Which carbon framed bike for £1000??

JasonB26

Hi all, I've just joined the site. I've been road riding for about 19 months and bought a Btwin Triban 3 (red) for £300 back in Feb 2013 to see if I'd enjoy cycling. 3000 happy miles later I want to upgrade and keep the Triban 3 as a winter bike.

I've got a maximum of £1000 to spend but I'm finding it difficult to figure out what's good and what's not from the multitude of options out there! I'm drawn to the Boardman Team Cabon or the Btwin Mach 700:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/mach-700-car ... 90154.html

Can anyone offer any advice/reviews of these 2 (ideally the Btwin) or point me in the direction of other possibilities.

Many thanks.

ai_1

I think at that budget it's worth keeping aluminium frames in the mix. You won't get a really good carbon frame and a half decent spec of groupset and wheels for that money. However you could get a good aluminium frame and better components. I'd consider alloy bikes from Canyon or Rose. The Canyon Roadlite for example.

Jules Winnfield

^^^^ That

I'm not averse to carbon, but I can't see the point of scrimping on a not so high quality frame just to say "I'm riding a carbon bike". Quality carbon fibre is not cheap, that's why the bikes ridden by pros are north of 10k.

Bozman

A secondhand one.

bmxboy10

Jules Winnfield wrote:

^^^^ That

I'm not averse to carbon, but I can't see the point of scrimping on a not so high quality frame just to say "I'm riding a carbon bike". Quality carbon fibre is not cheap, that's why the bikes ridden by pros are north of 10k.

What a load of rubbish! The OP states he is wanting to upgrade from a Triban. I agree that Alu frames should not be discounted but £1000 will get you a reasonable CF bike in the sales and for a bit more more you can get a half decent Ribble built up. To say that decent CF bikes cost north of £10k is silly. My Saetta cost a grand and it has a Columbus frame and full CF Columbus fork and came with 105 and a half decent set of training wheels and there are plenty of comparable deals out there right now.

bmxboy10

For example....

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/battaglin-pro-team-105/
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p491 ... ITE-3-2013
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p490 ... ITE-3-2013
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p522 ... X-105-2013
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/giant- ... 14-p232651
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/giant- ... 14-p232666

I really think we get a bit carried away with the cost of cycling spiralling out of control. 4 years ago I knew a guy who spent £2k on a hardtail MTB and we all thought he was bonkers. Now £2k seems more than acceptable in terms of an amount of money to spend on a bike. For most people bikes like the ones above offer good value and will be all the bike they ever need.

letap73

solboy10 wrote:

Jules Winnfield wrote:

^^^^ That

I'm not averse to carbon, but I can't see the point of scrimping on a not so high quality frame just to say "I'm riding a carbon bike". Quality carbon fibre is not cheap, that's why the bikes ridden by pros are north of 10k.

What a load of rubbish! The OP states he is wanting to upgrade from a Triban. I agree that Alu frames should not be discounted but £1000 will get you a reasonable CF bike in the sales and for a bit more more you can get a half decent Ribble built up. To say that decent CF bikes cost north of £10k is silly. My Saetta cost a grand and it has a Columbus frame and full CF Columbus fork and came with 105 and a half decent set of training wheels and there are plenty of comparable deals out there right now.

+1

Carbon frames have been around for a while there are plenty of good bikes which have been discounted to close to that price limit which are very good - a "cheap" carbon frame now would have been highly praised and more expensive two or three years ago.

Jules Winnfield

solboy10 wrote:

Jules Winnfield wrote:

^^^^ That

I'm not averse to carbon, but I can't see the point of scrimping on a not so high quality frame just to say "I'm riding a carbon bike". Quality carbon fibre is not cheap, that's why the bikes ridden by pros are north of 10k.

What a load of rubbish! The OP states he is wanting to upgrade from a Triban. I agree that Alu frames should not be discounted but £1000 will get you a reasonable CF bike in the sales and for a bit more more you can get a half decent Ribble built up. To say that decent CF bikes cost north of £10k is silly. My Saetta cost a grand and it has a Columbus frame and full CF Columbus fork and came with 105 and a half decent set of training wheels and there are plenty of comparable deals out there right now.

