Intro road bike £800 or under.

maxhurford

Hi

I'm looking to upgrade my commuting bike to a road bike to take part in a 100mile race in April and get more in to cycling. I'll be using it almost every day for a 15 mile commute and then some. I'll be buying this on the cycle to work scheme so need a 'mainstream' bike that can be found in your major retailers. £800 is the absolute ceiling to my budget.

Currently i'm looking favourably at:
Specialized Allez Sport C2 2014 - £750
Specialized Secteur Elite Compact 2013 Road Bike - £800
Felt F85 Tiagra - £549
Bianchi C2C Nirone 7 Tiagra (Triple) 2013 - 692

but am new to this and the language is somewhat foreign to me.

About me: 6"4, 90kg, 37" inside seam

Thanks!

mudsucker

I rode an Allez a while ago and thought it was a bit heavy.

Not sure about the others you have listed but I have a Trek 1.2 £700 and my Dad has just bought a Giant Defy 3 (also £700). My Trek is a more racy position to the Defy but both are well worth a look. Both ride great and are well speced for the money

rickeverett

Tad over but probably one of the best VFM bikes around £800-900 at the moment !..... especially if you want the lightest bike with best spec for your dosh.

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-pr ... aid:668081

Sharky999

Nice bike.

I'm in the same position as op, but im going to do do a custom build, once ribble get there sportive curved frame back in stock, im going to build round that, managed to cost it around the £850 mark including pedals.

kajjal

At that weight and especially for commuting you may want to go for a bike with slightly bigger tyres and disc brakes. Your heavier weight especially in the wet means rim brakes take longer to stop you where as disc brakes will stop you quickly in any weather. If you just ride in the dry don't worry about it.The larger tyres will absorb the impact from rougher road surfaces better. If you just ride in the dry don't worry about it.

I am a 6ft7 and now under 100KG due to getting more into road riding. I bought a Trek 1.5 in the sales for £700 which fits me well with my 36" cycling inseam (35" inside leg trousers). The only thing I found was the brakes even once I upgraded are still not too good in the wet. In the dry they are fine. Also the saddle was too narrow for me. Replaced the saddle and since I only ride on quiet roads in the country the brakes are no issue. If I was commuting on the bike I would want one that can handle rougher roads and had better brakes.

markiegrim

Really interested in the Trek 1.5 / not great brakes comment. I've read that a few times now. I have a 1.5 but can see no real issues with the standard fit brakes..but then I am no expert! What did the upgrade deliver..are the differences v noticeable?

kajjal

markiegrim wrote:

Really interested in the Trek 1.5 / not great brakes comment. I've read that a few times now. I have a 1.5 but can see no real issues with the standard fit brakes..but then I am no expert! What did the upgrade deliver..are the differences v noticeable?

I have the 2013 1.5 Trek and for me its a really good bike. I can ride for hours on it with no problems. I set the bike up to suit me , upgraded the brakes and fitted a saddle that was the right size for me.

When it comes to the brakes, I came from an XC mountain bike with hydraulic disc brakes which stopped me very, very quickly wet or dry and also had a lot of control / feel in them. I bought the Trek 1.5 and on the first steep hill on a sunny dry day I pulled the brakes on fairly hard and got nowhere near the braking I was expecting and they had no feel at all.

Upgraded them to 105's and in the dry they are much better with a lot more feel and power. In the wet still poor with the 105 pads. Changed the pads to swisstop greens and this improved the wet braking but still nowhere near as good as in the dry. The 105 brakes cost £45 the pair and the swisstop pads about £20 for 4 pads I think.

If you are a lighter weight rider or ride in flatter parts of the country you would not notice the difference as much. At under 100KG and surrounded by hills it makes a big difference for me

sparklehedgehog

maxhurford wrote:

Hi

I'm looking to upgrade my commuting bike to a road bike to take part in a 100mile race in April and get more in to cycling. I'll be using it almost every day for a 15 mile commute and then some. I'll be buying this on the cycle to work scheme so need a 'mainstream' bike that can be found in your major retailers. £800 is the absolute ceiling to my budget.

Currently i'm looking favourably at:
Specialized Allez Sport C2 2014 - £750
Specialized Secteur Elite Compact 2013 Road Bike - £800
Felt F85 Tiagra - £549
Bianchi C2C Nirone 7 Tiagra (Triple) 2013 - 692

but am new to this and the language is somewhat foreign to me.

About me: 6"4, 90kg so need a frame on the larger end of the scale.

Thanks!

