Hivemind needed....

woodnut

:? "I want a bike that does this, this and this and I've got £1500....it should be easy!...
Rick is a fiend, he's set some tough conditions. Rick the riddler.

rjsterry

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.

I think the benefits of a good steel frame outweigh any weight penalty unless you are going to be riding Alp after Alp, and are really concerned over your times.*

*Speaking as someone who rides a heavyish and rather basic (4130 cromoly) steel frame.

Oh, and Planet-X always seem to have a few nice looking Italian steel frames kicking around at very reasonable prices. The weight difference between this and one of their own-brand carbon frames is less than a kilo, or, less than two full water bottles.

Anonymous

cube agree gtc.

rick_chasey

Greg66 wrote:

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 ars*. 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.

1) You're right.

2) Anyone with experience of them?

3) I kinda want a new frame

4) Will bear that in mind.

5) I haven't. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to buying. I've seen all the cycling + reviews that rate the Giant defy, Cannondale CAAs & Super 6 and boardman. That's about it.

6) Will def look into that.

7) - Appreciated but I don't think I can wait that long :P.

---

Cheers guys, getting little over-excited about all this

Seem to be a lot of bikes I'd ostensibly say yes to! The dolan looks shweet, I've always liked the idea of the cubes, and that Cannodale super 6 is a bargain, and rjs might be on to something with that steel frame...

Might come a point where I have to sit on one of these. Any bike shops that you'd guys recommend?

dhope

Rick Chasey wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

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

2) Anyone with experience of them?

Got one a couple of years ago when they were a grand with Rival groupset. Great bike and if/when I get a new best bike the Boardman will be kept as one for commuting and club rides. Picked up some Fulcrum 1's from IP recently and they make a difference too.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Have a hunt round some of the European outlets. I've used these guys before, and apart from having the usual Dutch customer service skills, and wanting to be paid by bank transfer, they are pretty good and have some keen prices. This looks quite good value.
http://www.salden.nl/default.asp?pid=53 ... catid=2930

ETA : I recently acquired a copy of C+ for finishing a sportive. Go me. It has their bikes of the year. The top 5 were
Canyon Ultimate Al 9.0
Cube Agree GTC Race
Focus Izalco Pro 3.0
Giant TCR Advanced 3
Trek Madone 3.5.

Focus won.

All a bit over budget, but shopping around might get you in budget.

Ridley was represented by the Orion Team, Willier the Izoard XP 105, Felt the F5, Boardman the Team Carbon. Nothing from Kuota or Argon18 or De Rosa in the test

EATA: and here's the test

iPete

This thread has made me want a black CAAD10 dura ace ace frame set, fortunately they only sell them as whole bikes!

Think it would be my perfect all year bike when I hang up the Allez [literally on my wall ]

Libraio

Greg66 wrote:

and apart from having the usual Dutch customer service skills, and wanting to be paid by bank transfer, they are pretty good and have some keen prices

Greg, please note that Salden is NOT typical for Dutch customer service, the only reason Dutch people buy from them is 'cause they're cheap. Service is something they've never ever heard of.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Libraio wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

and apart from having the usual Dutch customer service skills, and wanting to be paid by bank transfer, they are pretty good and have some keen prices

Greg, please note that Salden is NOT typical for Dutch customer service, the only reason Dutch people buy from them is 'cause they're cheap. Service is something they've never ever heard of.

Ok - fair enough!

I said that because both I and Mrs 66 have separate experience of a, umm, very "direct" Dutch approach in business.

spasypaddy

ok so you buy this:
105 for under £400
some of these:
fulcrum racing 5s for £160

that leaves you with £940 to buy a frame and some finishing kit.

rick_chasey

Greg66 wrote:

Libraio wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

and apart from having the usual Dutch customer service skills, and wanting to be paid by bank transfer, they are pretty good and have some keen prices

Greg, please note that Salden is NOT typical for Dutch customer service, the only reason Dutch people buy from them is 'cause they're cheap. Service is something they've never ever heard of.

Ok - fair enough!

I said that because both I and Mrs 66 have separate experience of a, umm, very "direct" Dutch approach in business.

il_principe

I'd look at Dolan or Focus. Both offer great value for money. Sigma in Hampton Wick sell Focus bikes and will sort you properly re fitting etc. Pretty handy for Fulham.

Having said all that, you're a young bloke with what I have to assume is a reasonably wel paid job and no responsibilities. Up the budget to £2k or so and you have much more room to manouvere in terms of wheels & gruppo. At £1500 just make sure most of the money goes on the frame, then you can upgrade the rest when some nice commission comes in...

daviesee

Here is a completely different option.
In your price range and if I was looking from scratch I would be very tempted......

http://www.grupettoitalia.co.uk/bikes-g ... ggiore.php

SimonAH

That Maggiore Pista is pant wettingly lovely.

rjsterry

SimonAH wrote:

That Maggiore Pista is pant wettingly lovely.

As is its sister the Corsa, and for £1350? There must be a catch.

greg66_tri_v2.0

rjsterry wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

That Maggiore Pista is pant wettingly lovely.