You kind of proved me right with your replies of reasonable and decent and carbon fibre in the same sentences

Yes £1000 WILL get you a reasonable carbon framed bike..... Just like you say. But at what cost? I've know of people who have bought CF bikes in that £1000 price range but have complained that the bike wasn't as stiff as they thought it might.

And I didn't say that you need to spend 10k on a carbon bike, I'm just stating that there are different types of carbon fibre matting, some cheap, some not so cheap and some that you need to sell a kidney for..... Which is the stuff pro bikes are made from obviously. You seriously don't think that all carbon fibre is the same do you?

Up until a few years ago I was a massive carp fishing addict and my first carp rods were £50 carbon fibre Matt Hayes offerings, they felt good and done the job. A few seasons later I upgraded to some autoclaved Century NG's which cost 5 times as much as the Matt Hayes offerings, the difference in both was chalk and cheese.

I'm rambling now but I go back to my original point, personally for me (this is just my opinion) I can't see the point of scrimping on a not so high quality CF bike with lesser components just to say I have a carbon bike. Obviously our opinion differs and that's ok.

Jules Winnfield

I will add though the sales level the playing field some what. If you are lucky enough to get a good bike in the sales at knockdown price, then that will give you more bang for your buck.

SoSimple

Jules Winnfield wrote:

solboy10 wrote:

Jules Winnfield wrote:

^^^^ That

I'm not averse to carbon, but I can't see the point of scrimping on a not so high quality frame just to say "I'm riding a carbon bike". Quality carbon fibre is not cheap, that's why the bikes ridden by pros are north of 10k.

What a load of rubbish! The OP states he is wanting to upgrade from a Triban. I agree that Alu frames should not be discounted but £1000 will get you a reasonable CF bike in the sales and for a bit more more you can get a half decent Ribble built up. To say that decent CF bikes cost north of £10k is silly. My Saetta cost a grand and it has a Columbus frame and full CF Columbus fork and came with 105 and a half decent set of training wheels and there are plenty of comparable deals out there right now.

You kind of proved me right with your replies of reasonable and decent and carbon fibre in the same sentences

Yes £1000 WILL get you a reasonable carbon framed bike..... Just like you say. But at what cost? I've know of people who have bought CF bikes in that £1000 price range but have complained that the bike wasn't as stiff as they thought it might.

And I didn't say that you need to spend 10k on a carbon bike, I'm just stating that there are different types of carbon fibre matting, some cheap, some not so cheap and some that you need to sell a kidney for..... Which is the stuff pro bikes are made from obviously. You seriously don't think that all carbon fibre is the same do you?

Up until a few years ago I was a massive carp fishing addict and my first carp rods were £50 carbon fibre Matt Hayes offerings, they felt good and done the job. A few seasons later I upgraded to some autoclaved Century NG's which cost 5 times as much as the Matt Hayes offerings, the difference in both was chalk and cheese.

I'm rambling now but I go back to my original point, personally for me (this is just my opinion) I can't see the point of scrimping on a not so high quality CF bike with lesser components just to say I have a carbon bike. Obviously our opinion differs and that's ok.

Think your comments were spot on and I got the fact you don't need to spend £10k to get a decent bike.

If you read the reviews for the Canyon aluminium bikes, they often beat similar priced and even more expensive carbon so I wouldn't necessarily agree that carbon is always an upgrade from aluminium. You only need to look at Cycling Plus Bikes of the Year to see that the Giant has consistently been the best bike for £1k

Yes the sales level the playing field and of course you can now pick up something reasonable for around £1k, and that kind of money will get you a very nice upgrade from the Triban, but I'll bet it won't be a 'night and day' difference though.

natrix

Good review here of what you can get for £1000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJomKaACKNk

Matt Stephens compares aluminium framed bikes with a 'cheap' carbon one.........

You can get the planet x one that he reviews here: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FBPXSLPSHU ... -road-bike

bmxboy10

I went from an Allez to a Cayo a few years back and it was a night and day experience for me. The same can be said when I went from my Van Nic to my Saetta. Bottom line is its all very subjective but I feel a £1k CF bike with 105 or similar will be a huge leap when coming from the Triban.

dombhoy

what about wilier gtr with veloce full carbon and big sale on winstanleys

letap73

The BTWIN mentioned in the OP is an iteration of a Tour de france frame for AG2R in the past which actually won a stage therefore I would say its more than a decent frame. In the last few years a lot of R&D has been done on Carbon frames and the upshot of this is that some frames which were very highly rated a couple of years ago - BOTY winner Supersix, Defy & TCR composites etc are available as full bikes for circa £1000. In addition there seems a lot of happy punters who own carbon ribbles and planet x's.

kajjal

Best just to try bikes in your price range to see if a better spec is more important to you than a carbon frame. I found an aluminium framed bike suited my needs better. There are good bikes in the sales at the moment.

