Yet another "Which Bike Should I get?" (Mine was Stolen)

NickAndrew123

Hi,

I appreciate there are thousands of these posts on here and as a new user I'm sure I don't fully appreciate how annoying these probably are. However, here I go anyway.

So in October 2013 I was given some money for a road bike for my birthday. On Gumtree I managed to track down a Planet X NanoLight (2012 rrp £1400) in excellent condition for £850. Full carbon, Sram Force groupset and I have been chuffed with it ever since...but...someone has recently decided that they would like to own my bike instead so have stolen it from my shed. I'm now in need of a replacement; I don't think I will get the full retail price of the bike back from my insurance company as it is a couple of years old now despite the lack of previous use. They will be offering something of similar spec (or at least the money for something like it). So I'm looking for a full carbon fairly well equiped road bike.

I have signed up for RideLondon this year and will be taking part in the 100 mile sportive on behalf of MS-UK aiming to raise about £800+. As sporty as my planet X was I felt it would have served me well enough on the day. I'm 6'4" and weigh about 180/190lbs. I am 23 and have played sport all my life so am fairly fit but never taken part in something quite so endurance based as this! I currently live in Sheffield so am no strangers to constant and grueling hill climbs. I think I should have about £1000 to play with and have a few options I have picked out:

Planet X Pro Carbon £999.00 (http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT ... -road-bike) Sticking with the same brand and general set up and well recommended on this site (only difference in the groupset but I'm sure I could get used to the shifters)

Mekk Poggio P3.0 £999.01 (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mekk-2g-poggio- ... egra-2013/) This looks like a hell of a steal right now as it's down from rrp £1698, I rode the 1.5 before getting my Planet X and it felt nice enough to my inexperienced self.

Sorry that this is crazy long and fairly uninteresting but if anyone has any views or alternative suggestions they would be very much welcomed.

Tjgoodhew

Have you spoke to your insurer yet ?

I had an old viking bike stolen and thought i might get £150 on insurance for it. It cost me £120 and had a set of cheap SPD-SL pedals and a saddle from decathlon

The insurer paid out £330 in the end. They referred me to their preferred bike settlement company who advised me that the nearest alternative bike they could find was £250 and adding on pedals and saddle it all added up to £330.

Bottom line - see what the insurer suggests first as you might end up with more options to consider

NickAndrew123

Nice, thank you. We have been in contact with the insurance company but for some reason they have a cap of £600 on the bike value as it's on my parent's policy as I'm still at university. Think my dad failed to update the policy from a Giant Defy 4 that I was leasing over the summer. I bought the bike on Gumtree so don't have a proof of purchase either so that's causing a few issues, but thank you all the same, I might hold out a little longer and see if I can get the full value back!!

rickeverett

Im bias as I have a Poggio. But out of those - I would go with the Poggio.

Excellent frame set and newer than the Planet X. I upgraded mine to full group and lighter wheels, however the bikes are excellent and get great reviews.
The new ones coming out this year are the same frame apparently but have full groups.

For me, its nice to also have a bike with a new name.

NickAndrew123

Yeah I can fully understand that having one already you've grown attached to it but that speaks volumes about the quality eh!? Do you feel that not having a full carbon fork has much effect?? Also looking at the who frames, I think the Planet X is a compact geometry? Is the Mekk therefore a bit bigger/longer? I guess this could be useful for me as I'm rather tall!

How much did it cost you to upgrade to a full group set?

rickeverett

NickAndrew123 wrote:

Yeah I can fully understand that having one already you've grown attached to it but that speaks volumes about the quality eh!? Do you feel that not having a full carbon fork has much effect?? Also looking at the who frames, I think the Planet X is a compact geometry? Is the Mekk therefore a bit bigger/longer? I guess this could be useful for me as I'm rather tall!

How much did it cost you to upgrade to a full group set?

The Poggio has a full carbon fork and full internal cable routing.
http://www.mekkbicycles.com/Mekk-Poggio-30.aspx

The Poggio geometry is on a racy side. They have a lower front end so spacers are required. I think MEKK supply 3-4 spacers as standard. But this also adds to the flexibility of slamming it down into a race profile.

Full Group was just a chainset and brakes upgrade so didn't cost much. Wheels are more of an effective first upgrade, but the RS30's on the Poggio 3.0 are fine training wheels.

Mine was the older Poggio. Have had zero issues with it, now its had the usual upgrade/swap treatment everyone does on there bikes, i'm still dead chuffed.

NickAndrew123

Thanks man, I really appreciate your input. Just got to get out there and start testing bikes I guess, sick of not being able to ride. Got a lot of positive advice about both bikes so I'm guessing they're both much of a muchness but the Mekk is far newer!! Thanks again!

smoggysteve

If you makes you feel any better, if you bought your Planet X on gumtree it was probably nicked before you got it.

Hope you get back out there soon whatwver you decide to go for.

Garry H

SmoggySteve wrote:

If you makes you feel any better, if you bought your Planet X on gumtree it was probably nicked before you got it.

Indeed, probably by the same person that nicked it from your shed.

NickAndrew123

Hmmm might suggest why the guy I bought it from isn't getting back to me as I've been trying to get hold of the receipt for my insurance! Been loaned a little money so think I'll be getting a Planet X RT58 as it will save me money in the long run as it has a significantly better frame than the others I've been looking at! Thanks for everyone's help

Garry H

NickAndrew123 wrote:

Hmmm might suggest why the guy I bought it from isn't getting back to me as I've been trying to get hold of the receipt for my insurance! Been loaned a little money so think I'll be getting a Planet X RT58 as it will save me money in the long run as it has a significantly better frame than the others I've been looking at! Thanks for everyone's help

Take it you never collected it from his address then?

NickAndrew123

No, unfortunately not! I did get it from where he worked as a fireman though! So I'm confident I'll get there eventually and I'm loathe to believe that a fireman would sell a stolen bike at his premises. I've called his number and the station several times but he is yet to get back to me! But I'm sure we'll get there in the end!