Hivemind needed....

rick_chasey

Exciting times are ahead.

I've been (very easily) persuaded that I need a new road bike.

Couldn't agree more.

So, for fear of bankrupting myself in a bear market, I've set myself a limit of £1500. I also know very little about kit, since I'm a cheapskate and don't buy anything.

(yes, this is a 'what bike for £1500' thread. Only I reckon you lot know more than the guys over on road, but sssh). And that is a hard limit. Not a penny over.

So things that I am more concerned about: Weight, ride, frame shape (don't want a compact frame. No good reason other than I think it looks w@nk)

Things I am less concerned about (within reason): stiffness (as a spinny 55kg chap, I barely notice any of this stuff).

Now my current steed, which will be sold, is a '05 spesh allez with carbon forks. Having been on my steel SS with 28mms, coming back to my spesh bike, I couldn't believe how harsh the ride was. Was bouncing around all over the place. Now sure, a steel frame with 28mm will always ride better than a road bike, but it's all relative right?

For that reason, I reckon I'm not too keen on aluminium - seems a little too buzzy for me. I can be persuaded otherwise (Say for a CAA9 or CAA10) but I'd need to be persuaded.

I'm also keen on something a little unusual, so if you knowledgable chaps know something that fits the bill that's exotic, I'm all ears.


Thanks in advance etc...

Edit: Also, if anyone can recommend a bike shop to purchase it all from (if you lot think that's worth it), that's nearish Fulham (or the City), that'd be grand.

iPete

Condor Fratello? Seems a very nice do it all steel roadie and love the Orange.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

asprilla

Justin Burls custom Ti frame with new wheels and the group / kit off your Spesh.

optimisticbiker

iPete wrote:

Condor Fratello? Seems a very nice do it all steel roadie and love the Orange.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

But at £600 for the frameset alone it doesnt leave much for the rest. Using thier bike-builder, with a 105 Groupset and Fulcrum 5 wheels and run of the mill finishing kit it tops out at £1,667. Tiagra 9-speed and Fulcrum 7 gets in under the wire at £1,497. Of course Condor charge way above what other charge for the same kit so you could get in budget by shopping around and building yourself.. (but is that RC's way?)

Wheelspinner

Perhaps a Van Nic? Customisable too...

optimisticbiker

Asprilla wrote:

Justin Burls custom Ti frame with new wheels and the group / kit off your Spesh.

Ah but he said the Spesh is to be sold...

asprilla

OptimisticBiker wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

Justin Burls custom Ti frame with new wheels and the group / kit off your Spesh.

Ah but he said the Spesh is to be sold...

Ok, second hand 105 group and wheels.

iPete

OptimisticBiker wrote:

iPete wrote:

Condor Fratello? Seems a very nice do it all steel roadie and love the Orange.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

But at £600 for the frameset alone it doesnt leave much for the rest. Using thier bike-builder, with a 105 Groupset and Fulcrum 5 wheels and run of the mill finishing kit it tops out at £1,667. Tiagra 9-speed and Fulcrum 7 gets in under the wire at £1,497. Of course Condor charge way above what other charge for the same kit so you could get in budget by shopping around and building yourself.. (but is that RC's way?)

True, personally I'd see how much can be transferred as a second hand 2005 bike isnt going to fetch much. Might as well get the best frame possible and upgrade around it as bits wear out.

I also find the Allez very harsh, nearly sold it but a carbon seat post made the ride infinitely better. That might be a better option for RC but not in compliance with n+1

First.Aspect

There are a bunch of smaller US manufacturers of steel frames (see what I did there?); e.g. Salsa or Traitor. If you can find one, it would tick the "a bit unusual" box. I think you'd be looking at something in the £6-700 range for frame and fork.

Have you spotted Shand, made in Scotland? Similar sort of thing, only not such a sexy name.

Alternatively, how about a steel italian bike? Most people think about high tech carbon wonder steeds, but makes like De Rosa and Colnago still make beautiful steel frames. If you go down that route though, why look further than Gios? Its not completely clear whether they are still in business, but if you could find one and if you like blue they are pretty bikes.

rick_chasey

First Aspect wrote:

There are a bunch of smaller US manufacturers of steel frames (see what I did there?); e.g. Salsa or Traitor. If you can find one, it would tick the "a bit unusual" box. I think you'd be looking at something in the £6-700 range for frame and fork.

Have you spotted Shand, made in Scotland? Similar sort of thing, only not such a sexy name.

Alternatively, how about a steel italian bike? Most people think about high tech carbon wonder steeds, but makes like De Rosa and Colnago still make beautiful steel frames. If you go down that route though, why look further than Gios? Its not completely clear whether they are still in business, but if you could find one and if you like blue they are pretty bikes.

My concern re-steel is the weight.

rick_chasey

OptimisticBiker wrote:

iPete wrote:

Condor Fratello? Seems a very nice do it all steel roadie and love the Orange.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

But at £600 for the frameset alone it doesnt leave much for the rest. Using thier bike-builder, with a 105 Groupset and Fulcrum 5 wheels and run of the mill finishing kit it tops out at £1,667. Tiagra 9-speed and Fulcrum 7 gets in under the wire at £1,497. Of course Condor charge way above what other charge for the same kit so you could get in budget by shopping around and building yourself.. (but is that RC's way?)

