Budget Bikes: Eastway vs Felt

mike147147

I'm currently looking to purchase my first road bike, I'm after an entry level bike and I'm on a budget.

Wiggle seems to be the cheapest website I've found in terms of spec:price ratio, on the cheap bikes a least.

I really like the look of the Eastway Sora, it's the cheapest road bike on the site, it uses a Sora group set and is very light for the price (9.4Kg).

The second bike i was interested in was the Felt Z100, it uses a Claris group set and weighs a little more than the Eastway (around a Kg I'm guessing, the next model up is 10.4Kg), but it does use a carbon fork.

I'm pretty sure the Eastway is the better deal as it uses Sora instead of Claris and is lighter, it doesn't have carbon forks but smooth shifting and weight is more important to me than comfort (I've have heard that carbon forks are more flexible and not as stiff as aluminium so absorb more shocks and thus provide a more comfortable ride).

Am I missing anything else? Any other reason to choose the Felt over the Eastway?

Also, for an extra £80 I can get a Tiagra group set and carbon forks on the Eastway. As a beginner will I even benefit from this? (Uses the same frame). I'd rather spend that money on pumps, tools, clothing that I'll need but I can stretch my budget if the benefits are worth it...

Another question I want to ask is:

I'm moving from a mountain bike fitted with slicks and flat pedals, eventually I want to get some clip less pedals and shoes. Should I get used to riding a road bike with flats before using clipless pedals? The road bike will be a big difference from the MTB and I'm thinking I should get used to that first before going clipless.

Thanks

borisface

Neither. I'd go second hand. Plenty of bikes with a much higher spec tiagra/105 which have been ridden twice then stuck in the garage for under £400. Have a look on ebay for giant defy, boardman, canondale caad, spec allez etc.

t4tomo

Decathlon 500SE is worth a look.

Yes get use to the whole road bike thing and then go with clip less pedals, or put some clip less pedals on your mountain bike and get used to them that way.

mike147147

It's a good idea and I was looking on eBay initially, but I haven't seen anything worthwhile locally yet, and I'm really impatient. I don't drive so my options on "pick up only" auctions are limited. The last time I got a bike from eBay I jumped on a train to the pickup point then rode home on the bike ( I got a great deal though).

Besides I heard someone say "yesterday's Tiagra is today's Sora" and "yesterday's 105 is today's Tiagra" etc. So if I buy a 2014 model with Tiagra wouldn't it be similar to the 2015 Sora? Do shimano release new models each year? I assume so... Is that saying even true?

mike147147

Going by that saying, does it mean that a 2013 105 is similar to a 2015 sora?.

mike147147

The Decathlon 500SE looks nice but the Eastway seems to have a better drive train and is lighter, not sure a triple chainset is necessary.

keef66

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19696881#p19696881]mike147147[/url] wrote:

It's a good idea and I was looking on eBay initially, but I haven't seen anything worthwhile locally yet, and I'm really impatient. I don't drive so my options on "pick up only" auctions are limited. The last time I got a bike from eBay I jumped on a train to the pickup point then rode home on the bike ( I got a great deal though).

Besides I heard someone say "yesterday's Tiagra is today's Sora" and "yesterday's 105 is today's Tiagra" etc. So if I buy a 2014 model with Tiagra wouldn't it be similar to the 2015 Sora? Do shimano release new models each year? I assume so... Is that saying even true?

They don't release a new version of every groupset every year, it's more like ever 4 years, but there is a grain of truth in there.
Sora used to be 8 speed, and downshifts done by a thumb lever which many hated. Now it's 9 speed and has the same 2 lever arrangement as the higher groupsets. I can see that the current Sora on my son's bike is very similar to the older 9 speed Tiagra I have on my winter bike
Tiagra's gone from 9 speed to 10, and the soon to be available Tiagra 4700 has also acquired concealed gear cables.
In the 8 years since I bought my 105 5600 equipped bike it's gone to concealed gear cables with 5700, and now to 11 speed with 5800.

I'd probably find the extra cash and go for the Eastway with Tiagra and a carbon fork. I definitely wouldn't want to ride a bike with an alu fork.

swannys

You dont say what size you need, but for £75 more this is available.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5227/CANNONDALE-CAAD8-SORA-2013

Last week they had a full range of sizes, unfortunately not now. Just got the 48 for my son who loves it.