Jamis Ventura Comp 2012

simonm8

Hi.. i get the cycle to work scheme.. i will be getting a bike from Evans cycles..

Im net to all this, never owned a road bike, had a MTB about 5 years ago..
main use is for commuting 12 miles a day for work during olympics then occasional weekend use to get fit..

and occaisonal charity ride, london to southend etc..

does anyone know much about this bike and the spec? any good.. i was told that carbon forks fail a lot?

dont really wanna spend over £600 on the bike as need to get everything and keep costs down..

Please help/ provide advice for a newbie..

schweiz

This is the review from Bike Radar:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... p-11-43460

and carbon forks do not fail a lot!

simonm8

Yeah i saw this review, but that is the 2011 model, im looking at 2012 model.. so didnt know if there was any main difference or improvements other than colour over the previous model..

Would you rcommend a different bike is is this a ideal starter?

schweiz

600 quid will buy you a good ideal starter bike whatever the brand/model.

Halfords and Decathlon have a range of good value bikes at this price (B'Twin. Boardman and Carerra), but anecdotal evidence on this forum would suggest there's a chance that the guy putting your bike together is not so hot when it comes to using allen keys and a socket set. Your local bike shops will have something too and may have reduced priced bikes from last year. If you are restricted to Evans due to C2W, then they have a huge range for you to choose from.

Bikes are similarly specced at any particular price point. Sometimes you may find cheaper components on a 'better' frame or more expensive components on a cheaper frame. There really are too many variables to say which is the 'best'. Some people don't like the thumb shifter on the lower end Shimano STI gear/brake levers so prefer to go for Tiagra on a cheaper frame. SRAM gearing always seems to gives good value (especially on the boardman bikes), but some people don't like the double tap system, others love it. Other ways manufactures save money is by using cheaper brakes (e.g. Tektro), cheaper cassettes (quite often bikes have a cassette that is one 'group' down from the rest of the drivetrain) or use components from companies like microshift which are cheaper. Using cheaper tyres are often a way for manufactures to hit a target price too, but it is something that is easily changed.

Have a look round Evans, see what they have, take a couple for a spin, see which one you feel better on and then if it's still impossible decide, choose the one you like the look of!

A lot of time is given to clever marketing but to be honest, the most important things are that you feel comfortable on the bike and that you like it. If you're not comfortable then you'll most likely give up cycling and if you just don't like your bike for whatever reason (colour, shape, graphics, name) then you'll always be dreaming of soemthing else.

Then again, I like all my bikes but I'm always dreaming of n+1!