new flat bar

infopete

We've been looking for a small flat bar for my wife and narrowed it down to a Specialized Vita Expert carbon EQ. But they are not sold in the UK. They are listed in France and Holland but are unavailable.

The Expert Carbon is shimano 105 and 11 speed at 1599 euros. However, there is a much cheaper Vita Elite, 9 speed Sora version at 1200 Euros.

The rate of exchange makes it great to buy in France at the moment and I get to go for lunch too.

Would my wife notice the difference with the Sora version?

Should we buy the cheaper one and upgrade to Ultegra?

arlowood

From personal experience and also from other comments on here, the new 105 5800 is quite a significant improvement from earlier incarnations. Some say it's as good as 6700 Ultegra.

I don't think buying the Sora bike and upgrading to Ultegra would be a good use of your hard earned. The 105 11-speed will be plenty good enough for her IMHO

infopete

The Vita Expert isn't available it's just a figment of the Specialized marketing department.

So my wife will have to have the tiagra version.

infopete

We've order a Specialized Vita Comp Carbon from France http://www.cycles-hermel.com Didier is very keen to get lots more English customers as he is so close to Calais.

The shop has been very friendly. We ordered it last Thursday and the bike is ready for collection (I get dinner in France and maybe a glass or two ).

It would have been £1400 over here but with the rate of exchange it's only costing £987.

I know we'll spend a bit fetching it but we're making a mini holiday of it and the coast road from Calais to Boulogne is lovely to cycle.