Due an upgrade

Mas0n

Hi all,

Im after a bit of advice and i hope you dont mind me asking. I currently own a Felt F95 and was looking to upgrade to a full carbon bike - im doing a charity bike ride from South Wales to Paris in July so was looking to get a better bike for the ride (and to keep my F95 for the turbo).

Im looking to spend around £1600 on the bike and was looking for a carbon frame and fork and also a Ultegra groupset. Ive been having a look around and have 4 bikes that take my 'fancy'. They are:

1. Ribble Gran Fondo - with full carbon and Ultegra groupset and Fulcrum Racing Quattro Wheels

2. Giant Defy Advance 1

3. Giant Propel Advance 1

4. Cube Agree GTC Race

5. Boardman Pro Carbon

Has any one got any experience with these bikes? Or can any one recommend which bike is better etc. I was also thinking of changing the cassette on them for a 11-32, would this be worth it to help me with my charity ride?

Thanks for reading this, you've probably had many topics similar to this in the past, and for that i do apologise.

Many thanks.

stepdavi

ive got a PROPEL ADVANCED 1, only done a couple of hundred miles on it before the winter kicked in but very impressed with ride, ultegra 11 speed is massive improvement over 6700 i have on my trek. its 52 36 (semi compact) chainset with 11-28 cassette may not give you the 34 - 32 gear your looking for though.

jameses

I don't think you're going to get a bad bike with that sort of money, any of the above should do you nicely so long as it fits!

FWIW, I (like many around this forum) have a Gran Fondo and absolutely love it. Super comfortable, even at 100+ miles, and would weigh in easily sub 8kg with the setup you have chosen. I would probably put some slightly better wheels on (should still be within budget) - Zondas are quite highly rated, 200g less than the quattros and only £60 or so more on the bike builder. Make sure you put some decent rubber on, whichever bike you go for!

cadseen

Gran Fondo gets my vote

http://tidd.ly/c14d03ef

Mas0n

Many thanks for your replies. My LBS has got the Cube and both Giants in stock at the moment, I think I'll pop down there to look at them.

Does any one know if I can drop a 11/32 on any of those bikes with out changing other components?

arlowood

Mas0n wrote:

Many thanks for your replies. My LBS has got the Cube and both Giants in stock at the moment, I think I'll pop down there to look at them.

Does any one know if I can drop a 11/32 on any of those bikes with out changing other components?

You'll almost certainly need to swap the rear derailleur. 11-32 requires the medium cage and I'm pretty sure all the above will have the short cage fitted.

You may also need to lengthen the chain but check it first - you may get away with it.

mfin

Somebody posted this a couple of weeks ago. Can't vouch for it, but is one example of the potential value of some of these bikes. Better groupset, wheels that wouldn't really need upgrading, a lot lighter than some of the ones you've mentioned at close to 6.5kg, so if the frame isn't cack (I'd think pretty unlikely?) it could be good value. You can choose 11-32.

Might be worth trying to find out more? Supposedly there's a UK rep in Bath too.

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-x-lite-crs-4400

6wheels

mfin wrote:

Somebody posted this a couple of weeks ago. Can't vouch for it, but is one example of the potential value of some of these bikes. Better groupset, wheels that wouldn't really need upgrading, a lot lighter than some of the ones you've mentioned at close to 6.5kg, so if the frame isn't cack (I'd think pretty unlikely?) it could be good value. You can choose 11-32.

Might be worth trying to find out more? Supposedly there's a UK rep in Bath too.

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-x-lite-crs-4400

I couldn't quite believe it when I had a look...fabulous deal.

mfin

Only thing that stands out to me on the spec as a shame is the mono-link seatpost, as that limits saddle choice. But pretty much everything on the spec otherwise seems very good. I only noticed it when someone else posted it and I thought the same thing, it sounds like a very good deal on the face of it.

Wheels seem pretty good for a standard spec at this price too, and quite light at 1520g, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dt-swiss-r20-dicut-alloy-road-wheelset/. That could save an upgrade being needed later.

prhymeate

mfin wrote:

Only thing that stands out to me on the spec as a shame is the mono-link seatpost, as that limits saddle choice.

You can change the seatpost to a rail clamp version at no extra cost.
I can't say enough good things about my experience with Rose, I just wish it were easier to try out different models/sizes.

ai_1

The Rose X-Lite CRS looks like great value with the added bonus of being able to modify the build to your preferences. I was going to suggest the Canyon Ultimate CF SL 9.0 as another option but just checked the price to the UK and it's not nearly as good value buying in sterling as in Euro at the moment so would come in over budget.