Which Road bike sub £1500

nufc_fan

Looking to buy mu first road bike for the spring. Own a MTB at the moment but most of the rides are on road and itching to be able to go further and faster.

Plan is 2x 20-30mile fast rides during the week with a longer ride 50-60miles at the weekend and odd sportives. No racing but want to be able to ride at as quicker pace that my fitness allows.

Budget £1500 max. I am 6ft2 and 90Kg, ca't decide on well specked aluminium or carbon.

Current thoughts are:

Boardman Pro or team carbon £999 or £1299 (probably wait until 10% discount and BC discount to make big saving)
Synapse Ultegra Disc (Do I need discs? Good on the MTB but makes the bike heavier)
Synapse 105 Carbon - maybe too expensive
Giant Defy 1
Giant Defy composite 1 or 2

Anything else?

neilvx

Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0 :-)

charlie_potatoes

Neilvx wrote:

Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0 :-)

+1 8)

Nickoo

your exactly the same height and weight as me,
as for the bike, its all down to personal preference

rickeverett

Rose Xeon RS is better than the Canyon AL. Well at least according to reviews.

Lighter, Smooth Finnish welds and better vfm.


http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bik ... plate=true

bmxboy10

This http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cinelli-saetta-105-2013/.

Do your self a favour - you don't need to spend £1500 but if you did want to you can get this, sell the wheels and buy a nice set of Elites, DA c24s etc and may still have change out of £1500.

supermurph09

rickeverett wrote:

Rose Xeon RS is better than the Canyon AL. Well at least according to reviews.

Lighter, Smooth Finnish welds and better vfm.


http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bik ... plate=true

Can you post a link to the reviews?

letap73

If it is your first bike and assuming you have very little idea of your size/type of road bike then its worth saying that a well fitting lower spec . Triban will be better than a badly fitting Canyon. If you have a reputable Lbs then its worth seeing what they got and getting fitted up. At around £1500 most road bikes are generally very good - it all comes down to personal preference.

Andycar82

I've managed to get a Wilier GTR for 1350 most shops will do a small discount, had the same sort of budget, wanted something a bit different, Ribble and Dolan are also very impressive and worth consideration

neilvx

rickeverett wrote:

Rose Xeon RS is better than the Canyon AL. Well at least according to reviews.

Lighter, Smooth Finnish welds and better vfm.


http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bik ... plate=true

They do look very pretty :-) lol.

Mad_Malx

oxoman wrote:

As a new roadie you could get a cheaper bike to see if you like it first.

+1. It's a fair wedge for most people, and you won't get it perfect first go. You will have a much better idea of what suits you after you have ridden for a while.

Sprool

Would anyone pay £1500 for Decathlon's Btwin carbon bike, ultegra-equipped, weighing in at 7.6kg?
Is it a decent frame? Weight and spec look pretty decent. The Tribans always get great press for value-for-money.

nufc_fan

Perhaps looking at something on Interest Free for 6-12 months, might rule out some of the direct companies like Canyon etc.

sparklehedgehog

Evans do 0% for 12 months and Specialized Roubaix SL4 hasn't been mentioned yet but would be a comfortable bike for brit roads

slowandsteady

A 2013 Cannondale Synapse Carbon in 105 guise is your friend here.
Surprised no one has mentioned it.
Available for 1.4k down from circa 1.9k.

munzy

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f5-105-2013/

in a size 58 - I'm the same height and weight as you

Use the change from £1500 for good shoes, gloves, bib shorts and toolkit.

or

Buy a set of Campagnolo Zonda wheels and Continental GP4000s tyres:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/campagnolo-zond ... 5360518140

http://www.merlincycles.com/continental ... tAodjWYAdg

Which will transform the bike from a very nice starter bike into a race ready machine.

The frame, fork (with carbon steerer) and 105 groupset are fantastic only the wheels are not top notch. However they would do you for a season then you could upgrade to the Zonda or similar later.

