40th birthday dream bike

bugsrabbit

After much pestering at home the boss has given me permission :oops: to order myself a bike for my 40th. At the moment i ride a de rosa avant but it has been suggested that at my level anything above that range i would not really see the benifits. I would like to spend around four thousand, can anyone recommmend a manufacturer? The king 3 is to dear, so i'm looking at Time, Colnago, eddy merckx or look or would i be wasting my money?

mrushton

No, you are 40. get yourself the best you can't quite afford. Of those names mentioned I think the majority of posters would all say Time/Look/Colnago are the ones to go for. EM maybe good but the firm isn't owned by Eddy, he sold the name. The Time Ulteam/Look 695/Colnago C59,EPS,M10 all have their fans on here. Cyclefit in London have an EPS onsale but I don't know the size.

Stuey01

It is not about need, it is about want. So no you would not be wasting your money.
Have fun choosing. My only recommendation would be to let you heart rule your head a bit and get something you really want, without too many practical concerns (not withstanding fit etc...)

Hoopdriver

I bought myself a Pegoretti Luigino for my 50th. Love it.

Milestone bikes are important - as the above reviewer says, get the best you can't quite afford. after all, you're a long time dead.

hopper1

EPS's on sale at Pedal Revolution (£2300 I think).
As has been indicated above, worry not about seeing benefits!... Just take the opportunity to get something you want.
Personally, I'd say you would see the benefits, as you'd ride it more, and ride it faster.

bugsrabbit

now this is the sort of support you need, not what do you want ANOTHER bike for!!

bugsrabbit

bugsrabbit wrote:

now this is the sort of support you need, not "what do you want ANOTHER bike for"!!

Monty Dog

I'd try and work out some sense of priority to your criteria - you have a huge range to choose from but clearly your biggest objective is to get maximum enjoyment and pleasure of ownership - perhaps something that makes as much a statement about yourself as well as giving the pleasure of riding the thing. Things to consider include:
Fit and comfort - there's no point in paying top dollar for something that is uncomfortable or doesn't suit your style of riding.
Off-the peg or custom - there's such a huge range of stock sizes available that few have a genuine need for custom. But as you get older, flexibility and range of movement can decrease - if it's a keeper, there's no point in getting some nose-to-tyre job that's barely comfortable.
Go for a whole bike or spec it up individually? You'll pay a bit more for the latter but you're not see another like it.

Anonymous

If I was buying a milestone bike and I didn't race, I'd have a good sit down with a top custom frame builder and go through as many finer points as possible. Including paint job/finish.

I'd want to savour the whole buying experience as well as the riding afterwards. I'd get far more out of that than buying off the peg from t'internet...

Just my 2p.

hopper1

EPS's on sale at Pedal Revolution (£2300 I think).
As has been indicated above, worry not about seeing benefits!... Just take the opportunity to get something you want.
Personally, I'd say you would see the benefits, as you'd ride it more, and ride it faster.

Spudboy

I completely agree about not buying off the internet. Go and talk to the professionals and spend a little extra on a proper bike fit. Milk the purchasing experience for all it's worth and as long as it fits buy with your heart.

Good luck and enjoy!!

EKIMIKE

953 Steel custom? That's where i'd be looking if it's not for racing. Incredible strength values, can be build up fairly light as a result. Brian Rourke i think does full custom for about £1500 with paint of your choice too.

Kit that out with whatever top end groupset you want and top end wheels with what's left over of the budget and you have yourself a beauty.

Gazzaputt

I got a Canyon for my 40th last week and couldn't be more pleased.

tenor

Agree with ekimike; get a beautiful custom handmade bike from some one like Rourke or Pegoretti.
Carbon not sufficiently special to mark such a milestone.
Ater all, getting older is about getting wiser, which means enjoying the experience rather than just the statistics (grams, seconds, etc)

andyp

I did this just under two years ago. The only criteria I started with was that it had to be special and would, almost certainly, be a titanium frame.

I took my time researching various options, and enjoyed that part immensely. I was all set to order from one manufacturer, when I saw a frame from a builder I'd never heard of before and fell in love immediately. I contacted him, booked a visit to see him and had a great chat in person before ordering the frame. It arrived a few months later and my first ride on the bike confirmed that the decision I'd made was the right one, I loved (and still love) the ride quality of the bike.

So my advice would be to enjoy the experience, do some research and you'll probably find that you instinctively know which bike is the right one for you.

Chip \'oyler

I got my custom Viner Maxima for my 40th (my wife paid half towards as a present - god bless her!).

