High end aluminium bikes

dean7879

Hi guys. I am after a new road bike. Currently riding a cannondale caad 8 which is a great bike.

Was gonna go carbon for my second bike but with a budgest of around 2k, could go to two and half at a push. Apparently a high end aluminum bike with top end components might be a better bet and outperform some low end carbon options.

So i have narrowed it down to a few bikes. With ultegra groupset, deda finishing kit and a 500-600 set of wheels, i should end up around the two grand mark

caad 10
kinesis athein
bowman palace
canyon al slx

What should i go for? Or maybe carbon is the way forward

Look forward to hearing your opinions

w00dster

I have Carbon, a mid range one, trek Madone 4.7 with high end carbon upgrades. Steel, Genesis CDF and entry level aluminium, trek Domane 2.0.
Each of my bikes is ride specific, the frame material is important but not as important as buying the right bike for your riding. I have a similar quandary as you, I'm thinking of relegating the Madone to winter/wet weather ride and buying a Caad 10, I've always been a fan. The Caad10 racing edition is the one tempting me.
The ultimate Al from Canyon also seems a good buy and seems to be well thought of on here. The Al SLX aero with Reynolds Assault and full Dura Ace is right on the top of your budget. The only change I'd want to make would be to swap out the aluminum bars, carbon bars make a difference in my opinion.
I'm currently working on Mrs W to let me get the Caad10, I have wheels, carbon seatpost, stem and bars just waiting for it.
I also used to ride an awful lot of Alu bikes at weekends visiting friends while my carbon bike was at home. My summary is top end Alu with better wheels/groupset but have enough cash for some carbon finishing kit to take away buzz.

pippi_langsamer-2

I have trouble finding fault with this deal:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBVIMITLTD ... td-edition

Even though I'm Shimano thru n thru, for that spec frame and Chorus, it's pretty unbeatable IMO.

You could probably get it with SRAM Force for similar price...

(Edit, it was actually this one I meant http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBVIMITELT ... -road-bike)

dean7879

i doubt we could go much wrong with a caad 10. never heard a bad word said

pippi never heard of that brand at all . looks a sweet bike though 8)

timothyw

The Canyon Ultimate-AL Di2 bikes here will be hard to beat:
https://www.canyon.com/en/outlet/list.h ... road-bikes

Spend the remaining budget on a great wheelset, use the Aksiums in winter.

dean7879

TimothyW wrote:

The Canyon Ultimate-AL Di2 bikes here will be hard to beat:
https://www.canyon.com/en/outlet/list.h ... road-bikes

Spend the remaining budget on a great wheelset, use the Aksiums in winter.

all great but all in the wrong size

timothyw

dean7879 wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

The Canyon Ultimate-AL Di2 bikes here will be hard to beat:
https://www.canyon.com/en/outlet/list.h ... road-bikes

Spend the remaining budget on a great wheelset, use the Aksiums in winter.

all great but all in the wrong size

Ah, the perils of being average sized.

To be honest with you, for your budget I'd have thought you'd be able to get a very decent carbon ultegra bike - given you've already got a quality alu ride in the CAAD8 I know that in your shoes I'd be wanting to try a carbon ride.

Without much shopping around on my part, the Genesis Zero 4 has full Ultegra groupset, decent Fulcrum wheels and a carbon frameset identical to that used by the Madison Genesis pro team, and it retails for £2k - this seems a world away from the 'low end carbon options' that people are generally warned away from (and are usually around the £1k mark).

With the deals that go around nowadays I'm sure you could find something even better for the money if you're prepared to take your time and shop around, perhaps even better if you want to take on the build yourself (or get it built up at your LBS) - Ribble's recent deal on the Merckx EMX-5 frameset for a smidge over £500 springs to mind (although I think they only had it in tiny and big sizes so perhaps no good to you!).

vortice

Cycling plus did a review about 18 months ago for Di2 bikes. All were carbon except the canyon which won the test. I bought my first non carbon bike on the back of that review and I haven't regreted it.

