Best Road Bike in and around the £2000 mark

mcstaycfc

Just recentally made the jump up to category 2 and looking my first carbon race bike to celebrate any ideas? Months of trawling through the www has turned my head to mush :?

Garry H

Go to your local bike shop and see what they can do for you

cornerblock

mcstaycfc wrote:

Just recentally made the jump up to category 2 and looking my first carbon race bike to celebrate any ideas? Months of trawling through the www has turned my head to mush :?

And you think asking on here will make your head clearer! Narrow your choice down to a few and try and test ride them. Then change your mind again! And test ride a few more. Seriously though for £2000 you will end up with a lovely bike. Good luck in deciding.

mcstaycfc

Thanks lads totally new to this forum business had a quick flick through and realised a lot of people are asking these type of questions back to the drawing board oh the joys haha

cornerblock

Oh, and welcome.

Berk Bonebonce

Cat 2 licence eh? How about something to help you get around a flat circuit with a load of well built lads?

mcstaycfc

A moped?

MaxwellBygraves

Tell us what the nearest decent shop stocks...

Karl2010

Check Ebay aswell. You could pick up a bargain.

unixnerd

One thing a lot of bikes in that price range can skimp on are the wheels. You can get anything from a 1500g set to 2kg and having just upgraded from 2kg -> 1.5 it makes a massive difference. Look at the wheelset and google the weight so you know what you're getting.

If I was spending that sort of cash and buying from a bike shop I'd expect a bike fit from someone that knows what they're doing too.

kfinlay

If your comfortable with your fit then you can consider a Canyon or Rose direct from Germany - very good spec for the money. Ribble and PlanetX also offer good VFM and many also like the Cube Agree GTC Race or SL. Too many options really but I agree about the wheels some have wheels like Fulcrum 7 and Askiums whereas others have Ksyrium Elites - massive difference. But I agree with others , if your not sure about fit etc then get to a good bike shop and have a test ride, an lbs offered me 10% of a Cube Agree GTC Race or SL and that was on my first visit to that shop so some deals to be had. Dealers may have a few 2010 models left over too especially if you need a very large or small sized frame. Good luck choosing and let us know how you get on

maddog 2

there have been plenty of threads along these lines recently, so have a search

Some ideas are
Cube Agree GTC Race
Colnago Ace
Willier Mortirolo
Cannondale Super6

So, as said, try to get a ride on some.

I'd be tempted to do a custom build around a Look 566 with 105 kit and mid-level wheels. Should come in around 2k with some cunning buying.

wombler

If you are looking at Canyon, their UK rep can organise a test ride (if you can get to Essex)

mcstaycfc

My local bike shop stocks Cervelo De Rosa Bianchi and Mercx all of which are lovely bikes granted but im not sure im gettin the most bike for my buck. I have also noticed about the whole wheel situation I was very interested in Sintesi (still am) but their model I was looking at is speced with Fulcrum racing 5s at the minute I ride Mavic open pros with ultegra hubs old and heavey I no but great wheels none the less, i dont want to spend 2000 queens heads and still not have the bike i want. In terms of grouppo I was thinking SRAM force or shimano ultegra. Are my sights a little too high? Should I be lookin at 105?

Phate

For 2k I'd be looking at the last of the 2010 bargains!

Had a quick look on evans and you can get

a 2010 Spesh Roubaix Expert SL with Ultegra down from 2.5k to 2k

a 2011 Spesh Tarmac Comp SL2 for 2k and they will give you £200 to spend on equipment

Cannondale CAAD10 Ultegra for 1.9k

Or depending on your size there is always the Litespeed Archon C3 2010 road bike with £950 off coming in at £1799

Lots of choices and a lot specced with Ultegra!

Mr Dog

Just make sure its red, white and blue, with Coke-a-Cola in the drinks bottle.

mfin

Id be considering one of these, in Team (mostly white) colour

http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2114

Chip \'oyler

Have you thought about spending your £2k on just a frame and transferring your current equipment across?

The frame is the heart and soul of a bike - the better the frame the better the ride.

mcstaycfc

Had a look at Canyon they look like great bikes and are certainly in my list of options. Spending £2000 on a frame alone unfortunately isnt an option for me as the components I currently use are old and outdated. Does anyone have any experience with a recent version of 105?

thespanishadam

mcstaycfc wrote:

Had a look at Canyon they look like great bikes and are certainly in my list of options. Spending £2000 on a frame alone unfortunately isnt an option for me as the components I currently use are old and outdated. Does anyone have any experience with a recent version of 105?

They reviewed it in the latest copy cycling plus along with Apex and Centaur. They mentioned it weighing about half a kilo more than the others. Weight isn't everything but I'd personally aim at Ultegra should funds stretch.

edhornby

my road bike has 105 the 5600 version (not the newest set with the hidden shifter cable routing) and I think it's fine, not superlight but good shifting - at the 2k mark I bet you could get ultegra

have you looked at planet X ? they do their hi-mod nanolight with some nice specs, only thing you have to remember is they have own brand wheels (which are pretty good...) and sometimes a budgety crankset

wildmoustache

something like this canyon with chorus 11 for £2k is not bad at all ... one of the good points with canyon is their spec is very good. there's no crap wheels thrown to cut corners.

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2114

Chip \'oyler

wildmoustache wrote:

something like this canyon with chorus 11 for £2k is not bad at all ... one of the good points with canyon is their spec is very good. there's no crap wheels thrown to cut corners.

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2114

That is a lot of bike for the money. As a Chorus user I'd would say go for it

Mr Dog

Have last years 105 and its good. The 2011 version gets rave reviews. Spend on the frame... the rest wears out anyway.