spending 2k in two months on new bike

Thepole

Hi, somebody help make up my mind. I am going to get a new road bike in march, I love my inbred that I use to commute on but want something for weekends. My budget is around 2k. I am torn between a few bikes those being a caad10, supersix 105, TCR advanced 2, EMX1, BMC road racer and a biachi infinito. At the moment I am plumping towards the caad10. I want something that doesn't need upgrading after a week. I know the caad10 is the only alu bike on my list, but it is the best alu frame availiable for my budget whiles the carbon frames on the list are pretty much entry level (maybe not the TCR), and so in my opinion are no better (or worse) than the caad10, what does the great bikeradar collective knowledge think?

jonmack

The TCR got a really good review on road.cc today! I'll admit I haven't ridden any of them, but in that price bracket it's hard to go wrong.

flanners1

get something secondhand (frame/complete bike) from the classifieds/ebay for the £2K you would get yourself a dream roadbike.

Wheelie Bin

Flanners1 wrote:

get something secondhand (frame/complete bike) from the classifieds/ebay for the £2K you would get yourself a dream roadbike.

+1. Take a couple of months to educate yourself... I know, I'm a pompous git... but why not get a 'proper' bike from one of the 'proper' brands from a 'proper' country - eg. Pinarello, Colnago, De Rosa, Bianchi.

Spending £2k on a Giant is a sure fire way of turning it into £1k as soon as you leave the shop. There's no way back from that little transaction, whereas a used Colnago will keep it's price if you decide on a change... which you will... we all do!


PS. I just noticed you listed the Infinito... all hope is not lost!

Thepole

Glad you admit to being a pompous git, educate myself ! ?. America not a proper cycling country? Belgium not a proper cycling country? Switzerland not a proper cycling country?. Cannondale have teams riding there bikes in the tour, as do BMC as do Merckx and also Giant. The brands you mentioned pinarello, bianchi, colnago and de rosa whose bikes are within my budget are all made in the far east, or can be bought rebranded as for example a ribble for much less. I don't see the problem with buying a bike that hasn't been built in a ''proper'' country, its all down to economics, so long as the end product lives up to its design brief.

northpole

Thepole
I agree with you and I also agree with the sentiment (or at least some of) of the earlier posters. A decent bike is a decent bike and alot of variability cost and weight wise comes from the groupset and wheels fitted. The big name manufacturers seem to be ripping it out of the market which is largely why i would aim for a nearly new bike which will have lost a chunk of its value from new. Provided you are careful you could end up with a lot more bike for your budget than you would buying new.
If buying new, for £2k or below I would be seriously tempted by a Ribble or perhaps a Condor (if value isn't such a priority).

Peter

Thepole

I would rather buy new, though I do look on ebay everyday just on the off chance that I see a superbike in my size, like new, on 99p, with no reserve , no bidders and with free postage . but its just that in the back of my mind I would always be thinking if it had ever been crashed, or stolen etc, but certainly wouldn't rule it out. I also check a lot of last years models which can be absolute bargains.

AndyF16

To bang the drum yet again, you can still have a 2010 Colnago Ace from that and have enough left for a fair bit of bling gear to ride it in :idea:

flanners1

Thepole I do believe it was tongue in cheek mate. You obviously have all the answers already, go off and spend your cash then :shock: Job done.

Reading your thread title it seems to be a statement anyway so perhaps there was no question or deliberation anyhow?

Thepole

don't get where your coming from?

Wheelie Bin

Thepole wrote:

Glad you admit to being a pompous git, educate myself ! ?. America not a proper cycling country? Belgium not a proper cycling country? Switzerland not a proper cycling country?. Cannondale have teams riding there bikes in the tour, as do BMC as do Merckx and also Giant. The brands you mentioned pinarello, bianchi, colnago and de rosa whose bikes are within my budget are all made in the far east, or can be bought rebranded as for example a ribble for much less. I don't see the problem with buying a bike that hasn't been built in a ''proper'' country, its all down to economics, so long as the end product lives up to its design brief.

