To upgrade or not to upgrade (Jamis to Dale)
danmendez
Posts: 4
Hi,
Would like a bit of advice. I recently bought my first road bike, a Jamis Ventura Sport 2013, brand new, but unwanted present for £250. Done about 500miles on her in essex and surrey. I have had the bike properly set up by a top mechanic (£50) and it now runs nice after an initial very clunky start, but still misses at the most annoying times!!
I have had the bike wheel straightened twice as it went out quite a bit, which I find very annoying as I ride her on good roads, but probably do sit back a bit on some of the harder Surrey hills, has cost me a tenner so far to straighten up.
I've got my pace up to 18mph over about 50miles (I have much room for improvement for hill climbing!!) and I find the Jamis comfy, but I do find myself a tad too upright on her.
I know the rider is the engine and the bike makes only a small fraction of the difference, BUT one of my buddies whom I ride during the week with, currently is riding a Dawes hybrid, it doesn't ride too nicely nor very fast either, I have potentially offered my bike for £250-300 to him, he test rides next week.
Which leaves me the chance to get a new bike. I am considering doing the Lands End to John O'Groats ride in September, potentially triathlons (if I sort my running fitness out) like Exmoor, which I'll be going to ride the route soon anyways and maybe even a couple of cycling holidays, in Italy etc.
I am to be soon test riding a Scott 2014 S30 and a CR1 30 from one bike shop and a Giant 2014 Defy1 from another. On paper I'm dubious about the quality of the Sora set on the CR1 30 and it's more than I wanted to spend @£1200. The S30 I'm more than happy with the Tiagra set (my Surrey riding partner's Synapse is Tiagra based and she loves it and has done Pyrenees on it, so tested well), but the bike never wins any awards nor gets mentioned too often in any forums etc? £900. The Giant looks the nicest and has an awesome spec with the 105 set, but is the most I want to spend @£1k and would expect a beast of a bike!!
The curve ball...
I love a bargain so have been looking at last years models on the net, I have seen the Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra for £700, I won't be able to test ride nor have the easiness of just dropping in if I have any issues with it (though I did ring the company and seem a nice shop), but I like her Synapse and so does she, I have read about other riders positive opinions of the CAAD frames and it also looks stunning!!
Will any of these bikes be actually really be that much of an upgrade in reality terms over the Jamis frame, would a simple wheel upgrade be better? If the CAAD8 is the best price to performance bike, is buying blind just plain stupid? What would you do?
Many thanks Dan
Would like a bit of advice. I recently bought my first road bike, a Jamis Ventura Sport 2013, brand new, but unwanted present for £250. Done about 500miles on her in essex and surrey. I have had the bike properly set up by a top mechanic (£50) and it now runs nice after an initial very clunky start, but still misses at the most annoying times!!
I have had the bike wheel straightened twice as it went out quite a bit, which I find very annoying as I ride her on good roads, but probably do sit back a bit on some of the harder Surrey hills, has cost me a tenner so far to straighten up.
I've got my pace up to 18mph over about 50miles (I have much room for improvement for hill climbing!!) and I find the Jamis comfy, but I do find myself a tad too upright on her.
I know the rider is the engine and the bike makes only a small fraction of the difference, BUT one of my buddies whom I ride during the week with, currently is riding a Dawes hybrid, it doesn't ride too nicely nor very fast either, I have potentially offered my bike for £250-300 to him, he test rides next week.
Which leaves me the chance to get a new bike. I am considering doing the Lands End to John O'Groats ride in September, potentially triathlons (if I sort my running fitness out) like Exmoor, which I'll be going to ride the route soon anyways and maybe even a couple of cycling holidays, in Italy etc.
I am to be soon test riding a Scott 2014 S30 and a CR1 30 from one bike shop and a Giant 2014 Defy1 from another. On paper I'm dubious about the quality of the Sora set on the CR1 30 and it's more than I wanted to spend @£1200. The S30 I'm more than happy with the Tiagra set (my Surrey riding partner's Synapse is Tiagra based and she loves it and has done Pyrenees on it, so tested well), but the bike never wins any awards nor gets mentioned too often in any forums etc? £900. The Giant looks the nicest and has an awesome spec with the 105 set, but is the most I want to spend @£1k and would expect a beast of a bike!!
The curve ball...
I love a bargain so have been looking at last years models on the net, I have seen the Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra for £700, I won't be able to test ride nor have the easiness of just dropping in if I have any issues with it (though I did ring the company and seem a nice shop), but I like her Synapse and so does she, I have read about other riders positive opinions of the CAAD frames and it also looks stunning!!
Will any of these bikes be actually really be that much of an upgrade in reality terms over the Jamis frame, would a simple wheel upgrade be better? If the CAAD8 is the best price to performance bike, is buying blind just plain stupid? What would you do?
Many thanks Dan
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Comments
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Might be worth adding this to your list for consideration if you are looking at £1K as a target spend.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT ... -road-bike
Shimano Ultegra (mainly) and they get good feedback from those who have ridden them. No test riding though but if you know what fits you with the Jamis you should be able to select a frame size that can be set up ideally to suit you.0 -
arlowood wrote:Might be worth adding this to your list for consideration if you are looking at £1K as a target spend.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT ... -road-bike
Shimano Ultegra (mainly) and they get good feedback from those who have ridden them. No test riding though but if you know what fits you with the Jamis you should be able to select a frame size that can be set up ideally to suit you.
Thanks.. I have read about Planet X, first is this a (too good to be true) cheap carbon frame, that is prone to problems? I have also been advised to not go above 105 gear in my particular case, my mechanic has said the top stuff is made to win races, not for longevity and will, though be amazing, will cost a lot in the long run, considering I'm looking to stack up some big mileage.0 -
The Planet X gets excellent reviews - check out the users comments on this review also:-
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... er_reviews
With respect, I think your mechanic is talking through a hole in his ar*e. I think Shimano would be spending a lot of time in litigation if its high end gear was not up to it in terms of longevity. The price premium you pay is mainly for the weight saving on the Ultegra and Dura Ace components which would be an advantage in a competitive situation. Also they could be argued to operate more smoothly than the cheaper groupsets. However they are made from quality materials that will last as long if not longer than the 105/Tiagra/Sora sets
If you are being offered an Ultegra specced bike for under £1K then it seems a bit counter-intuitive to say no on the basis that you think the components might wear out a bit quicker (trust me - they won't). Anyway with the cross compatibility of much of the Shimano range you can replace them with cheaper alternatives from the 105 and Tiagra ranges.0 -
Ended up ordering a Scott CR1 20 from my LBS after a test run and a substantial discount! Look forward to riding it!!0
