Advice on Wilier Izoard 2011 XP Petacchi

sy1975

Apologies I originally posted this in the wrong cat.

Im new to the forum so hello

I need some buying advice if I may and perhaps some alternatives to compare?

I have been road cycling for approx 8 months on a Boardman Comp (105). A trip to my local bike shop has left me drooling over the Wilier Izoard 2011 XP Petacchi and I am tempted to go full carbon and really push on this spring summer!

The Wilier Izoard seems to have great reviews but as I am looking at spending £1800 (via cycle to work scheme) I want to make sure that this is a good value bike. To be honest I love the look of the bike (black and luminous yelllow), but have only ever used 105's (is Veloce comparible?) will the Miche wheels make a difference? ect ect

I am a bit of a novice, so want to make this purchase for all the right reasons (not just beacuse the bike is fantastic to look at!!)

Any advice or reviews would be great

on-yer-bike

The fact you love the look of it is very important. But more important is that it fits you properly. I think theres probably not a lot to choose between the different brands at a given pricepoint so buy the one you fall in love with. Veloce is roughly on a par with 105 and you can upgrade to Athena next year or something. Don't know anything about Miche wheels. My first road bike was a 2008 Izoard with Centaur.

sy1975

Thanks. I agree you have got to want to get on your bike in all weathers and if it looks great it helps.

In terms of fitting me properly are you just talking about comfort or is there anything specfic I should be looking at?

giant_man

You need to go a good LBS who knows what they're doing and get measured and fitted to the Izoard properly. This will maintain the comfort of the bike as long as you own it. What you don't want is to come back from a long ride with neck and wrists aching for instance.

What you don't want is someone who thinks they know what they're doing and tells you what size you need just by looking at you; accuracy here is wildly optomistic.

And yes it's very pretty, saw it the first time at the London cycle show last Oct.

mallorcajeff

ive got one and its the best bike ive ever owned but get it with shimano as mine with campag centaur just goes wrong all the time and its going in the bin shortly if the shop cant repair it again tonight for the 5th time in a month. bike fantastic but needs shimano to get the best out of it. i do 200 miles a week on it so its comfy too.

sy1975

Great advice thanks. I have 105's on my boardman (2 years old) and I have had all kinds of problems with them, so I was looking forward to trying the campag veloce!! but maybe I should reconsider?

Reviews of 105's and veloce seem to be similar, except the feel...

Is it costly to have the bike fitted with 105's and take the campag veloce off if needed?[/quote]

giant_man

Campag Centaur is a fine groupset like all Campag groupsets, but like every groupset out there is will only perform flawlessly if it's set up PROPERLY ..... you really don't need shimano to get the best out of any frame for heavens sake!

sy1975

So the centaur is a great groupset, but what about the Veloce - as this comes as standard on the £1899 bike..

giant_man

Well it's one of the lower groupsets in the campag range but operates and feels the same way of course. I've got nothing against Shimano, use it myself as well as Campag, but to me it shifts better and I prefer it. It's what you prefer that counts in this game really ....

sy1975

Fair comment, obviously its all just opinion really.

In terms of this bike (Petacchi) its seems that the general opinion is the frame is excellent as well as the looks and the add on's are entry level - groupset comparable with 105.

Are there any other bikes, similar price 1600-1800 that could offer more?

rogerthecat

sy1975 wrote:

Fair comment, obviously its all just opinion really.

In terms of this bike (Petacchi) its seems that the general opinion is the frame is excellent as well as the looks and the add on's are entry level - groupset comparable with 105.

Are there any other bikes, similar price 1600-1800 that could offer more?

M8 buying the Petacchi myself, I would reccomend upgrading the Wheels as the Miche Race 707 are on the heavy side, nothing but good vibes regarding the frame, although I did read that it had a Alloy top tube which was strange as the bikes with a GS up and down have a Carbon Top Tube so I guess it may be a Type'o.

The Veloce GS again it's a fine GS, consider this, at 1800 quid you may get a bet spec'd bike but something will suffer, better GS and not so good Frame and as the frame is the heart of the bike you are better off getting the best Frame as you can, as Wheels, GS et al may be upgraded at a latter date, if you so wish.

sy1975

rogerthecat wrote:

sy1975 wrote:

Fair comment, obviously its all just opinion really.

In terms of this bike (Petacchi) its seems that the general opinion is the frame is excellent as well as the looks and the add on's are entry level - groupset comparable with 105.

Are there any other bikes, similar price 1600-1800 that could offer more?

M8 buying the Petacchi myself, I would reccomend upgrading the Wheels as the Miche Race 707 are on the heavy side, nothing but good vibes regarding the frame, although I did read that it had a Alloy top tube which was strange as the bikes with a GS up and down have a Carbon Top Tube so I guess it may be a Type'o.

The Veloce GS again it's a fine GS, consider this, at 1800 quid you may get a bet spec'd bike but something will suffer, better GS and not so good Frame and as the frame is the heart of the bike you are better off getting the best Frame as you can, as Wheels, GS et al may be upgraded at a latter date, if you so wish.

Great way of looking at it, the frame and paint job (all important!!) is the core of the bike, if I don't get on with the componants I can always upgrade

I suppose as a novice i didn't want to splash out 1800 quid and find that I have purchased a turkey. All the reviews of the Wilier are postive and its got to be one of the most strking bikes that I have seen.

Good my mind has been made up..cheers

Monty Dog

@malloracajeff - find yourself a competent bike shop or learn to do it yourself. Once set-up properly, Campagnolo stuff is as reliable as any other kit IME. Regardless of groupset, if the cable-runs aren't prepared properly you'll have no end of problems.

rogerthecat

As a matter of Interest you are not from the Winchester area are you? If so there is a Bike shop with a Large in and they may let you take it for a spin, if thats your size of course.

sy1975

No im from Sevenoaks area/ kent, my local shop has a couple in stock (hence my drolling!!) so going to have a measure up tomorrow

on-yer-bike

I would get the standard Izoard XP with Fulcrum R5s and save £100. Looks miles better IMO.

rogerthecat

I thought about that, £100 for a paint job, hmmmmm, however without it it's just another bike! and I do like it

sy1975

Took the XP Petacchi for a test ride yesterday - Wow firstly the brakes (you have got to understand that Im currently on a 3 year old Boardman Comp), so the brakes are not as sharp as they could be

But in real terms the frame felt great, really responsive when I needed a little xtra, it flew up the small (but steep) hills that I took it up, very comfortable (although I only did 2 miles or so). Having only used 105's the veloce took a little while to get used to, but I actually liked the more defined changes, lastly it felt great to be on such an attractive bike.

So put a deposit down, got if for £1750, with new look pedals and a slightly shorter stem, pick it up Friday

rogerthecat

Photos pleasewhen you get it

sy1975

rogerthecat wrote:

Photos pleasewhen you get it

Will do M8!

As Im new to the forum, what is the prcedure for uploading photos to a post?