Originally set of Kuota Kuraro, now seen new Giant Propel

jon_e00

Morning cyclists,

I'm hoping to purchase a bike over the winter. I mainly do long distance sportives and am looking for a carbon aero bike with an Ultegra groupset. I have Spinergy Stealth PBO wheels to put on the new bike and am coming from a 2007 Giant SCR 1.0 with 105 groupset.

I had originally decided to go for the Kuota Kuraro http://www.bike-science.com/products/kuota-kuraro-carbon-road-bike as I love the matt black design and general appearance of the bike. I've seen it with an Ultegra groupset online for around £2000.


I have since seen the new Giant Propel Advanced 1 2015 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/propel.advanced.1/19198/77273/ which has the new Ultegra groupset and the design has grown on me over the last week. It is price at £1650.


The Giant is considerably cheaper than the Kuraro but has a similar spec. Does anyone have an advice and reason why the Kuraro would be the better option even though it is £350 more.
Many thanks

cougie

So same groupset and you'll have your wheels on ? I dont think you'll notice much difference between the frames.
Go for the prettiest.

(although those cables on the giant are annoying me already !)

Percy Vera

Which one fits you better?

jon_e00

cougie wrote:

So same groupset and you'll have your wheels on ? I dont think you'll notice much difference between the frames.
Go for the prettiest.

(although those cables on the giant are annoying me already !)

I think the Kuraro is stunning... but every time I look at the Giant it gets prettier! As for the cables, I hadn't noticed them until now, thanks

jon_e00

Percy Vera wrote:

Which one fits you better?

I think I'm an XL in the Kuraro and a M/L for the Giant. I have unfortunately only seen a Large Kuraro and a Medium Giant. When I make the decision I'll have to travel to a dealer who has got my size in stock.

Bar Shaker

I am always interested by what attracts people to certain bikes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... and all that.

You don't say if you do club rides but for being able to use these bikes this winter, do either accept mud guards?

jon_e00

Bar Shaker wrote:

I am always interested by what attracts people to certain bikes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... and all that.

You don't say if you do club rides but for being able to use these bikes this winter, do either accept mud guards?

I find aero bikes with strong colours attractive. I like matt black but also the white/red of the Giant is taking my fancy.

I right with a club although the coming months will mean a lot of turbo. I'm looking for a new bike now as I'm aware of a number of sales/offers available although am in no rush.

StillGoing

Don't know whether it was one particular bike or a model issue, but a LBS had problems with the seat post clamp on the Propel they had on demo. It didn't actually meet all the way around the seat post resulting in the seat post slipping in the clamp during rides. Haven't been in there for a while to know if it was just that bike but may be worth checking if you go for the Propel.

mitchgixer6

Felt AR4?

http://www.cyclelane.co.uk/m4b48s6p6880 ... S_GB/24508

ai_1

mitchgixer6 wrote:

Felt AR4?

http://www.cyclelane.co.uk/m4b48s6p6880 ... S_GB/24508

Probably this, the Cervelo S3 or the new Canyon Aeroad SLX would be my choice if I was in the market for an aero bike but all 3 are significantly pricier than the two he's looking at.

mitchgixer6

The AR4 I linked to is this years model and is reduced from £2500 to £1999.

Or you could buy the AR1 frame for £1500 and add your own 6800 group for £450. You'd obviously be over by a wee bit once you add bars/stem/saddle etc, but it really is a cracking frame. Worth consideration if you're using your own wheels.

jon_e00

Thanks for the info and advice guys. Plenty of food for thought with a couple of alternatives thrown into the mix!

markp80

jon_e00 wrote:

I find aero bikes with strong colours attractive. I like matt black but also the white/red of the Giant is taking my fancy.

The Kuraro is also available in black/red/white and black/yellow/white is it not?

mamba80

I think the kuota kuraro is the better bike, I ve ridden both and the giant was bland and uninspiring, im not sold on the cable routing or those v brakes, the kuota in ultegra guise was fantastic, mega stiff but compliant too.

Its the frame I ve just ordered but with 5800 grp set, it is great to be able to customise your order to any degree.

jon_e00

MarkP80 wrote:

jon_e00 wrote:

I find aero bikes with strong colours attractive. I like matt black but also the white/red of the Giant is taking my fancy.

The Kuraro is also available in black/red/white and black/yellow/white is it not?

Yeah, I've definitely seen the black/red/white but I'm not sure whether the yellow is in the UK?

jon_e00

mamba80 wrote:

I think the kuota kuraro is the better bike, I ve ridden both and the giant was bland and uninspiring, im not sold on the cable routing or those v brakes, the kuota in ultegra guise was fantastic, mega stiff but compliant too.

Its the frame I ve just ordered but with 5800 grp set, it is great to be able to customise your order to any degree.

The customisation is a massive advantage and I'm still undecided but leaning towards the Kuota! :?

sah682

I've got a Kuota Kharma and can't fault it, it's great. Had the bike since may and cover plenty of miles.

Have you considered going SRAM. I went into my lbs to get a bike with ultegra they recommended I try SRAM force and I haven't looked back

Here's mine with the Spinergy wheels and SRAM force 22

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12969345&p=18874037#p18874037

jon_e00

sah682 wrote:

I've got a Kuota Kharma and can't fault it, it's great. Had the bike since may and cover plenty of miles.

Have you considered going SRAM. I went into my lbs to get a bike with ultegra they recommended I try SRAM force and I haven't looked back

Here's mine with the Spinergy wheels and SRAM force 22

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12969345&p=18874037#p18874037

That looks great! The Kharma is a fair bit cheaper than the Kuraro. I'm heading to my local Kuota dealer this week who will hopefully have one of each in stock for me to compare.

handful

I'm in the process of buying a Kharma, I liked it on paper and fell in love in the flesh. I rode one with 105 shifters which wasn't ideal for me because I'm used to the Sram double tap but it felt very very nice and persuaded me to go for it. I ordered it with the new Rival 22 set up. There are some cracking deals to be had by the way, not all Kuota dealers are aware of it as I found ringing around. Some are offering the Apex build for £1299 but you can upgrade from that with similar percentage discounts, e.g. 10 speed Rival for £50 more. I decided to go for the 22 speed and paid extra for the yaw technology but the 10 speed would probably have been fine. The discount is from the importers by the way so all of the dealers should have access to it so tell them to phone DHW for details. It was better for me that the savings are at source because I'm buying on cyclescheme at the sale prices.