Worth buying? Planet X Pro Carbon Ultegra?

olliestill

Hi thinking of buying the pro carbon with ultegra for £1000, just wondering if anyone had ridden one and had any general advice on whether or not to buy?

iron-clover

Depends what you want really. If you're after a carbon bike for the sake of carbon, and just want to buy once and forget about upgrades then yes, it probably is a good choice.

However, if you're after more of an investment frame to slowly add better components to then look away now. Although they aren't bad frames (a friend had one and got on well with it, and many thousands have them) but they aren't the best either- apparently they are quite flexy under powerful riders, but again lots of people like them.

Their value for money is superb, but if you're after a really nice bike then you'll probably end up "buying cheap and buying twice".

sloppyschleckonds

Ultegra is the ugliest groupset available today.

diamonddog

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19630744#p19630744]olliestill[/url] wrote:

Hi thinking of buying the pro carbon with ultegra for £1000, just wondering if anyone had ridden one and had any general advice on whether or not to buy?

I have one with SRAM , I also have a Canyon which cost well over twice as much, the Pro Carbon is just as much fun to ride plus it is ridden just as much as the Canyon.
I have had the Pro Carbon over 3 years now and never had a problem with it or regretted buying it.

cabbageandbacon

I bought the frame and built it up with the new 11 speed Ultegra groupset. Haven't regretted buying it either, I love it riding it more than the Specialized Venge I had a few years back.

Sam Kennedy

I got one with sram red when they had an offer on ~5 years ago, I love it, used it in sportives, road races, time trials, for training etc. A great all-round bike I've never had any problems with flex, but I'm not the most powerful rider either.

Not the flashiest or latest tech, but for £1k it will serve you well.

theraggyone

Ive had my pro carbon with sram rival 6 months now and have covered over 2000 miles on it without any issue. Its a great bike for the money , very comfortable and fast.Ive got mine down to 7.5kgs with a few small upgrades and my summer wheels.

Sometimes I look at other frames and drool over them and one day I will replace the frame and swap my components over but it wont be for a good few years as all I will gain is some extra stiffness,a few grams lighter and a more desirable name .besides my bike does draw quite a lot of positive/nice comments from people

Do I regret my purchase, not at all but there are a few other frames from planet x, dolan and ribble that I wish I had looked closer at as they are slightly more modern, the pro carbon is quite an old design now. My brother in law just got a ribble r872 and that looks like a weapon and does make me slightly jealous.

ravey1981

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19631794#p19631794]theraggyone[/url] wrote:

Ive had my pro carbon with sram rival 6 months now and have covered over 2000 miles on it without any issue. Its a great bike for the money , very comfortable and fast.Ive got mine down to 7.5kgs with a few small upgrades and my summer wheels.

Sometimes I look at other frames and drool over them and one day I will replace the frame and swap my components over but it wont be for a good few years as all I will gain is some extra stiffness,a few grams lighter and a more desirable name .besides my bike does draw quite a lot of positive/nice comments from people

Do I regret my purchase, not at all but there are a few other frames from planet x, dolan and ribble that I wish I had looked closer at as they are slightly more modern, the pro carbon is quite an old design now. My brother in law just got a ribble r872 and that looks like a weapon and does make me slightly jealous.

I would agree with this. I have one and I've owned it for 5 years, I built it up myself with ultegra sl (6650 although I have newer 6700 levers) which in my opinion is the last ultegra group that didn't look pants (I'm not a fan of the new chunky looking stuff). The bike is great and I love it but it is a dated looking frame now, the heavily sloping top tube looks odd next to newer bikes. I've never noticed any flex either but then I am a lightish rider at 67kg.

At some point I will probably ditch the frame and rebuild with something better. One of these with new ultegra is a very good bike, will be light enough and stiff enough for most people, but is it special? In my opinion, no.

balb0wa

I bought one in Feb with full ultegra for £799, changed the wheels to zondas, and changed the stem and seat and post.

Ive done about 400 miles on it, love riding it.

KheSanh

My wife has the Pro Carbon with Rival. She loves it. I've had a brief go and it was much smoother than my winter Alu framed bike. You can't go wrong with any of the groupsets in reality, it's just personal preference and if you want to pay a bit more for a lighter groupset. Ultegra, Force, 105 and Rival all operate perfectly well from my experience and won't let you down. If it was me I'd probably go for the Rival groupset with the Campagnolo Khamsin wheels for £900.

kangarouge

Had one for 6 years plus and have had no issues with the frame whatsoever. It's been an excellent buy and I've had so much fun riding it. I'm still riding it each weekend as my main bike, though I am just about to build another bike; something a little bit more modern looking.

I highly recommend both the frame and the groupset and believe it represents great value for money.