Entry Level Bike Advice

Greenan

Hello,

I am looking to get an entry level road bike through our cycle to work scheme. My budget is around £700 although I know I will have to spend a bit more on accessories. I do quite a bit of spinning but have never used a road bike before. I have had a look around some of the local bike stores that do the cycle to work scheme and have seen some bikes that I like. If anyone has any advice to help me select a bike it would be greatly appreciated. I am looking for a bike with a sportive frame geometry rather than a race frame geometry as I feel that will suit me better. I will be using my bike 2 or 3 times a week and aim to build myself up to doing around 40 or 50 mile on the weekends. My priority is a comfortable reliable bike that gets me the best possible spec for the money. The bikes I am considering are below:

Giant Defy 2 - £800 - would be above my price range but the store does a £80 free accessories with this bike so I'm effectively getting bike for 720

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bik ... ifications

Merida Ride Lite 91 - £700

http://merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/2013 ... de+Lite+91

Merida Ride Lite 93 - £850 - above my budget but is the upgrade from sora components worth the extra money?

Cannondale Synapse Sora - £750 - slightly above budget

http://www.cannondale.com/2013/bikes/ro ... e-crankset

Any advice would be appreciated or feel free to make any alternative recommendations - the local shops on the cycle to work scheme also do Trek, Cannondale and Specialized bikes. I will be getting the selected bike properly fitted for me before I buy it.

night_porter

If you want the best possible spec for the money then the Giant wins hands down.

Normally I would tell someone in your position to test ride all of them and see which one feels best but given that I have a Giant Defy and there are so many good reviews about it I am confident that anyone can get a comfortable fit with the Defy.

It is the best bike of the 4 and offers the best equipment and value too.

supermurph09

Not sure where you live but have a look at Planet X.

cadseen

The cyclestore are doing the defy for £799 with it says a £180 accessorie bundle.

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDeta ... goryID=960

BreizhinGB

Ash Cycles does the Defy 2 for 629. I got mine from there last year, it's been trouble free.


http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-defy-2013-range

Keith1983

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBHOTRTIA/ ... -road-bike

Buy that, job done. The frame is worth upgrading if you like it with better components and wheels. It is a full carbon frame for under £700! I've delat with Planet x numerous times before and they are great. I'm looking at a new bike in the coming months and have looked everywhere but cannot find better deals than at Planet x, and I know that their customer service is top notch.

kajjal

Nothing beats a test ride. When buying a bike it is a combination of how it looks, how it rides and spec / price. If you don't like the look or ride of a bike value for money doesn't mean much.

rickeverett

This is a absolute steal from Rutland at the moment (if you live near to them???):

Highly rated and reviewed, full carbon frame and forks with internal cables and electronic transmission compatible...
Frame is excellent. Latest Sora.

£697 down from £1100 in 2 colour options but stock is getting low.....
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/163457/pr ... -grey.aspx


Currently have a MEKK Poggio myself for nearly a year now with full 105 and a few upgrades over that time. Really really nice bikes to ride and at the current sale prices prime for longevity and future upgrades.

Wiggle do it too in all 3 colour ranges but stock is getting low
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mekk-2g-poggio-p15-sora-2013/

Keith1983

That Mekk is a good shout, I was wondering about one of them myself. I think the internal cable routing would just edge it over the Holdsworth at Planet-X.

rickeverett

Keith1983 wrote:

That Mekk is a good shout, I was wondering about one of them myself. I think the internal cable routing would just edge it over the Holdsworth at Planet-X.

also lighter and the frame is high end. Mekk use the same frame on Di2 Ultegra Version of the poggio (frame is Di compatible). Its also ready for upgrades so will last OP years. User and Expert Reviews are great too.

+ RUTLAND are including some Keo clip road pedals free. :shock:

chris1967cycling

with your budget I'd concentrate on getting the best in the following order

1) Frame
2) Wheels
3) Groupset
4) Finishing kit

I've bought stuff from all over the place but if you want good customer service and value Planet X are hard to beat.

The other benefit with PX stuff is that when you want to upgrade you can nearly get your cash back as the base prices are so low.

They also offer bike fit's which are really worth the cash if it's your first road bike and I'd recommend before you spend any cash. Lot's of decent bike shops offer these.

This will also help you pick the right frame size along with the right bar width, stem length, pedals etc.

In an off the shelf bike you might not be able to swap etc without incurring additional costs etc.

A proper position from day 1 will improve your cycling more than a hundred pounds here or there on different spec bikes at this point.

All IMHO

Greenan

Thanks for the replies folks,

Some of the bikes in the links you have provided look to be great value. However none of these bikes are available in the cycle shops in Belfast that are on my work cycle scheme. I could buy one of the bikes online but as this will be my first road bike, I would prefer to get properly fitted etc in a bike shop before I buy anything. If I decide to upgrade down the line I could possibly buy online when I have a bit more knowledge.

One question about the Defy 2. The spec says the forks are Advanced-Grade Composite, Alloy OverDrive Steerer. This may be a stupid question but is this carbon, and it not, is it as good as having carbon forks on a bike? Also I forgot to post the link for the Merida Ride Lite 93:

http://merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/2013 ... de+Lite+93

I know it's a bit more expensive than the Defy 2 but forgetting about price is there any of these 2 Tiagra specced bikes that you would recommended more or are they much of a muchness?

