..heart says Orbea, head says Focus..decision time....help!!

deswahriff

..just tried the Giant Defy and Orbea Aqua at the LBS....preferred (fell in love with, actually,), the Orbea and like the whole thing about the company....(silly really, I know!!)...I fancy the TTG, which comes in about £840, but when I look at the spec of the Focus Variado, my head says STOP!! It seems no contest, logically, apart from the comfort factor of buying from the LBS with its after care, advice etc.

....so is there ANY reason why I should spend £250 more at the LBS for a less well -specced bike?

..this is my first road bike for quite a few years, and will probably see me out ( am early 50's, though inside my head I'm 23....)

thanks for any input...!

Samson1

Heart!

orbeaorca

Orbea all the way for me but I am biased on that as I am an Orbea owner myself

You really need to try before you buy and remember that WIggle do offer a 30 day trial period on their bikes ( for the Focus )

syncro

I've just bought a Focus Cayo Expert (Ultegra) in the Wiggle sale. I was going to get a Specialized Tarmac Elite (105) but then I had an email about Wiggle's sale. The Focus is now £1299, £450 off! I just couldn't justify spending £300 more for a lower spec bike. So as you can easily return a bike to Wiggle if you're not happy with it I thought I'd take the plunge. I'm glad I did, the Focus is a great bike, very pleased with it.

porker33

Go for the Orbea, that is clearly the bike you want....if you ride it and feel you need to upgrade the spec, then you have a good base to build on.

Go with the focus and you MAY always have that nagging doubt about the Orbea..

The thing is, it's easy to say you may choose to upgrade the Orbea at some point, but if you get into cycling to the extent of feeling you NEED to upgrade, you may end up looking at another Orbea further up the range..

aberdeen_lune

Go for the Orbea go with your gut reaction rather than buy something just because it has slightly better parts.

Thats a fantastic looking Orca Mr OrbeaOrca man. I have the black and red one wish I could figure out how to paste it in here.

[/list]

orbeaorca

Aberdeen_lune wrote:

Go for the Orbea go with your gut reaction rather than buy something just because it has slightly better parts.

Thats a fantastic looking Orca Mr OrbeaOrca man. I have the black and red one wish I could figure out how to paste it in here.

[/list]

Thanks for the compliment

Just open a Flickr account ( or any other image hosting account ) upload a pic of the Orca onto it then paste the URL to that page on your BikeRadar posts

Anonymous

Just spend more till you get a Orbea with the same spec as the Focus.

deswahriff

RichardSwt wrote:

Just spend more till you get a Orbea with the same spec as the Focus.

ha! given my budget started at under £500, ...!!!

....I'm leaning towards "heart", I must admit....I was happy enough with Sora shifters on the old bike, though found them awkward trying afresh today....Tiagra was better, felt more natural to me........apart from the 10 speed cassette, how "better" are 105's over Tiagra??


....and, yes, very nice Orca indeed!!!

orbeaorca

deswahriff wrote:

RichardSwt wrote:

Just spend more till you get a Orbea with the same spec as the Focus.

ha! given my budget started at under £500, ...!!!

....I'm leaning towards "heart", I must admit....I was happy enough with Sora shifters on the old bike, though found them awkward trying afresh today....Tiagra was better, felt more natural to me........apart from the 10 speed cassette, how "better" are 105's over Tiagra??


....and, yes, very nice Orca indeed!!!

Thanks for the compliment on my Orca, you are definately leaning towards the Orbea ... just admit it lol

Also have a look round for better deals on the Orbea to justify your choice more, Epic Cycles are the people to talk to about Orbea

Anonymous

deswahriff wrote:

RichardSwt wrote:

Just spend more till you get a Orbea with the same spec as the Focus.

ha! given my budget started at under £500, ...!!!

....I'm leaning towards "heart", I must admit....I was happy enough with Sora shifters on the old bike, though found them awkward trying afresh today....Tiagra was better, felt more natural to me........apart from the 10 speed cassette, how "better" are 105's over Tiagra??


....and, yes, very nice Orca indeed!!!

You say your in your early 50s, you've led a honest, hard working life. You earned yourself a treat. Go on, you deserve it.

carl_p

deswahriff wrote:

RichardSwt wrote:

Just spend more till you get a Orbea with the same spec as the Focus.

ha! given my budget started at under £500, ...!!!

