New bike .

Sgt_Pepper

Hi, I sold my MTB a while ago now, to buy a road bike. I bought a Boardman Team Carbon, which i had problems with and also in the end wasn't too keen on the carbon. Anyway, i managed to get a refund.

Now i'm in the market again for a new road bike, preferably aluminium around £900.
I've found two i like the look of.
Has anyone any experience with either of these brands.

Red Bull pro-2000. Seems a decent spec for the money, and i love the green and orange colours.
http://roseversand.com/bikes/racing-bik ... ail2=30535

Beone Briza. I like this but am not sure about the triple.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=45888

Are any of these bikes worthy of my money, or can better be had for £900
(looks are also important as with any purchase )

Anonymous

Cannondale CAAD9

Rich Hcp

If there are any left

Sgt_Pepper

Would it make much difference that the CAAD9 comes specced with Tiagra and not 105, or are they much of the same.

(not sure about the black either but it may look great in person)

unixnerd

+1 for the Cannondale. Sooooo much better put together than anything else.

105 is worth paying the extra for, but there's nothing wrong with Tiagra and it's a lot smoother than Sora.

Sgt_Pepper

Hello again, a few weeks have passed and i've tried a few bikes.

I've decided on the Cannondale CAAD9 Tiagra in white, i managed to try a 54 and a 56 and to be completely honest i couldn't notice a difference other than the 54 had a tiny bit more stand over clearance . not that the 56 was a problem.
Maybe i can't notice any difference because i've never ridden a Roadbike and so dont really know what would be my prefered riding position, but both seemed pretty comfortable too me.

How to decide? My head is saying get the 54 and if after a few rides i thought i needed the 56 then atleast i can raise the seat and get a longer stem, and at least i would have a better stand over height. Does this sound wise?

Also i've looked on the UK Cannondale site but cant find the full spec geometry, would anyone know where i could find this info. Thanks

Anonymous

Try here and click on Geo

http://www.cannondale.com/int/eng/Produ ... 1C-CAAD9-1

Top tube length is the important measure, stand over height not really relevant...

unixnerd

If in doubt remember that the smaller frame is also very slightly lighter ;-)

My CAAD5 is a 54cm, I'm 5'6" with a 32" inside leg and if anything it's very slightly too big for me.

Good choice by the way.
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Sgt_Pepper

Just got a mail saying my bike is on its way

Off work for the next 2 weeks too, so i can get used to riding it, will have nip to a bike shop and get some shoes and pedals.
Any recommendations for cheap but sturdy shoes and pedals as I've never used clipless before.

Also what i wanted to know is, do road bike suffer from bad chain slap like mtb's do, and what do people do about it, dont want my nice white paintwork scratching.
I'd imagine one of them neoprene guards would look rubbish on a road bike.

Anonymous

No they don't. Looking forward to seeing pics of the bike!

keef66

My chain's never got anywhere near the chainstay*. Fit a Deda Dog Fang to the seat tube to eliminate the possibility of the chain overshifting on the small chainring and dropping onto the bottom bracket.

(*actually it has. I split the chain and lost my grip on one end, with hilarious consequences, neccessitating my grovelling to Kinesis for some touch-up paint)

rich164h

Sgt_Pepper wrote:

... and also in the end wasn't too keen on the carbon.

Out of interest, what didn't you like about the carbon?

Sgt_Pepper

rich164h wrote:

Sgt_Pepper wrote:

... and also in the end wasn't too keen on the carbon.

Out of interest, what didn't you like about the carbon?

Nothing properly wrong with it, but in my head i had pictures of me crashing into something (which i will do)and it breaking into little pieces, oh, and it sounded like an empty yogurt pot

rich164h

fair enough.

Sgt_Pepper

Well today after my new shoes and pedals got delivered i went out on my very first proper bike ride.
I managed about 20 miles very slowly and now i cant feel my legs.
I was surprised how quick i got the hang of the Shoes and Pedals tho.

On my trip I had to go into a shop and buy a new saddle as the one that came with the Cannondale was a little hard, so i now own a nice comfy Charge Spoon,

I think i'll start to look at some padded undershorts now too. Not sure i'm ready for full lycra just yet.

So any rec's for decent but not overly expensive padded undershorts would be appreciated.

And thanks Nap for pointing me in the direction of the CAAD it's awesome to ride. And it didn't break after 2 mins like the Boardman did.

ratsbeyfus

Congratulations on getting hold of a CAAD 9 - you may have the last one in the country! I got one about 2 months ago and get plenty of chain slap on the chain stay (this may be down to having a granny triple)... I've got a clear lizard-skin guard on mine to protect the paint and would recommend you get hold of something similar! Happy riding.