What bike? <£500

nibnob21

Looking to upgrade from my 1970s Carlton, so really anything will be an improvement haha.

I mainly use my bike for commuting but although it's only 5 miles each way I always go as hard and fast as I can, so I want a bike that won't give up and fall apart too easily. On the flipside it would be good to have a bike that is also good for a more casual longer distance weekend ride. I'm thinking of buying around now to pick up a bargain before the better weather next year. Chances are I will carry on using the Carlton over the winter.

There are a few bikes I've got my eye on but narrowing it down is proving tricky. Obviously spending less and getting a decent bike is attractive, but if I have to stretch closer to £500 for the right bike I'll certainly consider it. Current options are listed below, I welcome opinions on any of them plus suggestions of any bike I may have overlooked. Thanks

Ridley R6 EL. Hard to find much info on it other than it fits big, but Tiagra for sub £500 can't be a bad thing.
http://www.merlincycles.com/ridley-r6-e ... 61377.html

Felt F95. An apparent obvious choice as reviews always seem positive. Was frustrated that I got paid a day too late to take advantage of when Merlin were selling it for £365 a few weeks back.
http://www.merlincycles.com/felt-f95-ro ... 72321.html

Mekk Pinerolo AL 1.0. Decent price at the moment, good reviews and surprisingly comes with Shimano R500 wheels.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mekk-pinerolo-al-10-sora-2013/

Saracen Tenet 2. The dark horse perhaps? If bought this weekend I can get it for £380.
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/281903/pr ... -bike.aspx

Buckie2k5

cannondale synapse or slightly racier caad8. I received my bike in 2 days from paulscycles few years ago can highly recommend.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p4330/CANNONDALE-SYNAPSE-ALLOY-SORA-2012

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5227/CANNONDALE-CAAD8-SORA-2013

antonyfromoz

it comes with Shimano Claris (8 speed) rather than sora but there is a limited edition version from Boardman at £499 - and you will get 10% off if you are a British cycling member - http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/r ... ition-2014

nibnob21

Buckie2k5 wrote:

cannondale synapse or slightly racier caad8. I received my bike in 2 days from paulscycles few years ago can highly recommend.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p4330/CANNONDALE-SYNAPSE-ALLOY-SORA-2012

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5227/CANNONDALE-CAAD8-SORA-2013

Thanks for the suggestions. The Synapse only has one size left in stock and I fear it may be slightly on the big side for me (about 5"10' - 5"11'). The CAAD8 stretches my budget just a bit far.

antonyfromoz wrote:

it comes with Shimano Claris (8 speed) rather than sora but there is a limited edition version from Boardman at £499 - and you will get 10% off if you are a British cycling member - http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/r ... ition-2014

Thanks for the suggestion. Really I'm looking at Sora as a minimum for the money I'm looking to spend.

letap73

This:

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant ... -2014.html

If you based nearby then this:

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek-1.5-c-2013.html

nibnob21

letap73 wrote:

This:

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant ... -2014.html

If you based nearby then this:

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/trek-1.5-c-2013.html

Unfortunately no where near haha, shame as that Trek seems a bit of a bargain!

mattmcv

I've recently bought a Vitus Razor VR - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitu ... prod107023 - pretty happy thus far but as a total newbie to road cycling I'd probably think anything was good as I have nothing to compare it to! Runs well for me, reasonably comfortable now I have the set up right for me (even on my totally shot local back roads). If you can get Tiagra though I'd recommend it from limited knowledge - mine has Sora and there are times I'd like another gear already for flat/downhill; may spec up next year sometime to something better but as a starter bike works for me.