New bikes

wishfulthinker

Looking for some advice on a first road bike. I have £500-£1000 to spend. My wife will be happier if it is closer to £500, £1000 will take some work.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mywishlist/?wis ... fE30887236

I have a few ideas but I don't really understand the different componentry well enough to decide what to consider. I have been advised that due to the cycle to work scheme there is alot of competition around the £1000 mark and it is worth shopping at this level.

Am I better looking at a low level carbon frame or are they poor quality at this price. I am aware that often cheaper high end modern materials can be a poor choice next to better low end older materials.

GuyWhitlock1993

Hi,

I was going to get myself a Felt F85, until the day it came to ordering and Wiggle discontinued it temporarily. I have however, ordered a lovely Z85 (should be coming today hopefully!) and from what I've heard it's quite a good entry level bike, with a slight more comfort as the geometry gives a slightly more upright position as opposed to the aggressive geo of the F85. To me personally anything over 600 odd for a beginner seems a bit pointless unless you are made of money because of all the other gear that needs to be bought alongside it. I know I'm not very helpful (being in a similar position), but I just thought I'd give my two cents. Good luck in making your decision.

simon_masterson

The chap who posted above me is right on the money: there's plenty of other stuff you have to buy (look for the other threads on this subject we've had recently!), and you don't NEED more than about £300 of bike.

If you buy with a view to selling and upgrading, you're better off buying cheap (you'll make a loss when you sell and the bike won't be £200-400 better), and if you buy intending to upgrade the componentry, it's a bit pointless buying a bike that isn't worth upgrading. So essentially that puts you in the £300-700 bracket.

The componentry is also not all that important; if you are referring to transmission, anyway. There are some advantages to opting for a 10 speed as it gives you more upgrade opportunities, but Sora is more than adequate. Lots of beginners fret endlessly about which groupset will be good enough, which is amusing to those of us with some perspective; the bicycle transmission is very basic, having barely changed in decades and being largely based on primitive brute-force contraptions (derailleurs). The premium in cycling is mainly in lightness.

So to be honest, I think you'd be better off telling us what kind of cycling you want to do, as that will influence your choice. If you have ambitions of entering road race events, you may be better off with a different bike than if you are only interested in weekend rides and sportive events, or commuting. Road racing bikes tend to have very aggressive geometry that allows for a very low position; not strictly necessary for the latter category.

I thoroughly recommend that you try before you buy, though.

wishfulthinker

At the moment I am hoping to do 50-80 mile rides, weekend and evening stuff. I have a slight back problem which I hope won't be an issue. What I would like is a comfortable, light bike that is upgradable should it be necessary. Comfort is improtant as I hope to do some longish rides and I want it to be a pleasure.

simon_masterson

In that case, of those I would get the Z95.

The spec looks good. There's nothing on there that you will definitely need to 'upgrade'. You may want to change the saddle if you don't get on with the stock one, but that's not really an 'upgrade' in my book. Changing stems and handlebars can alter your riding position and comfort (i.e. the position that that bike will give you looks quite high, but you could make it higher still), but again, that's not exactly an indulgence. You could get some new wheels at some point but I wouldn't bother spending a lot of money on them.

There are things (mainly the parts that are under the most stress) that aren't considered 'consumables' that may wear out, break or diminish in performance within the service life of the bike - cranks, derailleurs, handlebars, pedals, freewheel components, headsets, entire wheels, etc - but the ones on there should be fine.