Newbie needs help!

reme-luke

Hi all I've taken up road riding and have done quite a few miles in the past month. I bought a Carrera Zelos from Halfords just to see if I enjoyed the rides and I do I'm hooked! but the bike is sooooo heavy and the brakes are crap!

So to that end I've decided its time to splash out a little and upgrade to a new bike....after spending a week now constantly trawling bike shops and the internet I'm completely confused as to what to go for!
My budget is cira £1800 I'm edging towards a Ribble Sportive Bianco, it seems you can get quite a bit of bike for the money, but would it be better to go for something like a Cannondale supersix 105.
I'm a tight Yorkshire man and don't want to be wasting my money!

All help and suggestions are welcome!

Thanks all.

turnerjohn

take a look at cycling plus (bikeradar) bike of the year... Giant Defy got it this year...have a look and compare. Depends a lot on the type of riding your doing / wanting to do.....

reme-luke

I'm looking towards doing Sportives, quite a lot of the routes I do have a fair amount of climbing involved so something lightweight??

focuz

Planet x have amazing spec bikes for the money, i have a sram force/red rt58 for 1500 and just over 7kg with stock wheels

hipshot

I've no experience of the bikes you mention, but whatever you buy in that price range is going to be a quality ride , the difference between bikes at that level is really very slight despite what the cycling press/industry promote. Maybe join a club and ask around or take some test rides.

Getting a good professional bike fit is far more critical than any frame or component variables anyway.

Foulplay

Hi,

This sounds a very familiar predicament! The obvious answer to your question is, as already pointed out, what kind of riding are you planning to be using the new bike for? Long distance sportives, time trialling, racing, etc...

Your choice of bike will be influenced by this and any decent bike shop should have this discussion with you, and of course should expect you to ask them for that very advice.

Perhaps the main thing to consider is if you've really caught the bug, then the spending doesn't stop here; you'll want to keep adding and upgrading etc. With that in mind, you're best advised to buy a bike with the best frame you can afford. Shortly thereafter, you'll be browsing the Internet for some decent wheels, and then in the months that follow, pedals, saddle, even groupset upgrades may tempt you.

Best of luck!

garethjohn

That's a lot of bike, hope you're legs are up to it. Don't get too caught up in the review nonsense which pretty much tries to sell every bike ever made and mwybe get down your lbs and get some sound advice. I'd personally grab a bargain ride from the forum and splash the extra on wheels. 1800 will get a lot of bike, seriously.