JasonB26

Wow! Thanks all for the replies. I think it's only confused me more though!!

Looks like I need to keep researching. How I'll make a decision though I've no idea. :?

poacher13

I do like the look of the B'TWIN Facet 5 ESR Carbon Road Bike thanks to your link! Not sure on that or the Ribble R872 now!

Jules Winnfield

SoSimple wrote:

If you read the reviews for the Canyon aluminium bikes, they often beat similar priced and even more expensive carbon so I wouldn't necessarily agree that carbon is always an upgrade from aluminium. You only need to look at Cycling Plus Bikes of the Year to see that the Giant has consistently been the best bike for £1k

SoSimple, my aluminium Ribble has had to have its frame replaced through warranty. Instead of having the same frame I've upgraded to a better alloy one. I did have the cash available to upgrade to a carbon one, but only the Pro EVO. But I decided against it for my reasoning in this thread. Besides I prefer a very good aluminium frame to a low end carbon one.

I did ask Ribble for a full refund before choosing a new frame but they said because the issue is with the frame and not the bike, they couldn't. If they did give me a full refund though then I had already chosen the bike I wanted and that's this bad boy.....

http://m.canyon.com/_en/details.html?bike_id=3333

You can't beat that spec for that price and the best thing is the bike is gorgeous too.

Jules Winnfield

poacher13 wrote:

I do like the look of the B'TWIN Facet 5 ESR Carbon Road Bike thanks to your link! Not sure on that or the Ribble R872 now!

I "think" the Ribble R872 is the same frame as a De Rosa, don't quote me on that though but I'm certain I read that on here.

poacher13

Yep, as far as i am aware it is from the same mould but a different lay up of carbon from what i understand. Maybe wrong so dont quote me on that!

JasonB26

Ok, so after much searching and debating I've bought something!

A second hand 2013 Trek Madone 3.5 in immaculate condition, it's been upgraded with full Ultegra groupset, Shimano WH-RS80 wheelset (also comes with the standard Bontranger wheels) and Bontranger carbon seat post. All for £1000.

So what do you think? Good buy?

Jules Winnfield

I haven't got any experience in Trek, but that sounds a good bike with a great spec, nice one mate. Enjoy

letap73

Its a good upgrade from the Triban - as Jules says - enjoy.

SoSimple

Jules Winnfield wrote:

SoSimple wrote:

If you read the reviews for the Canyon aluminium bikes, they often beat similar priced and even more expensive carbon so I wouldn't necessarily agree that carbon is always an upgrade from aluminium. You only need to look at Cycling Plus Bikes of the Year to see that the Giant has consistently been the best bike for £1k

SoSimple, my aluminium Ribble has had to have its frame replaced through warranty. Instead of having the same frame I've upgraded to a better alloy one. I did have the cash available to upgrade to a carbon one, but only the Pro EVO. But I decided against it for my reasoning in this thread. Besides I prefer a very good aluminium frame to a low end carbon one.

I did ask Ribble for a full refund before choosing a new frame but they said because the issue is with the frame and not the bike, they couldn't. If they did give me a full refund though then I had already chosen the bike I wanted and that's this bad boy.....

http://m.canyon.com/_en/details.html?bike_id=3333

You can't beat that spec for that price and the best thing is the bike is gorgeous too.

That's sure is a stunner and you're right, for the money nothing even comes close. Best thing is, they even have it in my size and in stock!

Just need to decide if the geometry is going to suit me, but if not, I've just noticed they are planning a version of this in the Endurace model.

Thanks for the heads up

JasonB26

Thanks all. It'll be a couple of weeks until I get my first ride on it, fingers crossed it delivers what I need!

HebdenBiker

Planet X Pro Carbon chap.

JasonB26

Just edited my post above as I realised I'd typed that it's a Trek Madone 3.1 but it's actually a 3.5!