My vote is for the Secteur based on your long distance riding aim

mat1971

Giant defy 3 £699 in tredz and you have change

29black

If you're happy to deal second hand, look into the marketplace or eBay. Some real bargains to be had - I picked up a Boardman Team Carbon which RRP'd at £1300 for £800 brand new!

sparklehedgehog

mat1971 wrote:

Giant defy 3 £699 in tredz and you have change

Get on TREDZ now and use code DAVID10 and it's only £566!!!!!!

maxhurford

Hi,

Thanks for all the responses and reccomendations, have looked in to all of them.

That Rose bike looks beautiful, unfortunately since im buying a bike on the Cycle2Work scheme I have to stick to major retailers and cant find anywhere that will stock that bike Which also rules ebay/2nd hand and TREDZ/Wiggle out. Hope you buy it and enjoy it.

The Trek 1.5 I cant find in stock in the right size and I did wonder about breaks at my size as even on my hybrid with disk breaks i sometimes struggle in the wet.

The defy 3 looks like quite a low spec compared to some of the others? Permission to be vain too.. i think it looks ugly.

Worse still the secteur is now out of stock in my size (which i believe to be 61cm frame?) So cruel!

I have found out that I can buy a ribble through the scheme though, are they worth looking at? Obviously everything is changeable but i think i found a good deal here? Thoughts?
Frame Ribble Winter/Audax 7005 Frame Blue 62cm (C-Top)
Groupset - Shimano 105 (5700) Silver 10 Spd Double Groupset
Wheels - Rodi Airline 4 Clinchers Wheels Pair Black 8/9/10 Shim
Handlebars - ITM Alutech 6061 (31.8 ) Bars Black 42cm
Handlebar Stem - ITM Alutech 6061 (31.8 ) Stem Black 100mm
Headset Spacers - Trivio Headset Spacers Alloy 1 1/8" Black 10mm
Saddle -Selle Italia X1 Man Saddle Black
Seatpillar -CSN Superleggera Alloy Seatpillar Black 27.2 350mm
Tyres - Yaw Nitro Rigid Tyre Black/Black 700x23mm
Mudguards - Zefal Narrow Guards (pair) Black
Price excluding Pedals: £749.94

Other than that it keeps me limited to these stockists: https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/partners/w4

Thanks for all the help so far!

kingderham

Have a look at Cube bikes and BTwin from Decathlon.

sparklehedgehog

maxhurford wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for all the responses and reccomendations, have looked in to all of them.

That Rose bike looks beautiful, unfortunately since im buying a bike on the Cycle2Work scheme I have to stick to major retailers and cant find anywhere that will stock that bike Which also rules ebay/2nd hand and TREDZ/Wiggle out. Hope you buy it and enjoy it.

The Trek 1.5 I cant find in stock in the right size and I did wonder about breaks at my size as even on my hybrid with disk breaks i sometimes struggle in the wet.

The defy 3 looks like quite a low spec compared to some of the others? Permission to be vain too.. i think it looks ugly.

Worse still the secteur is now out of stock in my size (which i believe to be 61cm frame?) So cruel!

I have found out that I can buy a ribble through the scheme though, are they worth looking at? Obviously everything is changeable but i think i found a good deal here? Thoughts?
Frame Ribble Winter/Audax 7005 Frame Blue 62cm (C-Top)
Groupset - Shimano 105 (5700) Silver 10 Spd Double Groupset
Wheels - Rodi Airline 4 Clinchers Wheels Pair Black 8/9/10 Shim
Handlebars - ITM Alutech 6061 (31.8 ) Bars Black 42cm
Handlebar Stem - ITM Alutech 6061 (31.8 ) Stem Black 100mm
Headset Spacers - Trivio Headset Spacers Alloy 1 1/8" Black 10mm
Saddle -Selle Italia X1 Man Saddle Black
Seatpillar -CSN Superleggera Alloy Seatpillar Black 27.2 350mm
Tyres - Yaw Nitro Rigid Tyre Black/Black 700x23mm
Mudguards - Zefal Narrow Guards (pair) Black
Price excluding Pedals: £749.94

Other than that it keeps me limited to these stockists: https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/partners/w4

Thanks for all the help so far!

One major mistake by many noobs (i did it too) is hunt specs rather than experience integrated into frame design. You can always upgrade a group set when you can afford to but the frame is much more permanent and integral. Again, wheels can be swapped out when ready to.

Specs alone don't make a great bike.

antonyfromoz

Leisure lake cycles has the specialized secteur sport disc 2013 model in 58cm size for £800 - not sure if that would be big enough for you but might be worth finding out... http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/9193 ... -2013-sale Great looking bike!