....I'm leaning towards "heart", I must admit....I was happy enough with Sora shifters on the old bike, though found them awkward trying afresh today....Tiagra was better, felt more natural to me........apart from the 10 speed cassette, how "better" are 105's over Tiagra??


....and, yes, very nice Orca indeed!!!

I've run two bikes, one with Tiagra, the other with 105s. Tiagra can be a little agricultural at times but is absolutely fine. There is not a huge difference at all in my view.

The only thing I would say is that the Focus is a far better looking bike in the metal, pictures on websites don't do it justice. I'm sure you wouldn't be dissappointed with either bike - two very good choices

syncro

I agree.
I reckon that Wiggle would sell more bikes if they had better pictures. My Cayo looks far better than it does in the site pictures.

aberdeen_lune

I love my Orbea. I have two friends with Focus bikes they both dont like theirs much. May be the compact gemetry doesnt suit them but you cant go wrong with a well fitted Orbea.

Link to photo of mine below

www.flickr.com/photos/52833059@N06/4869494104/

billysmeg

..

aberdeen_lune

Thanks for that Billy

markos1963

Don't get the Orba, I'm getting fed up with the ever increasing numbers buying them. I bought mine to be exclusive not to have to wave and say hello to hundreds of wannabe's riding my brand.






Seriously though go with the Orbea if you can get good service from your LBS and achieve a good fit. Don't forget parts wear out so you will have the opportunity to upgrade as you go along so starting with the frame you really want is the best place to begin.

gsk82

no contest. you'll barely be able to tell the difference anyway and your lbs won't give you a 7 day, pretty much no questions asked, test period. gotta be the focus

Chrissz

If there was a poll on this I'd be voting Orbea as well (yes, I'm a biased Orbea owner - as previously stated - follow your heart, if you follow your head you will always have nagging doubts about your decision!






PS. Loving the Orca

invincible

defo go with your heart as you will love that bike....

if you go with your head it will be a bike you use to get around on....

Hairyside

Just got a focus from wiggle, love it! Very good service from Wiggle and the bike was perfectly set up. Don't forget the 30 day test ride as well, they have a solid returns policy. I think the Focus bikes are relatively stiff (not necessarily a bad thing) and they are excellent value.

bendertherobot

Odd thread. Why Orbea = heart?

It's a spanish bike, that's all. A good one yes, but it's not an Onix. It's a spanish, aluminium bike with some Tiagra.

versus a German one with 105.

Both the same weight. I'd wager absolutely zero performance benefit to the Orbea and very possible the Focus being better.

Yet some are advocating not spending less than £600 on the Focus?

That's plain odd.

deswahriff

...love's a silly thing, it makes a man a fool, ....takes way his appetite and wears away his tool........!!! :roll:
...as I said, totally illogical....I loved the black/orange paint job on the bike in store, I guess I feel a sort of affinity with the Basque region being a Celt and all that, and I guess being "part of the gang" what with pro guys using the brand.....

....however........, after a second visit to the LBS, and lots of time spent with a very patient and knowledgeable young man, ( he fitted a different stem, twiddled with the handlebar angle, saddle position etc.. ( at one point I was thinking my old back might not take to a road bike anymore, tried a flat bar...bizzareley didn't like it, even though it was comparable to my hybrid) , ....whatever the outcome of this scenario is, I will definitely be buying from the LBS ( over the years I've got 6 from there)....so its now a toss up between Giant ( nice, but boring...everyone round here rides them and my other 2 bikes are Giant...no complaints, though!!) and the Orbea.........As good as the Focus sounds, and thanks for all the positives on it, I just know I'm going to be happier knowing I can take the bike 3 miles down the road to the LBS for whatever reason.
Ultimately, this is the big thing that online sellers are up against. The "added value" from a good LBS is really quite undefinable in my book, but such a big plus....long may it last, I say.!

cheers for all the input, its been very helpful...I'll let you know how it concludes....!

mange tout, peace and beer etc, ...off to study the brochures over a glass of my lovely English dry white wine!!

markos1963

deswahriff wrote:

...love's a silly thing, it makes a man a fool, ....takes way his appetite and wears away his tool........!!! :roll:
...as I said, totally illogical....I loved the black/orange paint job on the bike in store, I guess I feel a sort of affinity with the Basque region being a Celt and all that, and I guess being "part of the gang" what with pro guys using the brand.....