Thanks

night_porter

Firstly you are very wise buying your first bike locally because you will get lots more help from your lbs than buying online and yes fitting is very important in your situation.

The fork in the Defy is carbon and the only difference is the steerer tube which is made of alloy, in reality not something that will make a difference to you as a rider.

I did say in the 2nd post that I thought the Defy was the better buy and I still think that. To qualify it more I do own a bike built by Merida as well as a Defy (plus 2 Planet X bikes) and I would still say for you the Defy is a better bike when bought locally.

Also because it has so many great reviews it holds its value better when selling on, think of it as the Volkswagon Golf of the bike world - good all rounder with a great resale value.

Anonymous

chris1967cycling wrote:

with your budget I'd concentrate on getting the best in the following order

1) Frame
2) Wheels
3) Groupset
4) Finishing kit

I would swap 2 & 3 around personally.

All stock bikes come with pretty poor wheels compared with the rest of the bike so if you value wheels over group set I would say you have to swap the wheels after purchase.

Wheels are easy to change (unlike groupset) and make a bigger difference to the bike in both appearance and performance.

Whilst the wheels may be a future upgrade, I would put decent tyres on straight away and sell the stock ones as new on ebay before using them at all.
The price difference will be minimal if new ones are sourced well.

rickeverett

Carbonator wrote:

chris1967cycling wrote:

with your budget I'd concentrate on getting the best in the following order

1) Frame
2) Wheels
3) Groupset
4) Finishing kit

I would swap 2 & 3 around personally.

All stock bikes come with pretty poor wheels compared with the rest of the bike so if you value wheels over group set I would say you have to swap the wheels after purchase.

Wheels are easy to change (unlike groupset) and make a bigger difference to the bike in both appearance and performance.

Whilst the wheels may be a future upgrade, I would put decent tyres on straight away and sell the stock ones as new on ebay before using them at all.
The price difference will be minimal if new ones are sourced well.

Only if you skip up through the ranges. You will be hard pressed to notice a difference between Tiagra and Sora for example but you will probably notice 105 and Sora. But this can be a difference of £££'s so money comes in too.

Anonymous

rickeverett wrote:

Only if you skip up through the ranges. You will be hard pressed to notice a difference between Tiagra and Sora for example but you will probably notice 105 and Sora. But this can be a difference of £££'s so money comes in too.

Well skip up through the ranges then (I was talking about wheels in the text you highlighted anyway).

Even if you just got Tiagra over Sora it has an extra sprocket which I would say was pretty noticeable.
If you are going to say its not then how few sprockets (on a compact) would be ok?

My point was that if you value wheels more than groupset you are going to have to get something other than the ones that come with the bike anyway.
If you get a better groupset the bike cost more and probably have better wheels anyway.

Cannot see you choose a bike based on what wheels it has.

Anonymous

There are decent differences between all Shimano groupsets now (although I do feel there are too many).

Claris = 8 speed
Claris to Sora gets 9 speed
Sora to Tiagra gets 10 speed
Tiagra to 105 gets hidden cables
105 to Ultegra gets 11 speed

and Ultegra to DA gets.................. Kudos* :-)

*and possibly polymer cables

Moonbiker

Merlin has a bike with fulcrum 7 wheels tiagra & carbon fork for 650.


http://www.merlincycles.com/n7even-majo ... 59933.html

Anonymous

N7even? Whooooooooooooo

What a stupid name

How do you even pronounce that? It is written (if you include the little o on the frame) 'number seven even'

Greenan

Thanks folks,

Last few questions.... I assume there are additional differences between the various groups eg Sora and Tiagra to the Tiagra being 10 speed and the Sora being 9 speed? Does the Tiagra groupset also have a noticeably better performance than the Sora for example?

Also on the Defy 2 wheels - these are referred to in the spec as Giant S-Elite C Wheelset. This may also be a stupid question but are these Tiagra spec wheels or a lower standard? If you recommended upgrading wheels or tyres for the Defy 2 is there a particular type / brand you recommended?

Anonymous

Have not used either group set but I would guess not too much difference (as long as it is the latest 2013/3500 Sora).
You would probably notice if you had Tiagra and then downgraded to Sora, but buying Sora as first experience will be fine.
It depends a lot on how well its put on/set up/maintained too.

With the new Sora being a recent change (over the older 3400) it should be even closer to Tiagra which has been around a while I think.
Sora looks better now IMO too. Its just the 10 speed that I would want from Tiagra mainly.

Do not know anything about the wheels but doubt they could be looked at as Tiagra spec.
Unless you want to get new wheels straight away so you can sell the original wheels as new then I would not rush into upgrading the wheels and just keep the old ones for winter/spares when you get the new ones.

Ride the bike for a while and look around at other bikes to see what you like and what looks good on the bike. Deeper rims, Hub design, Bladed spokes, Spoke numbers/lace pattern etc.
When you know roughly what you want you might find some in a sale. It will be like getting a new bike after riding around on the stock ones

Tyres are easier. Personally I would get either GP4000s or 4 Seasons.
I would probably get these straight away and sell the stock ones as new depending on what the stock ones were.
LBS may be up for part exchanging them so worth asking if you do want to do it.
GP4000s can be had for about £50 a pair though so you do not want to pay more than about £30 extra.

Andycar82

Been looking myself although I want to spend the full grand on a bike
Between this
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-bi ... ilder.html
And a Wilier which seemed the best value when looking in several shops