Hivemind needed....

dhope

Rick Chasey wrote:

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?

I can't imagine that was ever worth £2600 though. It seems on a par with Boardman and PX spec for a similar price. Not to say it's not worth it but it doesn't seem the bargain that the 40% off suggests.

spasypaddy

i really wouldnt recommend argon 18 or BMC to the casual cyclist. they are both out and out race bikes. incredibly stiff and will beat you up.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Rick Chasey wrote:

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

Pre-Cervelo bikes: with one exception, not at all. The exception was a Giant OCR I bought in Canada. They only had a M in the shop, which is probably 1/2 a size too small. I took it out for a test ride: first corner, I turned the bars but the front wheel didn't follow. Back to the shop to have the rear stem bolts tightened. Second go: handlebars dropped within 200m. Back to the shop to have the front stem bolts tightened. Working out how the ride felt was pretty secondary to staying alive. A few weeks later the chain was jumping all over the place at the front. I thought it need reindexing after the cables had done their initial stretch. Got home to find only 2 bolts left on the chainring spider, both of which were well on their way to escaping. Found a new bike shop after that.

First Cervelo: not at all. I checked the geometry against what I had, worked out how and where to tweak the fit, and went on a couple of recommendations from friends about the ride/stiffness. Subsequent Cervelos shared the same geo, so no issues there.

I made one big error when my R2.5 was recalled. I went for the carbon Soloist (the precursor of the S2) and got one of the early models. It was far too stiff for me - almost zero vertical compliance. Sold it for Bike 2 which has an infinitely better ride.

mattwood

Rick Chasey wrote:

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?

The ride is surprisingly comforable (for me at least). As people have said it is a race bike by nature, but I really can't fault it. The way the farme is set up, according to the sales blurb, is to offer maximum stiffness/performance whilst trying to maximise the comfort. I haven't ridden mine enough to offer an in-depth ride report, sadly, but if you can get on with a slightly more aggrassive riding position then it's certainly worth a ride. The frames themselves are going at £700 a piece, so you could probably build your own up for £1500 to a similar/better spec?

As to the nay-sayers, have you ridden one of these? I'm sure people (especially RC) may wish to benefit from your experience?

The spec on that one isn't amazing tbh - but compared to the boardman team carbon, I'd have the argon all day long. The frame is most of the RRP as the frames retail at about £1200 (RRP) and if I were to tot mine up based on RRP values (SRAM Rival/S950 chainset/Zipp stem, handlebars, bottle cage/SRAM S30 AL Sprints/Ultremo R1 tyres and probably a few little bits I've not though of re: finishing kit) then I reckon mine would come in at a little over £3000. Not that any of the bits retail at the full RRP most of the time!

mattwood

By the way - I dont mean to sound like a knob in the above - but i typed that out pretty quickly before running to the vending machine for a bar-o-chocolate!

rick_chasey

mattwood wrote:

By the way - I dont mean to sound like a knob in the above - but i typed that out pretty quickly before running to the vending machine for a bar-o-chocolate!

S'alright. Sound like less of a knob than I do :P.

Wheelspinner

spasypaddy wrote:

i really wouldnt recommend argon 18 or BMC to the casual cyclist. they are both out and out race bikes. incredibly stiff and will beat you up.

Oooh, harsh on Rick....

What about Colnago Ace? Wiggle have the 2011 models discounted to 1680 GBP, which means you might get better deals elsewhere too.


http://www.wiggle.co.uk/colnago-ace-105-2011/

rick_chasey

Wheelspinner wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

i really wouldnt recommend argon 18 or BMC to the casual cyclist. they are both out and out race bikes. incredibly stiff and will beat you up.

Oooh, harsh on Rick....

What about Colnago Ace? Wiggle have the 2011 models discounted to 1680 GBP, which means you might get better deals elsewhere too.


http://www.wiggle.co.uk/colnago-ace-105-2011/

Not a bad shout, but can't find it cheaper anywhere else.

Seen an Eddy Merckx EMX-1 Veloce for £1500...