....however........, after a second visit to the LBS, and lots of time spent with a very patient and knowledgeable young man, ( he fitted a different stem, twiddled with the handlebar angle, saddle position etc.. ( at one point I was thinking my old back might not take to a road bike anymore, tried a flat bar...bizzareley didn't like it, even though it was comparable to my hybrid) , ....whatever the outcome of this scenario is, I will definitely be buying from the LBS ( over the years I've got 6 from there)....so its now a toss up between Giant ( nice, but boring...everyone round here rides them and my other 2 bikes are Giant...no complaints, though!!) and the Orbea.........As good as the Focus sounds, and thanks for all the positives on it, I just know I'm going to be happier knowing I can take the bike 3 miles down the road to the LBS for whatever reason.
Ultimately, this is the big thing that online sellers are up against. The "added value" from a good LBS is really quite undefinable in my book, but such a big plus....long may it last, I say.!

cheers for all the input, its been very helpful...I'll let you know how it concludes....!

mange tout, peace and beer etc, ...off to study the brochures over a glass of my lovely English dry white wine!!

Regardless of brand you are completely right, buy from somewhere you trust and are prepared to give you that bit extra

deswahriff

...although my heart did sink yesterday, when the first lad I dealt with answered my question as to what the shifters were, on the particular bike I was trying, with......"Shimano"..... :roll:

bendertherobot

deswahriff wrote:

...love's a silly thing, it makes a man a fool, ....takes way his appetite and wears away his tool........!!! :roll:
...as I said, totally illogical....I loved the black/orange paint job on the bike in store, I guess I feel a sort of affinity with the Basque region being a Celt and all that, and I guess being "part of the gang" what with pro guys using the brand.....

....however........, after a second visit to the LBS, and lots of time spent with a very patient and knowledgeable young man, ( he fitted a different stem, twiddled with the handlebar angle, saddle position etc.. ( at one point I was thinking my old back might not take to a road bike anymore, tried a flat bar...bizzareley didn't like it, even though it was comparable to my hybrid) , ....whatever the outcome of this scenario is, I will definitely be buying from the LBS ( over the years I've got 6 from there)....so its now a toss up between Giant ( nice, but boring...everyone round here rides them and my other 2 bikes are Giant...no complaints, though!!) and the Orbea.........As good as the Focus sounds, and thanks for all the positives on it, I just know I'm going to be happier knowing I can take the bike 3 miles down the road to the LBS for whatever reason.
Ultimately, this is the big thing that online sellers are up against. The "added value" from a good LBS is really quite undefinable in my book, but such a big plus....long may it last, I say.!

cheers for all the input, its been very helpful...I'll let you know how it concludes....!

mange tout, peace and beer etc, ...off to study the brochures over a glass of my lovely English dry white wine!!

Your LBS won't ban a Focus from coming through the doors

markos1963

But will the LBS still be there to go in if you keep buying Focus's?

bendertherobot

markos1963 wrote:

But will the LBS still be there to go in if you keep buying Focus's?

I'd imagine so. Bike shops do a lot more than sell bikes

markos1963

bendertherobot wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

But will the LBS still be there to go in if you keep buying Focus's?

I'd imagine so. Bike shops do a lot more than sell bikes

But the big ticket items take the pressure off the others things in the shop

bendertherobot

markos1963 wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

But will the LBS still be there to go in if you keep buying Focus's?

I'd imagine so. Bike shops do a lot more than sell bikes

But the big ticket items take the pressure off the others things in the shop

I'd wager cyclescheme and servicing take care of that.

Of course, if you don't buy a Focus then Wiggle won't exist either. Which is equally undesirable.

deswahriff

...ok done and dusted..ordered the Aqua TSR CT yeserday in black and orange, should arrive in afew weeks, yipeee!!

...while being tempted to go for broke on the T105, I reckoned that the model I tried in the shop (T23 with Shimnao 2300, I think) was fine for me really, so the TSR with Sora should easily keep me going for a year or two.....by then we might have the Cycle to Work scheme in place......

...cheers all for your input...the LBS won in the end!!