If by building yourself you mean getting all the parts delivered to a bike shop and paying a chap to put it together...

rick_chasey

iPete wrote:

OptimisticBiker wrote:

iPete wrote:

Condor Fratello? Seems a very nice do it all steel roadie and love the Orange.

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commu ... e.tpl.html

But at £600 for the frameset alone it doesnt leave much for the rest. Using thier bike-builder, with a 105 Groupset and Fulcrum 5 wheels and run of the mill finishing kit it tops out at £1,667. Tiagra 9-speed and Fulcrum 7 gets in under the wire at £1,497. Of course Condor charge way above what other charge for the same kit so you could get in budget by shopping around and building yourself.. (but is that RC's way?)

True, personally I'd see how much can be transferred as a second hand 2005 bike isnt going to fetch much. Might as well get the best frame possible and upgrade around it as bits wear out.

I also find the Allez very harsh, nearly sold it but a carbon seat post made the ride infinitely better. That might be a better option for RC but not in compliance with n+1

How much would I get d'ya reckon? I've got some xero lites on them which I'm tempted to keep and sell the bike with the stock alex rims, but again, I have no idea if I got a £1500 bike that the wheels would be better or worse.

The problem with shopping about a bit is ultimately, I don't have a clue what's good and what's not.

First.Aspect

Rick Chasey wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

There are a bunch of smaller US manufacturers of steel frames (see what I did there?); e.g. Salsa or Traitor. If you can find one, it would tick the "a bit unusual" box. I think you'd be looking at something in the £6-700 range for frame and fork.

Have you spotted Shand, made in Scotland? Similar sort of thing, only not such a sexy name.

Alternatively, how about a steel italian bike? Most people think about high tech carbon wonder steeds, but makes like De Rosa and Colnago still make beautiful steel frames. If you go down that route though, why look further than Gios? Its not completely clear whether they are still in business, but if you could find one and if you like blue they are pretty bikes.

My concern re-steel is the weight.

Indeed. I had a relatively nice steel frame and steel fork and the whole lot was 7lb. Given that you are a waif, though (53cm frame, something like that?) a steel frame should be in the 31/2-4lb range (vs. 2-3lb for a carbon or top end ti frame) and the fork could be any fork. All other things being equal, are you going to notice?

Your main dilemma is going to be whether you go for a one off £1500 purchase, or whether you blow more of the budget on a frame and fork and get some starter parts, with a view to upgrading as and when they wear out. The latter is pretty much exactly what I'm going to do. I'm blowing £1400 on a ti cx frame and carbon fork, transferring some bits and also investing in some wheels. The bits won't live up to the frame at first, but who cares? The aim is to have the same frame in ten years' time, at which point I definitely won't have the same parts because we will all have thought controlled continuously variable transmissions by then.

king_jeffers

Go Cube.

team47b

...you're wasting time, like King J said go cube

or possibly Rose

or maybe...

iPete

Dunno what you'd get, 150-250?

Can you not find a mate who can build for cake and coffee bribes? When you've done it once it's pretty straight forward..

Another option is Canyon, they seem to have some great specced bikes.

asprilla

Actually I've changed my mind; I'd be on the phone to Bob Jackson and then to Harry Rowland once I'd priced a groupset.

FoldingJoe

At that sort of price I definitely be looking at something German, and probably the Canyon AL. I know it's aluminium but the ride is supposed to be very good (helped by their own seat post I think).

I think the base 8.0 model comes with Athena which is a good groupset on a bike at that price point.

If not Canyon then either Cube, as mentioned, or Focus.

Sure you can't stretch a few hundred more to a Agree GTC or Izalco Pro?

rick_chasey

iPete wrote:

Dunno what you'd get, 150-250?

Can you not find a mate who can build for cake and coffee bribes? When you've done it once it's pretty straight forward..

Another option is Canyon, they seem to have some great specced bikes.

That would involve having friends who like cycling .

I've heard good things about the Canyon. They looks good, but, and forgive my ignorance, aren't they ridiculously stiff? As in, put a 80kilo heffer on it and the thing still won't budge?

I'm not sure I need all that stiffness. I'm quite happy to coax the bike over wrestling the hell out if it.

rick_chasey

Asprilla wrote:

Justin Burls custom Ti frame with new wheels and the group / kit off your Spesh.

I do like the idea of a custom build...

The kit on my spesh is a little, erm, special. Shimano sora / tiagra hybrid. A triple from 7 years ago!

Could always whack my xeros onto them.

Hmmmm...

stuj15

Cube Agree GTC Pro ??

£49 over budget. Fully Ultegra except for the 105 crank, I can't comment on the DT Swiss RSW wheels though.

