£600 Road Bike Options

EpicFruit

Greetings! I'm looking to buy a road bike for commuting, fitness, and getting into cycling. My budget is £600 and I have found 4 viable options thus far. I would greatly appreciate some advice on deciding which to go with.

1. 2013 Specialized Secteur Sport Disc with Avid BB5 disc brakes and Shimano Sora. (56cm)

2. 2013 Specialized Secteur Elite with Shimano Tiagra. (58cm)

3. 2014 Specialized Allez Sport with Shimano Sora. (58cm)

4. 2014 Planet X RT-58 Alloy with Shimano Tiagra. (58cm)

As you can probably tell, I'm a Specialized fan, and would prefer to stick with Specialized unless a significantly better package is available for the same money. The Planet X RT-58 caught my eye because it gives me the option to customize parts such as crank and stem length to better suit my body geometry, and it is probably the most bike for the money out of this group.

I'm roughly 6'1"(185.5cm) and 185lb(84kg), and I figured that a 58cm frame would best suit me. The bikes in this chosen group are all available in 58cm frames except for the Secteur Sport Disc, which is only available in 56cm, but should still be fine for me.

With the Specialized bikes, I should get a more well-rounded package, but with Planet X, I should get better parts for the same money. So which of these would you recommend?

antsmithmk

A spesh with Tiagra for 600 seems like a good deal to me. You could keep that for a few years and recoup most of your money when selling on

dai_t75

Slightly over budget but saw this on wiggle earlier.. looks like a decent price:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-z85-105-2014/

zak3737

Or.......buy used ?
I picked up a Specialized Roubaix, 3yrs old, Carbon Framed, 105 Kit, pristine......for £690 recently.

The Secteur is the same geometry, so will be comfy, and yes, I'm sure you'll need a 58, I'm 5'11" and a 58 is perfect for me.
The Allez is a little more racey geometry, so perhaps try both before plunging in ?

EpicFruit

Thanks for the replies!

I've actually looked at a few 2014 Cannondale Synapse models, but the ones at around £600 or less were about on the same level as the Allez Sport, with Shimano Sora groupsets, so in that case I would rather go with the Allez.

The Felt Z85 with the 105 groupset is a nice find, and seems well spec'd for the price. I could probably stretch my budget a little to get the Z85. But how does it compare to the Tiagra options from Specialized and Planet X?

I've been looking in the second-hand market as well, but I haven't been able to find many good ones that are near where I live. Traveling to another city for a bike isn't an option for me, and most second-hand bikes require local pickup.

kajjal

I would think about where you are going to ride. If you need to brake suddenly alot in the wet when communting then you may find disc brakes much better than rim brakes.

I have Tiagra on my road bike and it works very well for me with smooth gear changes.

zak3737

Re Second Hand/Buying from Distance. - I bought my Roubaix from the other end of the country, and used a Bike Courier for £22.50 to deliver it.

Sure, I'd tried a Roubaix locally and knew it was right, and right size etc, and after seeing good photos, and speaking to the seller, was confident to buy it. Its pristine.

Limiting yourself to buying locally will close the possibility of buying used, but with care, it can be done, if you know what you want.

THE_GREAT_GONZO

^^
I'd possibly look at secondhand too at your budget. There's nothing stopping you going to Evans or any other LBS and trying a few 2014 bikes, find your size then buy a 2013/2014 bike secondhand. You'll get more bike for your money. There are always bikes for sale on eBay etc from folk who bought with the best of intentions back in January but rode it once or twice and it's an expensive dust collector now!

You'll also get a better deal looking at 2013/2014 bikes online; I bought a 2014 Trek Madone 4.5 two weeks ago. It was listed as €2300 here but I bought it for €1850 (the same bike was £2k in the uk and worked out for me after xe rates £1445). There are bargains to be had, even if it's not your 1st brand of choice bike you end up buying.

lostboysaint

Stop mucking about, up your budget by £150 and get one of these. Ridiculously good for the dosh.

EDIT: Ha linked the wrong bike first time - this is the one £150 more.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/alur-700-road-bike-id_8290145.html - full 105, great frame, good wheels.

£250 more gets you this, which you'd absolutely love!

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/mach-700-carbon-road-bike-id_8290154.html

rs6mra1

+1 for the Felt Z85. I would recommend take a closer look at it.
You get a full 105 groupset. Great bike and very comfortable.
Not that you are buying a bike to stand out but very few Felts about in comparison to Spesh........

hanhamreds

I've had my Felt Z85 for a week now and I love it!!!!!!!

The 105 groupset feels much better than the Sram Apex I had on my CX Team, front mech operation is sooooooooo much better - I still rate sram more for ergonomics though.

Matthewfalle

Spend £150 or so more and get a P/x carbon job with Rival in their current deal.

passout

Planet x pre buid options do look good. Merlin cycles own brand are also good value. I like this though & more or less on budget: http://www.probikekit.co.uk/bikes/gt-gt ... 68373.html

mcvw

passout wrote:

Planet x pre buid options do look good. Merlin cycles own brand are also good value. I like this though & more or less on budget: http://www.probikekit.co.uk/bikes/gt-gt ... 68373.html

That GT looks nice - frame looks similar to the 2015 Defy ALUX design too. However, I've no idea what GT road bikes are like - I know back in the 90's their MTB's (with the triple-triangle frames) were considered one of the top brands...

passout

I just bought a GTR series 4 as a winter trainer for about £360. Seems good to me - nice looking frame & forks. Ride is stable and forgiving. Handles well. I upgrades the brakes before taking her out.

passout

I just bought a GTR series 4 as a winter trainer for about £360. Seems good to me - nice looking frame & forks. Ride is stable and forgiving. Handles well. I upgraded the brakes before taking her out.

passout

This might help http://road.cc/content/review/48496-gt-gtr-series-2