Cycle scheme or cash deal & Sora or Tiagra ?

ellerino

Hi everyone, Been looking for a new bike on the cycle to work scheme, unfortunately our provider has changed and my local shop are not involved in our new scheme. Hence the bike i had lined up i can no longer have on the scheme. They have however offered the bike to me at an exellent price and after checking the savings with cycle to work dont seem to be that great £100 after the follow on and final payment etc. The bike a 2013 Giant composite 3 has tiagra group set and carbon frame or being a relatively new comer to road riding go for something £300-£400 cheaper ?

So

Q1 Do i use cycle to work scheme and shop elsewhere ? or buy cash deal (cheaper than anything i can find online by £50+)

Q2 Would i be able to tell the difference between carbon and alloy ? or Sora and Tiagra ?

slowbike

Personally I'd go cash and from the LBS - they like good customers and you'll appreciate a good LBS - I don't know the bike or price though.

Tiagra is fine - I have it on my CX and preferred it to the 2300 of my first bike, but new Sora is very similar so not much to choose from there.

fatsmoker

if you've never used Tiagra or Sora before, or ridden a carbon frame before, you won't notice the difference. You have to ride the cheap to appreciate the better quality and expense.

ellerino

Slowbike wrote:

Personally I'd go cash and from the LBS - they like good customers and you'll appreciate a good LBS - I don't know the bike or price though.

Tiagra is fine - I have it on my CX and preferred it to the 2300 of my first bike, but new Sora is very similar so not much to choose from there.

Giant defy composite 3 £900

chrisgal

That look like a pretty good price, however what stores can you now purchase from under the scheme?

antsmithmk

The 2014 sora is little different to 2014 tiagra. The only difference I noticed on 2014 Sora versus 2012 tiagra was the cable stretch and need to fine tune the Sora a bit more.

Mikey23

Comp 3 seems a good deal ... Good relationship with your LBS will save you in the long run

ellerino

Ended up going with a Giant Defy 1 on the cycle scheme. The main reason being 105 group set, i didnt realise that on tiagra the cables run from the hoods out which i find untidy and would be an annoyance,where as the 105 runs through the bike like Campag on my present bike. Hope i have made the right choice

slowbike

ellerino wrote:

Ended up going with a Giant Defy 1 on the cycle scheme. The main reason being 105 group set, i didnt realise that on tiagra the cables run from the hoods out which i find untidy and would be an annoyance,where as the 105 runs through the bike like Campag on my present bike. Hope i have made the right choice

If you enjoy riding it without thinking about the price it will be the right choice.

johngti

ellerino wrote:

Ended up going with a Giant Defy 1 on the cycle scheme. The main reason being 105 group set, i didnt realise that on tiagra the cables run from the hoods out which i find untidy and would be an annoyance,where as the 105 runs through the bike like Campag on my present bike. Hope i have made the right choice

Awesome bike - got one myself and love riding it!

simonl83

ellerino wrote:

Ended up going with a Giant Defy 1 on the cycle scheme. The main reason being 105 group set, i didnt realise that on tiagra the cables run from the hoods out which i find untidy and would be an annoyance,where as the 105 runs through the bike like Campag on my present bike. Hope i have made the right choice

Fantastic choice. Bought one myself 3 weeks ago (first road bike) in black / red and haven't regretted it for a second.

My other choices were the Cube Agree GTC 2013 Boardman Team Carbon and the Cube Peloton Race.

So glad I went for the Giant, I can't fault it.