New Bike

sketchley

I'm trying so hard not to this but I know I will end up buying a road bike.

I need to shortlist some bikes to go and test ride so here some criteria.

Shop - Evans due to work using them for Cycle To Work, although as I administer it I could switch to someone else at a push.
Price - Cycle to Work Applies so £1000 or thereabouts. I can get 10% off non sale bikes as well with LCC membership.
Wheels - Very important after the problems with the cheap stock wheels on the Sirius Comp the bike must has a decent set and be strong enough for 18st person riding hard. I do like the Shimano RS20s I put on the Sirius when the stock wheels went and I would be keen to avoid Alex Rims.
Frame - No preference
Group set - No preference, although the 2011 Shimano 105 looks a good candidate

Idea would be to use Sirius with panniers on Monday and Friday to transfer stuff to and from work and commute on the road bike Tuesday through Thursday. Plus extra fun at weekends.

Shortlist so far to test ride

Genesis Equilibrium 20 2011 - Look nice, slight too expensive but I can make up the difference.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gen ... e-ec024748

Cannondale CAAD 8 105 - Again looks nice but does have Alex Rims (am i being OTT on these based on one bad experience?).
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec025287

Both the Wilier Lavaredo 2011 Road Bike http://www.evanscycles.com/products/wil ... --ec026870 and Wilier Triestina 2011 Road Bike http://www.evanscycles.com/products/wil ... e-ec026872 look interesting the later seems to have better wheels, Fulcrum 7, although I know nothing about Campagnolo group sets.

Are Kona as good as the spec suggests http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kon ... e-ec026554

The Cube Attempt also looks nice but not available at Evans http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=57244
Any other suggestions?

dhope

Sketchley wrote:

Price - Cycle to Work Applies so £1000 or thereabouts.

...

Genesis Equilibrium 20 2011 - Look nice, slight too expensive but I can make up the difference.

Not strictly speaking you can't. You can't use a £1000 voucher and pay the rest, not how the scheme works.

Marcus_C

Could you buy a discount on the bike using your own money?

Then you have a £1000 bike, slightly dishonest perhaps...

jzed

Shame its Evans otherwise you could have looked at Ribble or Planet X where you'd get more for your money.

I have a CAAD8 Sora - but only used it once so can't really comment.

At £1,000 I'd go for the best frame you can get and you can always upgrade the wheels and stuff as you go.

phillipjohnson

Sketchley wrote:

Are Kona as good as the spec suggests

I don't know about the Zing but I've got a Kona Jake the Snake 2010 which is a cross bike at similar price and spec and have no complaints. Really nice bike.

clarkey cat

Genesis - has to be.

Clever Pun

dhope wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Price - Cycle to Work Applies so £1000 or thereabouts.

...

Genesis Equilibrium 20 2011 - Look nice, slight too expensive but I can make up the difference.

Not strictly speaking you can't. You can't use a £1000 voucher and pay the rest, not how the scheme works.

the shop might let you... just depends. if you don't ask you'd never know

sketchley

dhope wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Price - Cycle to Work Applies so £1000 or thereabouts.

...

Genesis Equilibrium 20 2011 - Look nice, slight too expensive but I can make up the difference.

Not strictly speaking you can't. You can't use a £1000 voucher and pay the rest, not how the scheme works.

Agreed, strickly speaking you cannot.

Twostage

Sketchley wrote:

Idea would be to use Sirius with panniers on Monday and Friday to transfer stuff to and from work and commute on the road bike Tuesday through Thursday. Plus extra fun at weekends.

Why don't you do the transfer on just one day ? Admittedly there would be some 'festering' issues but at least you'd get another light day. Glad you kept the details of the weekend 'extra fun' to yourself. Some here are easily embarrassed. :oops:

sketchley

Twostage wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Idea would be to use Sirius with panniers on Monday and Friday to transfer stuff to and from work and commute on the road bike Tuesday through Thursday. Plus extra fun at weekends.

Why don't you do the transfer on just one day ? Admittedly there would be some 'festering' issues but at least you'd get another light day. Glad you kept the details of the weekend 'extra fun' to yourself. Some here are easily embarrassed. :oops:

Another option is to use the 5 Shirts washed and pressed for £7.95 offer at the local dry cleaners and just stick underwear in a rucksack. One thing is for sure the road bbike is not having a rack on it!

The Rookie

The' Alex' (genuine or rebranded? I don't know) rims on Spesh bikes are horrid, I have 2 from MTB's and they both need care to keep round, however I have some 'genuine' Alex rims on another MTB and they seem bomb proof (it was a dirt/jump bike), it's possible the Alex rims on the CAAD are nothing like the ones on the Spesh.....

Simon

edhornby

I would say make the final choice depending on what fits you, the kona looks the winner on paper, the wiliers are nice but pricey for the mix and match campag bits - fulcrums are good wheels , RS10s as good as the fulcrum 7s

sketchley

JZed wrote:

Shame its Evans otherwise you could have looked at Ribble or Planet X where you'd get more for your money.

I have a CAAD8 Sora - but only used it once so can't really comment.

At £1,000 I'd go for the best frame you can get and you can always upgrade the wheels and stuff as you go.

Did I mention I Admin the C2W scheme for our office. I could change supplier....

This looks good,
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBP ... sram-rival
but I am concerned about a bloke my size riding Carbon, also no nothing about SRAM (how does the rival compare to Shimano 105 for example). I know for a fact I'm above the approved wieght limit for Spesh Carbon bikes. It's one of the reason the Genesis is appealing.

jzed

Sketchley wrote:

Did I mention I Admin the C2W scheme for our office. I could change supplier....

This looks good,
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBP ... sram-rival
but I am concerned about a bloke my size riding Carbon, also no nothing about SRAM (how does the rival compare to Shimano 105 for example). I know for a fact I'm above the approved wieght limit for Spesh Carbon bikes. It's one of the reason the Genesis is appealing.

I have the same frame but SRAM Red. I'm no lightweight - I was 17st when I got it and visited the showroom up in Rotherham (they now have a showroom near bricklane - head down and take a look at them). I'd probably go for the Model C wheels (more spokes), as I've trashed a set of Model B's. Now upgraded to a pair of Mavic Kysriums.

For SRAM Rival v 105 take a look here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=14862116

and

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15998831

Rival is simialr to Ultegra by all accounts

I have Shimano (Sora), Campag (record) and SRAM (red) bikes, and whilst SRAM at first takes a bit of getting used to (you only have one lever to shift up and down) - I'm now in the SRAM camp.

night_porter

As far as you weight is concerned why don't you ask PX if the bike would be okay?

6 months ago I weighed in at 19st but I have lost 4 stone since then so I treated myself to an SL Pro Carbon but with SRAM Red and Mavic Aksiums. I have had it for a few weeks and I am really impressed with it. I would say that it is stronger, lighter, more comfortable and quicker than both of my aluminium bikes (both with racks and guards tho) and the shifting is quick and simple.

I honestly beleive I could have ridden this bike when I was at my heaviest without any problems at all.

If you wanted a good strong set of wheels then PX's model C's are 32 spoke so should fit the bill.

Like I said call them and ask, what is the worst they could say?

night_porter

JZed obviously types quicker than me

sketchley

Looks like I'm going to brick lane sometime soon....