2nd bike buying advice..

rhysyd

I bought a btwin triban 500 SE for £379 in September (http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-s ... 06187.html) and ive rode around about 1.5k miles on it and to be fair ive enjoyed most of them and ive had no problems what so ever. But now ive got the bug and im spending more time in the saddle ive been looking to upgrade around about the £1k - £2k mark and its come down to this one..
http://www.canyon.com/en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3581

The spec and weight for that price are the main factors for me, although i know i can't test ride it and canyon are based in Germany which could be abit of a pain if I had problems.

1. Would i noticed them much of a difference riding my b twin compared to the canyon? The btwin weighs around the 10.5kg mark with all my bits.

2. Is the canyon a good buy?

Cheers lads

How Far is too Far

I have a Canyon CF SL and managed over 7,000 trouble free miles on it since January this year until I put it away for the winter. The bike rides lovely and most/all Canyons are very good value.

A for difference it should be a little better on the climbs and be a bit stiffer when putting power through it. I dont think you will be disappointed.

gethinceri

If you're down in South Wales come and have a spin on my Rose, another German online retailer.

iron-clover

Strangely enough I'm very seriously contemplating buying the Ultimate AL slx as my second road bike as a step up from my 2011 Trek 1.1.
I know someone with the older Ultimate Al (slightly heavier frame but otherwise the same) and they love it, saying its nice and stiff but not uncomfortable either (pretty much echoing the BOTY review).

If what they say is true then the difference between your triban and the Canyon will be like night and day given the great wheels and component package as well. I'm hoping to be able to ride one at the London bike show in February to make sure it is as responsive as they say. If it doesn't flex like my Trek does then it should be a pretty responsive ride- I also have an old alloy TT bike that is very stiff, and even with the same wheels it makes a huge difference when climbing or sprinting which I'm hoping to see with the Canyon.

The reason I'm looking at the Al rather than the CF is because it has the nicer components (and overall lower weight!) for the cost and the frame is cheaper to replace if I smash it in a race so I won't be tempted to keep it safe in the stable on race days.

If I wasn't planning on racing then I would probably be looking more towards their Infinite Al CX bike (hydraulic disks for the same cost!) or their endurance model for a slightly more comfortable ride.

It would be great to hear people's experiences with these bikes though- it will help with my decision making as well as yours!

rhysyd

I'm up North wales gethin,

I think I'm gonna see our these winter months and bite the bullet and order an Al. I've had about 2/3 offs and my garage is full of clutter so things always getting battered and I don't think a CF would last very long! But say 1/2 years down the line I fancy starting to get into racing is the AL up for the occasion?!

iron-clover

rhysyd wrote:

But say 1/2 years down the line I fancy starting to get into racing is the AL up for the occasion?!

Most definitely- it was rated higher than the CF in the BOTY 2014 for best racing bike and a clubmate raced his older version with a 1st cat racing license a couple of years back.

I'd be buying one for the main intention of using it as a racing machine, rather than for general cycling or sportives etc.