Commuting/Sportive bike

Jandres
Jandres Posts: 4
edited August 2015 in Road buying advice
Hello,

I’m looking for a new commuting bike/occasional recreation bike. My budget is £600 top. I’ve got a list, shown below, of my preferred bikes. As I’m a newbie, I would like your opinions about them, upsides and downsides, and any new suggestion would be more than welcomed.

Triban 540
FELT Z85 2015
FELT F85
Giant Defy 2 2015

Thank you very much! :D

Edited the post, as it was a bit confusing... :P

Comments

  • craigus89
    craigus89 Posts: 887
    That is confusing as hell. I couldn't decipher it but the Giant Defy has good reviews everywhere. Those bikes are all much the same, try them out and see which geometry suits you better.
  • Jandres
    Jandres Posts: 4
    Hi,

    Thanks for your comment. As you said, they are pretty much the same, then, my main question is about the components, between the Btwin and the Defy 2. I'd like to know what's a best compromise.
    - Btwin comes with 105 shifters, Prowheel Ounce 721 compact, 50x34 crankset, Tiagra 12/28 cassette and Mavik Aksium ONE wheels.
    - Defy 2 comes with full Tiagra, shifters, crankset and cassette, and Giant S-R2 wheels.

    Also, Btwin is 9.5kg in size M and Defy 2 is 8.67 kg in size S.

    What do you think is the best set up?

    Thank you!
  • londoncommuter
    londoncommuter Posts: 1,550
    Another one worth considering is:

    http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes/rt-58-alloy

    They were knocking out the Rival version for £500 a couple of weeks ago so might be worth hanging on to see if that happens again.
  • craigus89
    craigus89 Posts: 887
    They are VERY much the same. Both will perform well, the Mavic wheels may be slightly better than the Giant's but I'm not sure on that.

    As I said before, if it was me buying one of those two bikes, I would find the correct size of both and ride them to see which suited my body shape better and make my decision based on that. Unless I really preferred one over the other because of colour or for whatever reason.
  • dj58
    dj58 Posts: 2,224
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19673845#p19673845]Jandres[/url] wrote:
    Hi,

    Thanks for your comment. As you said, they are pretty much the same, then, my main question is about the components, between the Btwin and the Defy 2. I'd like to know what's a best compromise.
    - Btwin comes with 105 shifters, Prowheel Ounce 721 compact, 50x34 crankset, Tiagra 12/28 cassette and Mavik Aksium ONE wheels.
    - Defy 2 comes with full Tiagra, shifters, crankset and cassette, and Giant S-R2 wheels.

    Also, Btwin is 9.5kg in size M and Defy 2 is 8.67 kg in size S.

    What do you think is the best set up?

    Thank you!

    The Defy 2 is lighter and has a slightly lower low gear of 34T/F - 30T/R, which will be advantageous if you are riding hilly terrain. The Defy is limited to 25mm tyres and your are limited to using the Defy specific mudguards, SKS P35's will not fit, if you want mudguards. The Defy is supplied with 25mm tyres.

    The Triban as you say is heavier and has a low gear of 34T/F - 28T/R, though this could be swopped for a 12-30T cassette. The Triban will take up to 32mm tyres, 25/28mm with full type SKS mudguards, so good for extra ride comfort if you use appropriate tyre pressures, though oddly the bike is supplied with 23mm tyres.

    Arguably the 105 STI's and derailleurs look better than the Tiagra ones on the Defy, however both types will perform adquately when set up correctly. As advised by Craigus89 they are both good starter bikes, so go and try both of them, give them a good look over and buy the one that fits you the best and/or you prefer the look/feel of.
  • Jandres
    Jandres Posts: 4
    Thanks for your comments. I'll do as you suggest, I'll try the Giant and the triban.
    However, the PlanetX seems very nice aswell. Any comments on the SRAM system?

    Thanks again, I'll let you know when I make a decision :D
  • dj58
    dj58 Posts: 2,224
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19674224#p19674224]Jandres[/url] wrote:
    Thanks for your comments. I'll do as you suggest, I'll try the Giant and the triban.
    However, the PlanetX seems very nice aswell. Any comments on the SRAM system?

    Thanks again, I'll let you know when I make a decision :D

    I have not used a SRAM groupset so can't advise you other than, their are plenty of people on Bikeradar who have and like it, so I wouldn't let that put you off the PX bike.
  • cadseen
    cadseen Posts: 170
    Plus 1 for the Planet-X listed here : - http://tidd.ly/108635e7

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