Wheelspinner

Hmmm.. what is the England financial year end date? June 30? (Ours is..)

Wait a week or so, find one in stock somewhere, and start haggling with the salesman that you *may* buy it before the end of financial year.. they are usually much more likely to sharpen the deal at the end of the month, or especially at the end of the fiscal year when they need to move stock urgently.

rick_chasey

Wheelspinner wrote:

Hmmm.. what is the England financial year end date? June 30? (Ours is..)

Wait a week or so, find one in stock somewhere, and start haggling with the salesman that you *may* buy it before the end of financial year.. they are usually much more likely to sharpen the deal at the end of the month, or especially at the end of the fiscal year when they need to move stock urgently.

End of March I believe...

spasypaddy

Wheelspinner wrote:

Hmmm.. what is the England financial year end date? June 30? (Ours is..)

Wait a week or so, find one in stock somewhere, and start haggling with the salesman that you *may* buy it before the end of financial year.. they are usually much more likely to sharpen the deal at the end of the month, or especially at the end of the fiscal year when they need to move stock urgently.

there is no set end of year. it depends on the company and when it was incorporated.

Rick, i wasn't meant to come across as harsh/condescending but you wanted something with a comfort ride (whilst still being relatively stiff) from what i understand. The argon is not that bike.

rick_chasey

spasypaddy wrote:

Wheelspinner wrote:

Hmmm.. what is the England financial year end date? June 30? (Ours is..)

Wait a week or so, find one in stock somewhere, and start haggling with the salesman that you *may* buy it before the end of financial year.. they are usually much more likely to sharpen the deal at the end of the month, or especially at the end of the fiscal year when they need to move stock urgently.

there is no set end of year. it depends on the company and when it was incorporated.

Rick, i wasn't meant to come across as harsh/condescending but you wanted something with a comfort ride (whilst still being relatively stiff) from what i understand. The argon is not that bike.

You didn't.

Maybe I should be more specific - I want a bike that will be planted. The current bike I ride literally bounces me off the saddle over the merest of bumps.

spasypaddy

excellent, did you see my two previous links? to a cheap 105 groupset and some decent but cheap wheels?

rick_chasey

spasypaddy wrote:

excellent, did you see my two previous links? to a cheap 105 groupset and some decent but cheap wheels?

I did...


Quick question. Shimano or SRAM?

Can't do Campagnolo since I already ride shimano.

spasypaddy

shimano.

stick with what you know and currently use.

your hands are used to shimano shaped hoods and the way they shift. 3 of my 4 bikes run shimano gearing and my fixie has shimano shaped brake levers. my hands just cant get on with any of the other shapes

rick_chasey

spasypaddy wrote:

shimano.

stick with what you know and currently use.

your hands are used to shimano shaped hoods and the way they shift. 3 of my 4 bikes run shimano gearing and my fixie has shimano shaped brake levers. my hands just cant get on with any of the other shapes

Yeah, but it's shimano tiagra/sora from 7 years ago. I doubt they're any more similar to current shimano than they are to SRAM, save for the double tap - even then, I have a little button for the inside thumb to shift down a cog/sprocket, rather than the duel lever settup better shimano hoods have now.

cyclingprop

Greg66 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

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

Pre-Cervelo bikes: with one exception, not at all. The exception was a Giant OCR I bought in Canada. They only had a M in the shop, which is probably 1/2 a size too small. I took it out for a test ride: first corner, I turned the bars but the front wheel didn't follow. Back to the shop to have the rear stem bolts tightened. Second go: handlebars dropped within 200m. Back to the shop to have the front stem bolts tightened. Working out how the ride felt was pretty secondary to staying alive. A few weeks later the chain was jumping all over the place at the front. I thought it need reindexing after the cables had done their initial stretch. Got home to find only 2 bolts left on the chainring spider, both of which were well on their way to escaping. Found a new bike shop after that.

First Cervelo: not at all. I checked the geometry against what I had, worked out how and where to tweak the fit, and went on a couple of recommendations from friends about the ride/stiffness. Subsequent Cervelos shared the same geo, so no issues there.

