First road bike options under a £1000

crazymac680

These are two options I found.
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-road-team-carbon-bike
£680 with my cycle to work scheme

Or this felt f6 for £779
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f6-2015/
Wiggle do 18 month interest free finance

Both carbon frames
The boardman has a slightly better groupset but slightly heavier
The F6 makes a big deal about its race position. Will I find it uncomfortable?
Which bike has the better wheel set?
I'll be cycling for fitness but will pushing myself to get good times on known local routes 20 - 60 miles.
Thanks for any advice you can give.
Daniel

dj58

The Boardman has semi-endurance geometry whereas the Felt is more race, whether you could get on with it depends on how flexible you are.

The Boardman has a better gear range 12-28T for hilly terrain, the 11-25T cassette on the felt would be ok for flat terrain, though still hard for a beginner unless you already have another bike and have a good level of fittness. You can swop the cassette on the felt for a 12-28T or 12-30T for not much money.

Both the wheelsets will be dependable the ones on the Felt are tubeless ready if that matters to you, both appear to be 28H F / 32H R.

crazymac680

That's great thanks. I am a bit stiff in the hamstrings so maybe I should avoid the race geometry.
I did a 60 miles on my mates raleigh air light http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-airlite-200-sora-2012/
I was pretty comfortable but not sure how this geometry could be described?
Not sure I would need tubeless wheels.
The felt also has internal cabling.

dj58

When I said it depends on how flexible you are, I meant in your back as to whether you could adopt a lower handle bar setup.

In the felt range the equivalent to the Boardman and Raleigh Airlite would be the Z Series bikes Z75/Z85/Z95.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-z75-2015/
Carbon http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-z6-2015/

crazymac680

They both look great but the carbon is out off my price range and the other isn't in my size.
I do live in a very hilly area so the boardman extra teeth may help. That said. I've never thought to myself. I wish I had a easier gear.

crazymac680

Think I've found a new option
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Defy-0-2015-Road-Bike_73907.htm
Not carbon but better groupset and just as light.
This might be better as I can't imagine spending £500 upgrading a tiagra groupset to ultegra in the future.

SoSimple

I'd already started typing a reply saying not to get hung up on a carbon frame as the money youre talking is at the bottom end of the price range for carbon and weight wise there will be nothing in it, and then you found the Giant!

Of the 3 bikes, the Felt is probaby the best looking but the Giant is a lot of bike for the money and has the more relaxed geometry. Its a curious - but good -mix of group set, although I'd be tempted to upgrade the calipers and brake pads as funds allow to either Ultegra or 105 for a significant improvement at fairly low cost.

dj58

I have the 2013 Defy 0 10sp pre D-Fuse frame model, If you can pick up the 2015 model that is the correct size then you won't be disappointed. They seem to be going for around £800 now.

Your first upgrade should be Ultegra BR-6800 brake calipers c/w SwissStop Blue BXP pads.

crazymac680

That's great thanks
So it's the boardman team carbon
Or the giant defy 0. Halfords can get me both bikes. £679 through cycle to work.
My local bike shop says to go carbon to future proof and he thinks carbon is stronger.
I'll be borrowing some bikes this week to see what features I like best.

doug5_10

Ribble, for the same-ish money you will get:

Full groupsets, not a mix and match with unbranded brakes
Proper Wheels
Decent finishing kit

smwatson90

CAAD10 with 105 for £799 on Wheelbase. Don't buy them all though, I want one...

crazymac680

That caad10 looks like a great deal. Hopefully it's still available next month when I get my voucher. I love the idea of the ribble but I'll have to check if halfords will get a bike from them.

grenw

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19686297#p19686297]DJ58[/url] wrote:

I have the 2013 Defy 0 10sp pre D-Fuse frame model, If you can pick up the 2015 model that is the correct size then you won't be disappointed. They seem to be going for around £800 now.

Your first upgrade should be Ultegra BR-6800 brake calipers c/w SwissStop Blue BXP pads.

Or some decent tyres. Have had mine for a couple of months now. Great bike and just eats up the miles

banditvic

The CAAD 10 is a bit of a no brainer.
Would have thought it would have its own thread by now.

mrb123

Cannondale Synapse carbon with 105 for a grand at Wheelbase too.

mawashi

I'm curious why the planetx series of bikes aren't included?
With the cycle to work scheme won't their carbon frame road bikes be even more affordable?
And these guys come with proper ultegra or sram force groopsets.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPFOR22/planet-x-pro-carbon-sram-force-22-road-bike
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT6800/planet-x-pro-carbon-shimano-ultegra-6800-road-bike

It's too bad you missed the weekend sale for the RT80 which was just a little more than £1k.

Pegboy61

I looked at the Planet X bikes on the C2W scheme, but got put off by the fact they charge 10-12% admin fee.

JesseD

Of all the bikes mentioned its the CAAD10 for me every time, followed by either the Felt or the Giant.

Your local bike shop doesn't have a clue what they are going on about if they advise you to buy carbon to future proof it - what a load of rollocks!

High-end aluminium as in the Cannondale will be better than most low to mid end carbon bikes in almost all areas, stiffer more responsive, more comfortable, and stronger.

I have a Felt Z75 and to be honest its a fine bike, when I was buying it I also considered the Giant as well as they got good reviews too, in the end I got a better deal on the Felt from a LBS. I am now on the look out for a race bike and the CAAD10 is top of my list because of what I have mentioned above, no point in buying a cheap carbon frame when for the same money I can get a high end Aluminium one which will out perform it in every area.

If you are worried about position as well, you can alter the position of almost all bikes by putting/taking away spacers from under the stem, raising/lowering the seatpost and changing the length of the stem.

My personal advice would be buy the one you like the most in the your size, get the right position and enjoy!

SoSimple

Agree the Cannondale makes this a no brainer....unless you're tied in to Halfords!