Yet another which bike question

JimboM

Hi all

I'm looking at taking my first steps into road biking and going through the ordeals of choosing that 'first bike' As I'm not sure if cycling is going to be for me I don't want to splash out too much and as we have the C2W scheme at work it makes sense to buy through that to help spread the cost as well - downside is that we have to buy through Halfords.

Had a look through the site etc and seen the Carrera Vanquish (2010 model) which looks a good spec and gets the odd good review on here

http://tinyurl.com/3n368zo

but then again there seems to be even more support for the Boardman bikes but the nearest one appears to be the Road Race and is £150 dearer

http://tinyurl.com/3zxcqyp

other than the fact that the Boardman looks a lot prettier than the Carrera is it really worth the extra £150 or are you just paying for the name ?

Thanks

Jim

Bill D

Usually I'd say buy the best you can afford, but judging by most people on here if you are a beginner you will want to change your bike after you've been riding it for a few months and have got fitter (I did). Depending how hilly it is near where you live, you probably need a triple chainset and some low gears, but most people want to go over to a compact or double chainwheel once they're fit enough to ride with one. That's an expensive 'upgrade' and most people seem to change bikes at that point rather than just the gearing.

Instead of BTW, have you thought about buying secondhand first? You'd probably save money in the long run if value is your main concern.

That said, if you go fior BTW and do decide to change bikes later on the Boardman will probably have a higher resale value than the Carrera (have a look at ebay).

It isn't easy, but good luck whatever you decide to do.

Ringo 68

I am in the middle of buying my first road bike and have looked at the Carrera and Boardman Road Race.
They both get excellent reviews across the board but I really like the look of the Boardman. I believe you are getting a lot of bike for your money and well worth the extra cash over the Carrera.
The the above post said, I would want a new bike a couple of months down the road and I think buying the Boardman will at least put that off for a few years (I hope)

Ringo 68

If you don't fancy paying the extra for the Boardman these 2 bikes from Halfords are also worth considering and over £300 cheaper than the Boardman too. They both get very good reviews.



http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... ogId=10151


http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PDPz1

night_porter

Both bikes are very good beginners bikes but they are not exactly like for like.

Bearing in mind that there is a newer Vanquish in the shops right now which is £50 more but has the same components as the Boardman, they are both Sora.

If you do not know Sora is one level below the Tiagra levers of the cheaper Vanquish.

Lots of people prefer the Tiagra shift mechanism because it is easier to change up and down from the drops as well as the hoods. There are plenty of threads on here discussing this (use the search facility) but most people agree that Tiagra is far easier to use than Sora.

The cheaper Vanquish is only that price to exhaust old stocks which is why it is better value than the newer one and the Boardman. I don't suppose they will stay around for long so if you are going to get one then do it sooner rather than later.

Incidently the 2 bikes linked to by Ringo both use the same type of shifters as the Boardman and the newer Vanquish with the exception that they are 8 speed not 9 speed.

bakerstreet

night_porter wrote:

Both bikes are very good beginners bikes but they are not exactly like for like.

Bearing in mind that there is a newer Vanquish in the shops right now which is £50 more but has the same components as the Boardman, they are both Sora.

If you do not know Sora is one level below the Tiagra levers of the cheaper Vanquish.

Lots of people prefer the Tiagra shift mechanism because it is easier to change up and down from the drops as well as the hoods. There are plenty of threads on here discussing this (use the search facility) but most people agree that Tiagra is far easier to use than Sora.

The cheaper Vanquish is only that price to exhaust old stocks which is why it is better value than the newer one and the Boardman. I don't suppose they will stay around for long so if you are going to get one then do it sooner rather than later.

Incidently the 2 bikes linked to by Ringo both use the same type of shifters as the Boardman and the newer Vanquish with the exception that they are 8 speed not 9 speed.

I think Tiagra sits above Soras in the Shimano product range. I have a bike with Tiagra shifters and the feel and quality of the shifters is miles ahead of the Sora shifters.

CakeLovinBeast

Bear in mind that if Halfords are administering your C2W scheme, then they will order in other bikes for you if you call their special order line. When you log into the website there's a number that you can call to speak to them direct... Speak with the bods on the other end and then they'll tell you what they can and can't arrange (typically nothing from Wiggle, Ribble or Planet-X).

My work's C2W was run and administered through Halfords, but I still managed to order myself a Cube. Worth chatting with them to see what's what.

JimboM

Thanks for all the great advice guys, been spending the last couple of days doing a bit more research and inevitibly I've talked myself into upping the budget !!

Also turns out I can ask Halfords to order in something else so am now really liking the idea of a Cube Attempt Way I see it, even if I don't enjoy the cycling I can sell the bike in a year and still get back a lot of what it actually cost me.

If I do go for the Cube any advice on whether to go for the triple or just bite the bullet and get compact ?

Cheers

Jim

night_porter

It depends upon the sort of terrain you will be riding in as both have their advantages and both have their pitfalls.

If you live in a really hilly area or you are a little overweight/unfit or you intend carrying a lot of weight on racks/backpack then a triple would be favourite. Also triples are nice because you have fairly close ratios so that when you change on the front it is similar to changing on the rear.

If you are wanting to look like a pro or live somewhere flat or are reasonably fit (you will get fitter) then a compact will provide nearly the same spread of gears but look sleeker. When you change gears at the front on a compact you do usually find that you need to change at the rear at the same time because the jump is like 2 gears at the rear (up or down).

I have bikes with 53/42 double, 50/34 compact and 53/42/30 triple and they are all nice to ride downhill but sometimes the uphills are quite exhausting, I look at it as character building