get you a quality bike so good luck to you. Good to hear your heading for your local bike shop too, they should help with fitting etc. though I would guess at a frame size closer to 58/ 60 than 54 that's for sure!

You mention the shifters on the Willier, but these are likely to be to be from one of 3 main suppliers: Shimano, Campagnolo or SRAM. If you have a preference here its worth sorting that one out early on as these will appear on other bikes too.

Cannondale does vwell in the latest group test/ bike of the year contest in C+. It might be worth getting a copy. In the end it comes down to what you want to do (i.e. comfort vs. all out racer, and your personal taste. All the best, Ron.

golfergmc

Thanks for the replies, I can get a trek 2.5 for £1270, a trek tcr alliance for £1300, cannondale caad8 sora for £999, cube ??? for £999 or can someone suggest another or the best from the above.

chris281192

you could get a caad9 tiagra for £999, from evans i think.

nikstar1

I agree with RonB and the Cannondale. These are superb bikes and I have had my Cannondale CAAD9 6 (triple) since 2008 and have loved riding around on it.

If I am honest you will need to update certain parts to get the best spec and obviously over time you will want to change parts to suit your own style of riding. For your budget you should shop around as you an get a great bike for that amount of money! But I agree with buying the best spec for your money now so that you don't need to change anything staright away!

Good luck!

golfergmc

Have just found a shop that sells fuji, what about them

symo

Err, Cervelo S1 frame, groupset from merlin and a set of rs10 from similar, that is a great bike.

Rich Hcp

First rule is to get a bike that fits properly, otherwise you've wasted your cash

golfergmc

Finally decided and went for a cube streamer 2010 with ultegra groupset for £950, do you think it was a good deal?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=44405

Rich Hcp

Looks like a good deal for under a grand

Nice looking bike too 8)