Where to start the search for a £1500 bike...

ai_1

charliew87 wrote:

Christ this is difficult. 95% sure I want the Focus, but can’t get the thought of a slightly lighter Canyon frame out my head, or a slightly cheaper Rose, or maybe a Ribble, or maybe a Giant.

There should be a formula out there to make decisions about buying a new bike rather than leave easily influence people like me to attempt to make the right decision about it!

It's not easy. I was going to buy a new bike last spring but put it off a year and have been mulling over what to get for months. The data and reviews I read were of little help but did occupy many hours. Spending a lot of time browsing also has the big danger that you tend to let your budget creep up!
The problem is there are a lot of good bikes available and relatively little concrete data to help you make a decision. What'll be the best fit - hard to be sure until you've spend hours in the saddle which you can't do until you buy. Even a short test ride is only practical for a few candidates and that's if they're stocked locally in the right size. Do you want comfort, aerodynamics, stiffness..... even if you know what characteristics you want to prioritise it's almost impossible to use that to make a choice since manufacturers tell you their bikes do everything well, reviewers regularly contradict each other and owners will nearly always tell you the bike they bought is the best.

The good news is that there don't seem to be many bad bikes around at the sort of money you're spending. So, even if you can't figure out the "best" bike for you, you're unlikely to buy a bad one.

Fit is probably the single most important thing to get right. If you're not sure about this it might be safest to go with a local shop. Alternatively you could buy from the likes of Canyon using their fit tools and others like this one: http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp#results
Then once the bike arrives get a bike fit. In the unlikely case there's a significant problem with the fit you can return the bike (28 day return on Canyon IIRC).

In truth I think a lot of bike choices are made mostly because of the appearance or brand name.

charliew87

Bloody hell.

Having written off Aluminium bikes, I’ve just come across the Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0 which seems to weigh less than most carbon bikes and come with absolutely top notch components (£500 mavic wheels, Ultegra…) for under £1500. And it’s in stock and should be delivered in a couple of weeks….May get the tape measure out for it.

Also found loads of 5* reviews online which is handy.

dwanes

^^ Buy it ^^

charliew87

dwanes wrote:

^^ Buy it ^^

elaborate?

ex-pat scot

+1 on the Swift bikes guys. I've recently started using them and very impressed indeed. Support them!

ai_1

charliew87 wrote:

Bloody hell.

Having written off Aluminium bikes, I’ve just come across the Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0 which seems to weigh less than most carbon bikes and come with absolutely top notch components (£500 mavic wheels, Ultegra…) for under £1500. And it’s in stock and should be delivered in a couple of weeks….May get the tape measure out for it.

Also found loads of 5* reviews online which is handy.

Never seen a bad comment about this bike. It's been around a few years with only minor modifications. If I'm not mistaken Philip Gilbert and others in the Omega Pharma team rode this frame in preference to the carbon alternatives in many races 3 years ago. Search for reviews on BikeRadar and elsewhere.
I'd suggest using the PPS (perfect positioning system) on the Canyon website for an indication of the size to get and submit the dimensions with your order. The PPS seems to size the bike entirely based on your inseam but they review your dimensions when you order and will suggest any mods they think appropriate. You could use the fit calculator on Competitive Cyclist (link in my last post) to double check.

dwanes

charliew87 wrote:

dwanes wrote:

^^ Buy it ^^

elaborate?

Its such good value, and don't worry about the carbon vs aluminium thing.

charliew87

Just bit the bullet and gone for the Canyon alu 9.0

Bang on budget
Ultegra
Looks awesome
£500 wheels
Top reviews

If it's completely wrong their returns policy looks spot on but this seems to tick every box I had and I'm saving £100 on the cayo evo 3.0 which I'll put towards a bg/retul fit to make sure it's bang-on.

Can't wait for it to turn up. Should be less than 10 days apparently.

dwanes

Good job. Keep us up to date with it and make sure you post some photos when it is set up.

prhymeate

charliew87 wrote:

Just bit the bullet and gone for the Canyon alu 9.0

Nice buy. I've been looking at bikes as I plan to buy around the same price range in the summer. The 9.0 is definitely top of the list so I'll be interested to see what you think of it. My only very very small aesthetic gripe on the red/black version, is the colour of the forks and how they suddenly turn grey rather than fade from black. That's probably just the graphic designer in me and I'll have to get over it! The headset with the hole looks a bit different too but apparently there is a cap for that?

rickeverett

I would take a ROSE Alu...

lighter, slightly cheaper, customisation options, and smooth welds.
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-xe ... tchanged=1

sloppyschleckonds

The Canyon is a superior frame. Almost as good as the CAAD 10.

charliew87

Da-da. Turned up yesterday after a bit of fun with UPS.

Pretty unimpressed with UPS and, surprisingly, Canyon – after hearing many good reports.

UPS told me they couldn’t deliver the bike as nobody was at home. I rang them and said I’d collect from the Croydon depot. An hour later they then confirmed it was at the Croydon depot, as I was on my way there my neighbour texted to say they had signed for it a couple of hours previously!!

Canyon failed to include some things in the box so can’t even use the bike. Hoping they refund at least the delivery.

neilvx

looks great apart from the rear wheel chain guard

smidsy

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

The Canyon is a superior frame. Almost as good as the CAAD 10.

So he should have bought a CAAD 10 then

charliew87

Also got a retul fit booked for sat morning to get it properly dialled in before sportive season starts on feb 16th.