As Nap D mentions part of the experience was getting measured, discussing how the custom tubes were going to be drawn etc. This really does make your 40th present seem even more special.

Whoever you go with I would recommend getting a handbuilt custom bike specifically for you. Best thing is there are numerous frame builders who'll do that for you, in all the frame materials. Obviously I'd recommend a Viner but there are other great builders out there. Depends on your budget!

mrushton

You could have a custom Colnago from Cyclefit incl fitting, a custom Viner or is it steel or ti you fancy. Rourke does a lovely 953 as mentioned above and Moots or Seven or Serotta custom ti. Off the peg with something like Colnago would see me going somewhere like Maestro who is highly regarded on this forum for his service

Mccaria

I have a similar quandry - although not for a benchmark birthday.

I have all the parts to build up a new bike (even got the bottle cages) so just need a frame. I think I have got it down to a choice from 3 :

Roberts 953, custom made with carbon forks. A steel frame evocative of the bikes I rode when I was 20+ years young but with a material not giving too much away to carbon. Measured for me and unique to me.

Colnago C59, the frame builder of my youth. Or to put it another way the frame I couldn't afford in my youth.

Specialized SL3 Project Black. I like black frames, always have done and always will do.

I think over a certain price point you are talking very marginal performance gains, but over 40 and riding exclusively for fun, that's not the main critria.

mrushton

Nothing wrong with Specialized but are they really special or another Far East cookie cutter bike? The C59 is rightly regarded as a must-have by many, follows on in the tradition of C40/50,EPS and it will resell easily should you have to do that. The 953 is not a common bike, has a lot of advantages of it's own and is custom to you

dcj

complete agree with every word napoleon D and montyD wrote. savour the buying experience on this one. 4000 buys a fantastic amount of freedom from compromise so take your time.

AndyF16

I bought the roadbike in my sig 2 months early for my 40th in December, but am now waiting for a rather special (in my opinion anyway) cyclocrosser which will hopefully be on the road for April fingers crossed Circumstances dictated that I ended up with a frame and fork only, and I'm having a great time researching and gathering all the groupset items and finishing kit separately - nothing really flash but it will be exactly what I want and can't wait.....

Monty Dog

As the big 5-0 is starting to loom on the horizon and my typically esoteric tastes means that I'll probably need to start saving soon and put a deposit down in the next year or so to make sure I get what I want. I'll be hard faught to choose between something like a Pegoretti Responsorium, Cinelli XCR, a Passoni in titanium, maybe a Speedvagen or finally maybe somone will offer me a killer deal on the Colnago C60 when it arrives. Frankly, there's few carbon bikes at the moment that appeal to my tastes - they might be great bikes for racing on, but not as 'treasured' objects.

Anonymous

Mmm. SpeedVagen.

dcj

As the big 5-0 is starting to loom on the horizon and my typically esoteric tastes means that I'll probably need to start saving soon

you and me both, monty :shock:

markos1963

I got my 50th looming in a couple of years and I have already started the process. It's going to be a similar budget to the OP, £4k
As others have said get something custom made so it IS special and invididual to you. For me it's probably going to be a Pegoretti in a wild paint job(as long as I don't have to get it from THAT shop!)

Hoopdriver

I saw on another thread where Pegoretti is now selling direct - so start saving. I bought a Luigino for my 50th and love it!

Gavin Cook

Gazzaputt wrote:

I got a Canyon for my 40th last week and couldn't be more pleased.

Same for me !! I bought myself a late 40th gift - Canyon SLX 9.0 CF with Campag Super Record, Mavic Rys-sl for under four grand (Euros !!). Thats great value.

Gav

hopper1

:shock: Oops... Just bought my new frame, now realised my 50th is later this year... Hmmm...

Slow Downcp

For my 40th last year I bought a Kawasaki Er6 - motivated me to finally get my bike test done :-)

carl_p

markos1963 wrote:

I got my 50th looming in a couple of years and I have already started the process. It's going to be a similar budget to the OP, £4k
As others have said get something custom made so it IS special and invididual to you. For me it's probably going to be a Pegoretti in a wild paint job(as long as I don't have to get it from THAT shop!)

Wow Markos, will look forward to seeing that. Hope you bring it on the club runs 8)

infopete

Haha look what happened to my 50th birthday bike

I'm 60 in two years time, should I be looking for a new bike?

If I did could everyone on here cope if it broke?

Oh and I'd certainly add a Lynskey Helix to my list if I were you.