I made one big error when my R2.5 was recalled. I went for the carbon Soloist (the precursor of the S2) and got one of the early models. It was far too stiff for me - almost zero vertical compliance. Sold it for Bike 2 which has an infinitely better ride.

I've tested before buying most; though only briefly outside the shop. Fortunately no major incidents like Greg's - the only one of interest was a loud clicking noise coming from the stem/headset which turned out to be because I was putting FAR more force through it than the tech could. I view that as an achievement but it is probably size related.

Regarding stiffness I find my carbon trek much more comfortable because it is way more stiff than the alu. but then I would. You may find a smaller* frame proportionally more stiff owing to less leverage in the frame. But I don't know much about building bikes so could be talking guff.

Sizewise the carbon is a good fit, being a bit smaller than the alu bike (it turns out 64 is larger than i really needed, despite the advice at the time), and based on a bike fit however both have componentry sized appropriately now.

il_principe

Rick Chasey wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

excellent, did you see my two previous links? to a cheap 105 groupset and some decent but cheap wheels?

I did...


Quick question. Shimano or SRAM?

Can't do Campagnolo because I have no taste.

FTFY

rick_chasey

Il Principe wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

excellent, did you see my two previous links? to a cheap 105 groupset and some decent but cheap wheels?

I did...


Quick question. Shimano or SRAM?

Can't do Campagnolo because I have no taste.

FTFY

I'd like Campag, but I'm intensely allergic to cycling kit faff - hence my lack of knowledge on this subject.

Getting a campag bike would increase cycling kit faff.

spasypaddy

Il Principe wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

excellent, did you see my two previous links? to a cheap 105 groupset and some decent but cheap wheels?

I did...


Quick question. Shimano or SRAM?

Can't do Campagnolo because I am not made of money

FTFY

and FTFY again


Rick, then go into a shop and try them both, see which you prefer. if you want some impartial advice and want to test ride some bikes them drop me a PM and i can help you out

daviesee

Greg66 wrote:

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

Meh.
I could swap bikes with Cadel. Who would win?
This is the commuting section and at this level the bike doesn't count half as much as we would like to believe.

Geometry and design will contribute to handling and comfort but I would think anyone could ride my skinny old bike design quickly.

notsoblue

Rick Chasey wrote:

Quick question. Shimano or SRAM?

SRAM seems to be the best value. Also, Doubletap is so much more graceful than the other systems. In my humble opinion of course :P

keyser__soze

Go with SRAM (Rival's perfectly good enough) and if you don't like it you can always swap it for my nearly-new 105

rick_chasey

Keyser__Soze wrote:

Go with SRAM (Rival's perfectly good enough) and if you don't like it you can always swap it for my nearly-new 105

Hmmm.. If you can arrange for them to be swapped / attached onto my bike I'd say deal :P.

rick_chasey

I'm beginning to be increasingly tempted by that £1500 Merckx - looks like I've narrowed it down to 4.

1 - Focus Cayo
2 - cube agree GTC
3 - Merckx EMX 1
4 - That Colnago air (if I can get it for £1500ish..)

keyser__soze

I presume you'd need a 52? Shame, as these ride very nicely indeed

http://www.slanecycles.com/scott-addict ... livery=222

rick_chasey

Keyser__Soze wrote:

I presume you'd need a 52? Shame, as these ride very nicely indeed

http://www.slanecycles.com/scott-addict ... livery=222

Depends what kind of 54 that is - can't find and geometry info anywhere.

keyser__soze

Your google-fu is weak young man: http://www.evanscycles.com/product_docu ... y-data.pdf

rick_chasey

Keyser__Soze wrote:

Your google-fu is weak young man: http://www.evanscycles.com/product_docu ... y-data.pdf

52 it is.

Could stretch, literally, a 54, but I'd have to get a miniature stem (like I have on my spesh) and it'd look weird.

52 is better :P.

keyser__soze

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/outlet/articl ... =AS1002920