New bike advice please

Ryan2773

Hi all I'm new to the site and looking for some advice if anyone can help.

I have ridden MTB for a few years and making the change to road riding and looking for my first bike. I have been told by a few friends if I can to get a shimano 105 groupset. I am looking at two bikes just wanted some opinions in which to buy.

http://www.merlincycles.com/sensa-romag ... 57892.html

And

http://www.ashcycles.com/site/claud-but ... -road-bike

I have looked and can't find any reviews on the Claud Butler, but I think the joke looks a good spec for the money. What do you think ?

Cheers Ryan

mrbrightside

Personally I'd keep looking, or keep an eye on classifieds.

Also I get some good bike fit advice with reference to sizing, alternatively when the shop has recommended a size and you've settled on it buy a size smaller.

mrbrightside

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


http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk

Looking at the spec of the CB there is not a lot of 105 included I.e brakes , chain etc

g00se

Personally, for a first road bike, I'd not buy it online - but go to a shop to get it fitted properly. You'll also get a feel for different styles and geometries. Otherwise you could end up doing the MTB equivalent of getting a downhill bike to do XC. Maybe not as exaggerated a difference, but you know what I mean - styles of road bike (long distance, sprinting, comfort, power) are more defined my small changes (a few degrees of seat-tube angle; centemetres longer head tubes etc).

I bought a frame online and made the mistake of getting one with a top tube about 2cm longer than it should have been and with a seat tube angle a degree steeper than what I really needed. It completely compromised the bike I built.

markhewitt1978

Agreed with getting it from a shop, and while your friends are quite correct that 105 is a good groupset, I wouldn't get hung up about it as there are far more important factors, I know because I made the same mistake in going for a 105 groupset and compromising on the choice of frame, which was the wrong choice.

If you are on a budget then anything Sora or Tiagra are very good and will serve you well. Especially Tiagra as it can be upgraded to 105 bit by bit if you are so minded.

Ryan2773

Thank you for the advise guys I nearly bought a bike online today, but after reading your posts I will take your advise and head back to my LBS and see what they got, hopefully get some sort of bike fit out of them as well.

The tiagra to start and upgrade as an when is a great idea. Thank you all.

ai_1

Ryan2773 wrote:

Thank you for the advise guys I nearly bought a bike online today, but after reading your posts I will take your advise and head back to my LBS and see what they got, hopefully get some sort of bike fit out of them as well.

The tiagra to start and upgrade as an when is a great idea. Thank you all.

To be honest you may well decide there's no need to upgrade Tiagra to 105. They're both 10-speed systems and are functionally the same. The only real difference is a little weight. I've been using Tiagra 9-speed (the last version, it's now 10 speed) for 3 years and I've also ridden bikes with 2013 Ultegra (the next step up from 105) and to be honest the difference is not dramatic. I've just ordered a new bike with the new 11-speed Ultegra groupset which I expect to be great but it's unlikely to make much difference to my cycling performance!

Ryan2773

Thanks for the advice guys went yo my local shop sat on one of these loved it, but when I went back it was sold out so had it sent by post

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... tAodykwASA

Can't wait to get out for a ride.

Thanks again Ryan