I haven't regretted one second of upgrading to and riding the GTC Race. Lovely to ride.

woodnut

How about......
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road-bikes/Carbon/Sram%20Op/Dual%20Road%20Bike?product_id=453

It's carbon, for a bit of comfort, it comes with mudguards, its got SRAM force and the colour will stand out. ooh and at £1499 it's under budget

cyclingprop

Yeah theres a nice ghost which is 1499 too.

FoldingJoe

Rick Chasey wrote:

I've heard good things about the Canyon. They looks good, but, and forgive my ignorance, aren't they ridiculously stiff? As in, put a 80kilo heffer on it and the thing still won't budge?

I'm not sure I need all that stiffness. I'm quite happy to coax the bike over wrestling the hell out if it.

Good point; I keep forgetting how diminutive you are.

Maybe an Isla bike? My daughter isn't getting on with the bike so might have a CNOC 14 going cheap.

daviesee

As the Fratello (which I can recommend ) equipped to a nice level is outside budget, why not a Genesis Equilibrium?

Starting around £1k IIRC for a complete bike, get the shop to spec some bits up and bingo.
Or frame only, your wheels and even better groupset?

Failing that, some of the carbon bikes mentioned. Mekk are supposedly good value for money carbon as well.

sketchley

The genesis equilibrium is a very nice bike, the top of the range 20 comes in £200 under budget....

woodnut

Sketchley wrote:

The genesis equilibrium is a very nice bike, the top of the range 20 comes in £200 under budget....

Very true but

Rick Chasey wrote:

My concern re-steel is the weight.

but... I don't think you should be, they ain't heavy

asprilla

Ok, given you weigh chuff all, how about a Scott CR1 Team and then you swap the Aksiums that come with it for your wheel. Should come in at 7.6kg and I dont think you'll get lighter for the cash.

Other options depending on sizing:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 7b0s6p3685
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 7b0s6p3684
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 7b0s6p3683
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 7b0s6p3604

Sorry, was just browsing Paul's and thought of you.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Rick Chasey wrote:

iPete wrote:

Dunno what you'd get, 150-250?

Can you not find a mate who can build for cake and coffee bribes? When you've done it once it's pretty straight forward..

Another option is Canyon, they seem to have some great specced bikes.

That would involve having friends who like cycling .

I've heard good things about the Canyon. They looks good, but, and forgive my ignorance, aren't they ridiculously stiff? As in, put a 80kilo heffer on it and the thing still won't budge?

I'm not sure I need all that stiffness. I'm quite happy to coax the bike over wrestling the hell out if it.

Yeah. I can see that would be a problem.

1. I don't see why you're put off a stiff frame. If you chuck out megawatts, then you need a stiff frame. Otherwise it's a nice luxury. The thing you should be focussing on if a frame is stiff is whether the ride is going to feel like a kick in the arse. A good frame is laterally stiff but vertically compliant. Canyon ticks the first box, and I think used to have a rep for not ticking the second box. But I'd google a bit to find out whether that is still true.

2. Bit boring perhaps, but what about a Boardman road team carbon? Comes in under budget.

3. Or what about buying a new gruppo and some £500+ new wheels and putting on your Allez? That will transform it, almost guaranteed, and come in well below budget.

4. Nice thing about buying all the bits individually is being able to spec crank length, gearing, stem, bar width etc bang on. But do you know what measurements you'd want if you did that? Might also be worth working out whether it is actually cheaper. I am pretty sure that Shimano gruppos bought as gruppos cost more than they do if you buy them on a frame, for example.

5. Have you looked at any of the smaller niche names: Kuota, Argon18 for example (I haven't, so that may be a dead end).

6. There are already some 2011 bikes at knock down prices (eg Primera). As a outlier on the size charts you probably have better odds than most picking up something that is left over from last year. Well worth a look, and of you can hold off til October things should get better still on that front.

7. If you choose option 4, and can wait til August, AND you promise to stay silent and just listen, I would be willing to build it for you and show you how it's done. Those terms are non-negotiable though.

dhope

Edit: Scratch what's below, I was recommending compact frames.


I know you said not over budget but maybe a little over and you can stretch to SRAM Red?

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/YBC ... k_with_red

Or SRAM Rival, with £500 left over to buy a pair of wheels
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/YBC ... _small_red
http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/Products/Pr ... ll/#page-1
Maybe that wheelset for £630 and you've then got the stock wheels as spares (or to sell to make back the extra £130 over budget)

daviesee

woodnut wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

The genesis equilibrium is a very nice bike, the top of the range 20 comes in £200 under budget....

Very true but

Rick Chasey wrote:

My concern re-steel is the weight.

but... I don't think you should be, they ain't heavy

Yeah, but

Rick Chasey wrote:

So things that I am more concerned about: Weight, ride, frame shape (don't want a compact frame. No good reason other than I think it looks w@nk)

Things I am less concerned about (within reason): stiffness (as a spinny 55kg chap, I barely notice any of this stuff).

Most carbon frames at that price are compact.
I am happy to make the weight sacrifice. Rick may not be able to lose weight but I could lose 4kg easy. How much would that cost in bike terms? It all comes down to personal choice.