Bought my new bike today

Philinmerthyr

After a few week asking questions on here and searching the LBS in the area I have eventually bought my road bike. Each shop was great letting me have decent test rides and putting up with my changes of mind in the models and size.

One thing learned is don't just rely on your height for deciding on the bike size. It turns out that I have short legs and a long body so the medium became a large which felt much more relaxed.

I also set my mind on a triple but on testing opted for a compact. The other dilemma was the trade off of frame against components. The choices were an aluminium or carbon frame with Sora/tiagra/105 groupset.

In the end I went for a Specialized Roubaix 2012. It's a sora compact groupset but with a carbon frame. It a really comfortable ride, a wide range of gears and the best frame I could afford with potential to upgrade when I have had good use out of the original components.

I'm picking the bike up on Friday and looking forward to the difference in ride from the Orange Crush mountain bike that I've been riding.

charlie_potatoes

Nice one Phil.
So we will be reading about your improved times very soon then