First Road Bike

ianlawton

Hi All,

I have a budget of 2k for a road bike, I have been using a lightweight mountain bike for the last few years and fancy moving onto a road bike and maybe trying a few local races.

The two bike I have been looking at is the Specialized Venge Comp Carbon 2013 (£2k)
Boardman Road Pro Carbon SLR Bike 2014 (£1.8k)

I guess I am looking for a fast, lightweight bike I can train on a daily basis and use for the occasional race.

Any feedback on the above bikes or suggestions in this price bracket would be appreciated.

Many Thanks

Ian

slowbike

Don't race on a bike you cannot afford to break.

£2k will buy good road bikes, but then so would £1k, and they'll be just as quick - because it's mostly the engine that makes the bike quick, not the bike - but then you knew that ...

If you're going to be going seriously into road riding then consider getting 2 bikes - then you should always have a spare should the other not be ready.

kajjal

Have a read up on road bike setup as this will give you an idea of what type and set up of road bike you want. They vary between the more heads up Specialized Roubaix bike and the more head down racer Specialized Tarmac style bike. If you flick between the pictures of the two bikes on the Specialized website you will see the difference. Other manufacturers make similar bikes as well this is just as a comparison you can see.

Bike setup is just personal preference and your bodies physical attributes. A well setup bike will go a lot faster without injuries and strains than a poorly setup bike. Coming from XC mountain biking myself I found the road bike setup has to be a lot more accurate than a mountain bike, especially if you want to really push it over long distances. For my road bike I upgraded the brakes, flipped the stem and bought a new properly fitting wider saddle to get the riding position I wanted.

Hope that helps a bit.

RideOnTime

2k is a big first time road budget. :shock:
I would see if you can get a few rides in first. What shops will let you have a test ride and test riding stock.

http://www.d2ride.co.uk

markhewitt1978

For that price you need to make sure it's full carbon, and full 11 speed ultegra (or equivalent) at least.

drlodge

markhewitt1978 wrote:

For that price you need to make sure it's full carbon, and full 11 speed Campagnolo (or equivalent) at least.

FTFY.

simonl83

Defy Advanced 2 surely.