Planet X pro carbon or RT-58

jamin100

When I first started cycling I brought a Boardman CX team. I brought this mainly for commuting 20 miles to work and back. have upgraded it a bit and got GP4000s 25c road tyres on.

Circumstances have now changed and Im working a lot nearer to home (2 miles) and am finding that I'm going out on longer (up to 60 miles) at the weekend.

Im thinking about getting a proper road bike, firstly as I want something with a larger cassette to help up the hills and something a bit lighter.

The CX team comes in roughly at 10.5KG..

Im eying up either a Planet X RT-85 Tiagra (alloy) £650
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXRT58AL ... -road-bike

Or Planet X Pro Carbon SRAM Rival £1000
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPRIV ... -road-bike

So, i guess my question is, will i notice a massive difference with either of the 2 bikes over my CX team

Out of the 2, is the carbon worth the extra £350?

Thanks!

simonj

Something lighter would be nice, but if you've a standard CX Team you may struggle to get a larger cassette as the CX Team should have an 11-32 cassette and WiFli Apex rear derailleur.

The £350 is not only giving you carbon - which is a nice upgrade over alloy, it is giving you a better groupset Sram Rival instead of Tiagra. Also The Pro and RT-58 are different bikes for different purposes, you may find the Pro is the more racey model and the RT-58 more an endurance model if that's important to you may wish to factor that in.

jamin100

Thanks for the reply. The casette in the boardman is a 12-25 (i think)

simonj

Presume that was changed before you got it (or they may have changed spec mid model - the newer ones had 11-32) and you don't have the original 11-32 to put back? If you have the longer Apex rear derailleur already an 11-32 would only be £35 or an 11-28 tiagra only £15 if your cage is standard. I guess it's not just the cassette anyway as you want a nice new lighter bike and something more road orientated would also be good. If it were me, to make a significant jump up from what you have I'd be looking at carbon.

jamin100

Thanks

Is it a significant jump then? Will I notice the 2kg weight difference ?
Sorry for the stupid questions. The boardman cx was my first proper bike

simonj

Yes the CX is ok as a do everything (I have 2 in my garage - mine and my mates) but it's a little heavy and not particularly agile - i do love it for mixed rides. A jump to carbon and a more road or racey geometry may feel better to you. I'd suggest you go and try a few bikes first before jumping in to get a feel for what you like, work out if your flexible and want an out rice race bike or if your not so flexible or get bad back/shoulders on longer rides and want a more endurance bike.

diamonddog

The latest Pro Carbon - Rival has the WiFli derailleur as standard so for easier gearing this would be your best option IMO. Very good bikes BTW.

jamin100

WiFli ????
I've heard of wifi but that ones new on me lol

simonj

Longer cage on rear derailleur, so rather than being limited to 11-28 cassette you can go for a MTB type 11-32 cassette.