I had a 2011 F5 with Fulcrum 3 wheels (almost identical to the Zondas) and it was a brilliant bike - stiff but comfy, light and direct and just a pleasure to ride and race. Only upgraded to an F1 as I got a great deal.

Also the plain black frame is very classy imho

sparklehedgehog

Munzy wrote:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f5-105-2013/

in a size 58 - I'm the same height and weight as you

Use the change from £1500 for good shoes, gloves, bib shorts and toolkit.

or

Buy a set of Campagnolo Zonda wheels and Continental GP4000s tyres:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/campagnolo-zond ... 5360518140

http://www.merlincycles.com/continental ... tAodjWYAdg

Which will transform the bike from a very nice starter bike into a race ready machine.

The frame, fork (with carbon steerer) and 105 groupset are fantastic only the wheels are not top notch. However they would do you for a season then you could upgrade to the Zonda or similar later.

I had a 2011 F5 with Fulcrum 3 wheels (almost identical to the Zondas) and it was a brilliant bike - stiff but comfy, light and direct and just a pleasure to ride and race. Only upgraded to an F1 as I got a great deal.

Also the plain black frame is very classy imho

Great bike, brand and advice too in this comment

galatzo

On wiggle, all 2013
Felt Z6 tiagra or F6 apex depending on type of ride your after are £900ish, z carbon frames are well rated.
Or the Avanti bikes at £1120 look very nice.
Any of them with your remaining budget on a really good set of wheels and you have a great bike.
Prob go Felt Z or Avanti for that bit of comfort.
Actually go Avanti and some of the DT Swiss wheels Wiggle have and you'll have something no one else will.
Post a pic when you've done as I suggest !

ride_whenever

Howabout this: cube agree gtc slt

galatzo

ride_whenever wrote:

Howabout this: cube agree gtc slt

Nice but I think my idea with the Avanti is better

ride_whenever

Hardly, full ultegra vs 105 and some lush straight pull dt swiss wheels.

The only downside is the wheelchair tyres one the cube...

nufc_fan

So a trip to the LBS has provided a few options that I need to research a little more. Would prefer this to mail order if possible.

1. Giant Defy 0 Aluminium - Good spec but aluminium.
2. Giant Deft 2 Composite - Carbon frame and decent spec
3. Synapse Ultegra Disc - Bit heavy maybe
4. Synapse 105 carbon - Nice, more expensive and poor wheels?
5. Trek Madone 3.2 - Decent frame, mixed 105 and tiagra, poor wheels?
6. Merrida ride carbon comp 94 - Decent spec , perhaps overpriced?

Nick_M

Re: your No. 3: I have a Synapse Ultegra Disk. It's a superb winter/wet-weather all-round bike when fitted with full-length mudguards, but it's a bit heavy and I wouldn't want it as my only ride. On those lovely warm dry summer days we are about to get I would resent having to carry round all the extra weight. I have a Lapierre Sensium 300 that takes its place when it's dry and if I had to keep just one of the two I'd keep the Sensium, even though its SRAM Apex isn't as swish as the Synapse's Ultegra. If I was buying just one bike on your budget I'd definitely suggest getting something a bit lighter and more zippy than the alloy disc Synapse. Of course the carbon Synapse is very nice indeed...

Goldlude

Hi

I have a Rose Xeon RS, had it for nearly 2 years, and was my first road bike. I was a little wary of buying online without seeing it or even sitting on it.

However after going for a bike fitting at a local bike shop, and trying some bikes there too, it turned out that they didn't have anything, In my size.

I then started looking online. Rose seemed to fit the bill. All communication was via email, and was very prompt and answered everything I wanted to know even down to resolving issues with lower back pain. From time of order to delivery was 3 weeks. I have been very pleased with it since and its not something you see very often.

nufc_fan

Tried a Cube Agree Gtc Race today, very nice. Also looked at the giant defy composite, swaying towards the cube tbh.

wotnoshoeseh

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f4-ultegra-2013/

Right on budget

sparklehedgehog

wotnoshoeseh wrote:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f4-ultegra-2013/

Right on budget

And it's gorgeous