Hey dude... don't take it all so seriously!

justabikegirl

Just a word on e-Bay. Buyer Beware. I wanted to build up a bike so bought a "New 2010 Trek Madone WSD" through a highly rated e-Bay seller for a Christmas present to me this year. When it arrived the frame had a nice Trek sticker indicating it was manufactured in 2008. What? It's still sitting against the wall in my bedroom as the seller was an A-- and the "dispute" has not been resolved. When spending big bucks, unless you know the seller or can see the bike, you may be crying if you don't buy new.

peter101cycle

Thepole wrote:

Hi, somebody help make up my mind. I am going to get a new road bike in march, I love my inbred that I use to commute on but want something for weekends. My budget is around 2k. I am torn between a few bikes those being a caad10, supersix 105, TCR advanced 2, EMX1, BMC road racer and a biachi infinito. At the moment I am plumping towards the caad10. I want something that doesn't need upgrading after a week. I know the caad10 is the only alu bike on my list, but it is the best alu frame availiable for my budget whiles the carbon frames on the list are pretty much entry level (maybe not the TCR), and so in my opinion are no better (or worse) than the caad10, what does the great bikeradar collective knowledge think?

My recommendation for a good value bike for £2k....

I built a Tuono frame up myself and it is pretty good, running about 16.1 lbs

http://www.formbycycles.co.uk/product/8127/Dolan_Tuono_SE_Force_Askium_Road_Bike

Thepole

i do like dolan, have built bikes up before but usually end up spending more doing it, get greedy and go for the component that is the next one up from what i was planning to buy so the budget gets blown out of the water. As for buying on ebay, if buying new where do you stand regarding the warranty? will bike companies honour it if something goes wrong if you have bought it on ebay? Regarding my list, the two bikes I am favouring are the caad 10 and the supersix 105, do i go for the top alu frame with a good groupset or the carbon frame with a midrange (but very good) groupset? as i say I don't want to have to upgrade it soon after buying it, unless something really needs changing.

cal_stewart

Cannondale CAAD 10 Ultegra

Slow Downcp

If you spend £2k, you're unlikely to get a bad bike. Test ride some - that's the only way.

Chris McG

Bianchi Frames ride beautifully :P , and has pretty decent wheels... the groupset isn't the best, but it will last.

So thats my choice...

JKHinton

Buying and selling bikes on ebay can be very hit and miss when I started riding Road bikes I decided to sell all of my other bikes (hybrids MTBs and a folder ) that were in good order on ebay, the not so good bikes I sold at a local auction were they could be bought as seen because I did not want any comebacks. The folder got the highest price (£465) on ebay the better hybrid bike in my opinion got the lower price(£130)

I would never buy another bike via ebay myself as I had a very bad experience in 2008 when I bought a new bike from a online dealer

Its hard to beat a LBS or any one of the big Retailers. Even though Halfords can be a bit hit and miss with the PDI you can take the bike back to any of their Shops if you have a problem, You do not have to worry about posting huge Parcels back to some online cowboy dealer :roll:

SteveR_100Milers

FWIW I would not spend £2k on ebay! The risk of being ripped off is significant, maybe not likely, but still a risk and its a heck of a lot of cash. Buy a new bike from a proper shop with a proper warranty. At that price none of it is cr*p, and don't be fooled into buying a *name*: there is as much misplaced snobbery about bikes as there are cars.

bikestewy

Consider Kuota's Kebel around £2k or for the spec you can get on a Kharma for around £1500 you could pocket the difference to upgrade your wheels.
www.kuota.it

Lemond75

Thepole wrote:

i do like dolan, have built bikes up before but usually end up spending more doing it, get greedy and go for the component that is the next one up from what i was planning to buy so the budget gets blown out of the water. As for buying on ebay, if buying new where do you stand regarding the warranty? will bike companies honour it if something goes wrong if you have bought it on ebay? Regarding my list, the two bikes I am favouring are the caad 10 and the supersix 105, do i go for the top alu frame with a good groupset or the carbon frame with a midrange (but very good) groupset? as i say I don't want to have to upgrade it soon after buying it, unless something really needs changing.

If it's a choice between those two then go for the Supersix. I've got 5700 on my TCR Advanced and it works better than the 6700 on my other bike. If you're still open to other bikes then the Advanced is a great bike and well worthy of consideration. I've had mine for 4 months and am really pleased with it and I'd echo many of the comments in the road.cc review. It's very stiff and handles well but is comfy at the same time. Having had two aluminium Colnagos in the past I'd be reluctant to choose aluminium again over carbon as they were significantly less comfortable.