As is its sister the Corsa, and for £1350? There must be a catch.

Well, were I to be reluctantly cast as the voice of doom, I would say that they look flexy as hell. I'd rather ride a frame made of pipecleaners.

Old cars look pretty. Modern cars go fast. Harsh but true.

daviesee

rjsterry wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

That Maggiore Pista is pant wettingly lovely.

As is its sister the Corsa, and for £1350? There must be a catch.

Picture for a top end build, price of a bottom end build?
Comparable price with Equilibrium 20?

Greg66 wrote:

Old cars look pretty. Modern cars go fast. Harsh but true.

Doesn't that rather depend on the engine? Harsh but true?

dhope

This could be for you Rick, if you can find a way to suspend a saddle from the top tube then it might fit.
Bargain

rick_chasey

Il Principe wrote:

I'd look at Dolan or Focus. Both offer great value for money. Sigma in Hampton Wick sell Focus bikes and will sort you properly re fitting etc. Pretty handy for Fulham.

Took your advice and made my way down to sigma yesterday.

I spent the first 20 minutes like this:

:shock:


Then, once I got over that, I got some service. Going in next week to try out the Focus Cayo for a couple of hours.

I was going to go round some other shops to try a few others but the whether was horrific and it was late in the day anyway. Shall try and arrange some more tests at other shops for the same day for some comparisons.

Edit: Out of interest, how many of you actually rode your bike for a bit before you bought it?

daviesee

Rick Chasey wrote:

Edit: Out of interest, how many of you actually rode your bike for a bit before you bought it?

Zero.
Things are improving but test rides used to be impossible here.

iPete

Rick Chasey wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

I'd look at Dolan or Focus. Both offer great value for money. Sigma in Hampton Wick sell Focus bikes and will sort you properly re fitting etc. Pretty handy for Fulham.

Edit: Out of interest, how many of you actually rode your bike for a bit before you bought it?

About half a mile but I didn't have a clue. That was three years ago so must have made a good choice!

dhope

Rick Chasey wrote:

Edit: Out of interest, how many of you actually rode your bike for a bit before you bought it?

Nope, wouldn't have known what to look for.
Just turned up with a shiny C2W voucher and swallowed whatever lines the Halfords man fed me. Actually, I did a lot of reading around on tinterwebs to make sure that the Boardman was well regarded, but then just trusted the experts (when I thought Halfords might be regarded as experts )

Next time around I'll do more, but then the next bike will probably need to be about £3k to make it a worthy upgrade.

SimonAH

Rick Chasey wrote:

Edit: Out of interest, how many of you actually rode your bike for a bit before you bought it?

Twenty minutes on the District when I bought it (but very green at the time, explains why I subsequently spent so much time and effort morphing it into today's machine) and none on the CAADX - relied on the reviews and a lot of careful body measurement and calculations as it was bought on the Cyclescheme and came mail order from Evans.

rjsterry

Greg66 wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

That Maggiore Pista is pant wettingly lovely.

As is its sister the Corsa, and for £1350? There must be a catch.

Well, were I to be reluctantly cast as the voice of doom, I would say that they look flexy as hell. I'd rather ride a frame made of pipecleaners.

Old cars look pretty. Modern cars go fast. Harsh but true.

Well, we were talking about looks

@daviesee: I suspected as much.

spasypaddy

Look was not even seen in the flesh before buying. first i saw of it was when the frame came out the box...
Planet X was bought off the net before anyone else had really heard of them
CX was test ridden 100 yards
Fixie was custom build so was first ridden when it was built
Cannondale CAAD5 was test ridden about 500 yards as it was my first road bike

greg66_tri_v2.0

daviesee wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Old cars look pretty. Modern cars go fast. Harsh but true.

Doesn't that rather depend on the engine? Harsh but true?

Once the twisties kick in, the suspension, the chassis, the brakes, the tyres, the etc etc ...

stuj15

Rick Chasey wrote:

Edit: Out of interest, how many of you actually rode your bike for a bit before you bought it?

GTC Race @ Cycle Surgery I was out for initially 10 mins and went back and adjusted saddle for more reach as I felt a bit cramped up. Then went out for another 20 minutes. Didn't want to go back.

notsoblue

Rick Chasey wrote:

Edit: Out of interest, how many of you actually rode your bike for a bit before you bought it?

I didn't, bought the Planet X mailorder. Its a compact frame though so I guess theres a bit more margin for adjustment. Turned out well though, its a good fit.

mattwood

http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do? ... ce%20Bikes

It's £100 over your budget - but haggle it down to £1500

The frame is sterling! Mine is white with full SRAM/Zipp kit and is amazing! Shame mine is currently awaiting crash repairs though

rick_chasey

mattwood wrote:

http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do?method=view&n=3276&g=259506&p=259508&c=215&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Base&utm_campaign=Clearance Bikes

It's £100 over your budget - but haggle it down to £1500

The frame is sterling! Mine is white with full SRAM/Zipp kit and is amazing! Shame mine is currently awaiting crash repairs though

What's the ride like?