KonkyWonky

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago albeit my budget was only around the £1200 mark. I went for a Canyon AL and haven't regretted it, but with your budget I would be going for carbon.

dean7879

thanks for your input

believe me carbon is on my mind i could get a canyon slx for 2400 but worried about the durability of the frames. the canyon sl is another one ive got my eye on. too much choice 8)

robbo2011

you shouldn't be worrying about the durability of carbon frames. They are in reality very tough and won't wear out with normal use. They will probably handle minor knocks better than the high end aluminium frames which have tubes that are paper thin. it would be very easy to put a dent in these Al frames with just a small knock.

mrb123

dean7879 wrote:

thanks for your input

believe me carbon is on my mind i could get a canyon slx for 2400 but worried about the durability of the frames. the canyon sl is another one ive got my eye on. too much choice 8)

Plenty of manufacturers offer lengthy or even lifetime guarantees on carbon frames.

pippi_langsamer-2

Also worth noting that carbon is pretty "fixable", these days should the worst happen...

bomster

I'm in a similar boat. For me it's:

Kinesis Aithein build vs Canyon Ultimate CF.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the Canyon - and considering you already have a pretty competent ally bike I would go that way too.

Good luck with your decision .

Cheshire Cat

Specialized believe they are pushing the boat out with recent welding techniques for alu...this is worth a look and comes under budget:

http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... 60/15allez

markhewitt1978

dean7879 wrote:

Hi guys. I am after a new road bike. Currently riding a cannondale caad 8 which is a great bike.

Was gonna go carbon for my second bike but with a budgest of around 2k, could go to two and half at a push. Apparently a high end aluminum bike with top end components might be a better bet and outperform some low end carbon options.

So i have narrowed it down to a few bikes. With ultegra groupset, deda finishing kit and a 500-600 set of wheels, i should end up around the two grand mark

caad 10
kinesis athein
bowman palace
canyon al slx

What should i go for? Or maybe carbon is the way forward

Look forward to hearing your opinions

£2.5k would get you a very very nice good quality carbon bike with 11 speed Ultegra. Which is what I would be going for. No point in getting Aluminium if you have the budget for carbon - which you do.

Canyon are decent. I rode a Canyon Ultimate CF SL in Mallorca and I was very impressed with it.

Bar Shaker

Unless you really have a fetish for road buzz*, you would be mad to ignore carbon at your budget.

Plus the FEA modelled bottom bracket shapes will be many magnitudes stiffer than is possible to achieve with aluminium.

As for components, your budget will get you Ultegra or Force and possibly Di2.


* please don't think that a carbon seat post will stop any road buzz.

schlepcycling

Nice steel Genesis for £2.5k if your a 54cm or 56cm
http://www.londonbicycleworkshop.com/94150/products/genesis-volare-stainless-2015-ultegra-di2-silver.aspx

diamonddog

Canyon or Rose carbon, for your budget you could get the bike you want and possibly spend less than you need to.

gratziani

I have been looking at Canyon and emailed them about the Endurace CF but out of stock and no definite delivery times, great deals but do you want to wait and have no idea of when the bike will be yours ?

sloppyschleckonds

gratziani wrote:

I have been looking at Canyon and emailed them about the Endurace CF but out of stock and no definite delivery times, great deals but do you want to wait and have no idea of when the bike will be yours ?

Welcome to the Canyon business model

ai_1

Canyon are a good bet. Excellent bikes and great value.
That's the route i went (Canyon CF SL 9.0) and I haven't regretted it for a moment.

dean7879

Cheers guys leaning toward carbon now. I was only worried about the durability of the canyon slx model as i read a lot of the frames were getting cracked quite often

pippi_langsamer-2

For 2.5k you could also get either a Scott Addict or Foil with Ultegra, or for a smidge more, Addict with Ultegra Di2

(Westbrook do some decent deals)

bomster

Cheshire Cat wrote:

Specialized believe they are pushing the boat out with recent welding techniques for alu...this is worth a look and comes under budget:

http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... 60/15allez

Wow that seems like quite something for the money, the wheels alone are worth a nearly a grand.

Lovely looking machine too.

ai_1

dean7879 wrote:

Cheers guys leaning toward carbon now. I was only worried about the durability of the canyon slx model as i read a lot of the frames were getting cracked quite often

I think any cracking issues with the SLX were due to the seat tube cracking at the seat clamp when using the VCLS 2.0 seatpost. I haven't kept up with developments but I'd be surprised if this is not resolved by now. It would cost them a fortune to continue selling bikes with this known issue. The SL on the other hand has never had this problem that I'm aware of.

supermurph09

Canyon owner here, great bikes but I'd also give a big shout to the guys at Cycledivision, they have some great deals on Scotts and Cannondales.