new road bike £1000 on cycle to work scheme

Chipper71

Hi , im pretty new to road cycling ( bought a carrera TDF last year) and am now looking to upgrade as i want to let my son use this bike so i can get him off his X Box.Have a voucher from cycle to work scheme for £1000 and looking for the best bike for my money . Im not tied to Halfords as i can source through independents ( bike tree sheffield, supreme cycles doncaster etc), although looking at the spec the boardman road team bike this seems like good value at £999. im 41 short censored and def carrying a few to many pounds and looking for general fitness and maybe when fit enough some group riding . I want a comfortable ride nothing too sporty . Any ideas/advice would be appreciated .Currently doing 3 x 15-20 miles through week with a 30-40 miler at weekend .

Camcycle1974

Giant Defy 1. Widely touted as the best riding sub £1000 bike available. Perfect for comfortable all day riding.

Chipper71

Thanks for that , compiled a bit of a list and that was on it . Cheers

passout

Ribble Sportive or a Cannondale maybe?

Chipper71

had a look at a trek madone 2.1 2013 £1000. def liked the look of it . Spec seemed good with 105 . £300 more for full carbon is it worth it at my level , ie will i get any benefit out of slight difference in weight for the price.

Chipper71

confused.com

RubbishCyclist

Chipper71 wrote:

confused.com

I was in the same boat mate, you can go round and round in circles reading endless reviews.....buy the one that feels the best and looks the best........make sure you ride whatever you buy first and ride a few to get a good comparison. Try and get Shimano 105 groupset if you can it is great and all you will ever need

oxoman

Chipper plus one for confused was gong for Forme longcliffe then trek domane, Giant Defy 1, Cube peloton something or other, current choice Ribble sportive specced with ultegra subject to fit.

adz999

I'm a 40 year old shortarse rugby player (100kg), got the ribble evo pro carbon before Christmas on cycle to work and have found it a comfier ride than the boardman comp mtb I was riding.

drjs83

I'd stick to the big names like Trek, Giant, Canondale and Specialized etc. One thing I'd be careful about is bikes that are all show and no substance. Some companies will take the frame from a £500 bike throw a bit of 105 or Ultegra on it from a £1500 bike and try and say you are getting a £1500 bike for £1000.

I would rather buy a Specialized Allez with a full Tiagra Groupset than a Cube that has an Ultegra rear derailleur as a bit of bling but uses cheaper cranks, cheaper brakes and 105 leavers to offset the cost. The frame is the most important part of the bike, then wheels.

As for carbon the same applies. The new Specialized Tarmac starts at £1200 and comes with a Sora groupset. But thanks to their policy of demoting their carbon frame technology, you get a frame that would have cost £2500 on its own a few years ago.

slowandsteady

Cannondale Synapse.

mallott

First of all, don't get too hung up on the 'reviews' especially on here. Many are contradictory and those in the trade know there is a direct correlation between the amount a company spends on advertising, and the test results of the bikes put in for test.

Visit your LBS, don't be a sheep and buy the same thing as everyone else. I had a Giant a few years back, i thought it was hideous, but that was my opinion.

I can recommend a few out there options you may not have considered, Cinelli Experience, top notch ally frame, campag veloce components cracking ride, italian style, you will not mind upgrading this frame, i've seen one with Campag record on.
Ghost race 4900, very good frame, light overall build, good all round components.
Merida race lite 94, superb value, lots of cutting edge tech, FULL carbon fork.
Scott sportster 20, again a good all rounder, very good value from one of the big players.