advice on buying a comfortable sportive

Gasiorekm

I have been riding a Dawes Giro 500 for 10 years and am 50 years old and not superfit at all. Have greatly enjoyed it but find the ride a bit aggressive, and you feel every bump in the road. I ride to work every day (6 miles each way), and do occasional longer rides (35-50), and would like to enter some sportives. Am keen therefore to upgrade to a better / lighter bike, and am looking to spend around £1000 on the CTW scheme. Have been looking at the Verenti Rhigos .03 which looks like it fits the bill very well (but would prefere a triple chainset, because often cycle in Wales with tough hills!). Also considerd the Focus Cayo and the Boardman - but the reviews generally suggest these are a much more aggressive ride. Any views or advice much appreciated.

letap73

Giant Defy, Cannondale Synapse and Specialized Secteur are generally recommended.

arlowood

Hi there

I am a few years older than you and made the switch to a Specialized Secteur Elite last year. Great bike for sportive type riding and at that time was available in Shimano 105 with a triple crank. This years model is more or less identical but is only available with SRAM Apex in a compact crankset (50/34). However the rear cassette is a 10 speed 11 - 32 set up that gives you a very wide spread of gears with the lowest matching that of a triple chainset.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/speciali ... 62036.html

It just depends on whether you must have a triple - personaly I prefer the triple since it gives you smaller changes in ratio across the spectrum so you don't get the big jumps in gear that you might get with a compact.

However another option is the Cube Attempt which can be had with a triple Shimano 105 groupset.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/cube-att ... 63488.html

Cube bikes are well reviewed and respected and I don't think you would be disappointed if you opted for the Cube

The Spiderman

Recently made the switch from a Trek 1200 to a Defy.Definitely reccomended.

Gasiorekm

Many thanks for the advice... The Cannondale sounds nice but is out of my price range; the Specialized secteur elite looks good - however looks like it is being discontinued; on the Defy there seems to be several out there - not sure which one was being recommended? One I was looking at had the Tiagra groupset - is there a big difference between this and the 105? Finally is there a big difference between buying a bike with a full carbon frame (like the Verenti which at present I can get from wiggle for under a grand); and bikes with just carbon forks and seat stems...? Thanks again

solboy

Sounds like you not only need to consider geometrey but also frame material. £1400 will get you a nice Ti Sportive bike.

I have the mistral and can vouch for its comfort.

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/detail.asp/sk ... ited_offer

http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/detail.asp/sk ... _Road_Bike

letap73

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/canno ... e_105.html

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant_defy_1.html

Both under £1000.

BTW The Verenti sounds a bargain!

Gasiorekm

Many thanks for the various replies on my original post. Still not decided and more confused than ever.

Most important for me is comfort, lightweight, and either a triple at the front, or SRAM APEX which gives me a granny gear option, for my Welsh hills. That seems to cut down the choices a lot.

I thought I had narrowed it down to between a Cannondale Synapese Carbon SR (has the Apex) (but not sure I can afford it - hoping a good offer on the 2011 might come up!); the Specialised Secteur Elite; or the Ribble Sportive Bianco.

But not sure about the following:
- is it crazy to buy a bike (the Ribble) without having tried it out?
- is there a big difference between a full carbon like the Synapse, as opposed to the alu Elite?
- just seen some posts saying how great and comfortable the Genesis Equilibirum;
- and also that a Titanium bike like the Van Nicholas is a great choice...

thoroughly confused, and any thoughts from you guys out there....

solboy

The VN Mistral is a great choice but is still not what i would call an upright riding position. The Rhigos 4 though at £800 is the bargain of the century and would probably meet your requirements if you swap the cassette for a 11-28 (this means you should not miss the triple chainring). Wiggle are very good if you need to return the bike.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-rhigos04/

sandyballs

+1 for the Defy. I have had 2 slipped discs surgically repaired last year and I still manage to complete 60km road race in 1hr 43 on mine with no back pain just a sore ass. Sundays, regularly ride 2hr with friends again no problems.

dartmoorscottydog

Specialized secteur being discontinued???? where did you get that from??

Still as I have one would recommend it but the Cannondales look good