Road bike for £800 for all day rides.
mbailey
Posts: 6
I am looking for my first road bike. I will be looking mainly using the bike for fitness, longer cycle rides, sportives, etc. I am not looking for the fastest bike and lowest ride position, more something I can ride all day.
I am currently riding a hybrid (Kona Dew) for the past year, but now I feel I need to move into a proper road bike.
Luckily for me we have a CycleScheme at work, so with this in mind I have set a price of around £800 to £850 for the bike.
As far as I can tell, as this price range I am looking at the Tiagra groupset.
I went to my LBS at the weekend and they let me take the following 3 bikes for a ride.
Trek 1.5C
Scott Speedster
Giant Defy 2
Compared to riding my hybrid they all felt very different. Out of the 3 the Giant felt best, but that could of been as it was setup better for me than the other 2.
Since searching the web I have come up with some other alternatives:
Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra
Ridley EOS
Pinnacle Sentinal 2.0
At the moment I am unsure if I want a Compact or Triple. I like the idea of the extra flexibility with the Triple, giving you that one extra option on the big hills. How ever the Defy 2 only comes in a Compact, and not in a triple.
Due to the fact different LBS only deal with a couple of manufactures, it appears to be hard work visiting lots of different LBS's and then its hard to get a real comparison of the bikes.
Are there and other bikes I should be looking at in this price range?
What I can't find is a clear description of which bikes are designed for which riding setups.
Any comments would be appreciated.
I am currently riding a hybrid (Kona Dew) for the past year, but now I feel I need to move into a proper road bike.
Luckily for me we have a CycleScheme at work, so with this in mind I have set a price of around £800 to £850 for the bike.
As far as I can tell, as this price range I am looking at the Tiagra groupset.
I went to my LBS at the weekend and they let me take the following 3 bikes for a ride.
Trek 1.5C
Scott Speedster
Giant Defy 2
Compared to riding my hybrid they all felt very different. Out of the 3 the Giant felt best, but that could of been as it was setup better for me than the other 2.
Since searching the web I have come up with some other alternatives:
Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra
Ridley EOS
Pinnacle Sentinal 2.0
At the moment I am unsure if I want a Compact or Triple. I like the idea of the extra flexibility with the Triple, giving you that one extra option on the big hills. How ever the Defy 2 only comes in a Compact, and not in a triple.
Due to the fact different LBS only deal with a couple of manufactures, it appears to be hard work visiting lots of different LBS's and then its hard to get a real comparison of the bikes.
Are there and other bikes I should be looking at in this price range?
What I can't find is a clear description of which bikes are designed for which riding setups.
Any comments would be appreciated.
0
Comments
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After using both, I prefer a compact! I have found I have NEVER used the granny ring, it makes me spin too fast, slows me down and tires me out more....
and that just leaves me with a 39, I climb better with a 34 on larger hills.0 -
Might be worth adding the following usual suspects:
Specialized Allez
Bianchi Via Nirone C2C
Cube
The consensus on here will probably be the Cannondale, but buy the one you feel most comfortable on - at this price point there are very few dogs.
Depending on where you live and your level of fitness a triple may be superfluous. A compact suits most needs - you could always change the cassette if you are taking in a particularly hilly ride.0
