New bike dilemma...HELP!
4Junior4
Posts: 24
Hi all,
Just after some advice on my next purchase. I currently have a full suspension mountain bike and i'm looking to change to something lighter/quicker and more road orientated for fitness.
A few of my friends now have road bikes and we have started to go out on group rides and i'm struggling to keep up on my mtb. I find that I only really get to use my full susser to it's full potential once a year (if i go away on holiday), and tend to ride on the road 95% of the time. This has led me to the decision to buy either a road bike or a cyclocross bike.
My budget is around £550 so i'm now torn between two bikes:
A Giant Defy 2 for £525 (8.67kg)
A Boardman CX Team £550 (approx) (10.4kg)
My dilemma is it will be my first road style/drop handlebar bike, so the style of riding will be very new to me. I'm worried with getting a road bike I will miss being able to go off-road, hence the cyclocross option. However, the lightness of the road bike is very attractive (almost 2kg lighter) which makes me wonder whether it will be more enjoyable to ride (especially uphill) meaning I could ride faster for longer? I could go for the cyclocross bike and put road tyres on it saving some weight, but it would still be over a kilo heavier and no longer be able to go off road.
Has anyone come across this dilemma before and have some advice they could give from experience? Does anyone have a cyclocross bike and keep up with other road bikes? Or does anyone have a cyclocross bike and wished they'd bought a road bike?
Just after some advice on my next purchase. I currently have a full suspension mountain bike and i'm looking to change to something lighter/quicker and more road orientated for fitness.
A few of my friends now have road bikes and we have started to go out on group rides and i'm struggling to keep up on my mtb. I find that I only really get to use my full susser to it's full potential once a year (if i go away on holiday), and tend to ride on the road 95% of the time. This has led me to the decision to buy either a road bike or a cyclocross bike.
My budget is around £550 so i'm now torn between two bikes:
A Giant Defy 2 for £525 (8.67kg)
A Boardman CX Team £550 (approx) (10.4kg)
My dilemma is it will be my first road style/drop handlebar bike, so the style of riding will be very new to me. I'm worried with getting a road bike I will miss being able to go off-road, hence the cyclocross option. However, the lightness of the road bike is very attractive (almost 2kg lighter) which makes me wonder whether it will be more enjoyable to ride (especially uphill) meaning I could ride faster for longer? I could go for the cyclocross bike and put road tyres on it saving some weight, but it would still be over a kilo heavier and no longer be able to go off road.
Has anyone come across this dilemma before and have some advice they could give from experience? Does anyone have a cyclocross bike and keep up with other road bikes? Or does anyone have a cyclocross bike and wished they'd bought a road bike?
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Comments
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Thanks! That's a good thread.
Another thing putting me off with the road bike is calipers. I'm so used to disc brakes it feels like a step backwards? But road bikes with discs around the same price range tend to be the weight of the CX Team anyway.0 -
You won't run out of braking power if you fit a pair of 5800 or 6800 calipers and SwissStop Blue FlashPro BXP pads. Giant have realeased two Aluxx Disc brake bikes for 2016, but both are more than your budget.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/series/defy.disc/24968/0 -
got a defy 2 great bike good on hills comfy too0
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Rim brakes are poor compared to disc brakes especially in the wet but you would get used to them after a bit, just take it easy to begin with. If you already have a decent mountain bike a road bike will be fine unless the roads by you are really rough. Flat bars get uncomfortable after a while in the relatively fixed position on a road bike.
The controlled power and endurance from road biking is really helpful for my XC mountain biking and it keeps me fit over winter until the trails dry out again. The other advice i would give is get some bibs as they fit very well, are comfortable and in winter the bib tights stop your legs getting to cold.0 -
Giant have realeased two Aluxx Disc brake bikes for 2016, but both are more than your budget.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/series/defy.disc/24968/
The closest to my budget was a canondale synapse...possibly sora? £599.
I think for the same weight I'd rather have the CX team and have the flexibility of going off road.0 -
If I understand your post, you are getting rid of the full susser, so will have one bike? If that is the case a CX is probably a good choice as you say you still want to go off road. You can get an extra 10% off at Halfords if you are a member of British Cycling, you can also get money back if you sign up to topcashback.co.uk
BTW the smallest size road tyres you can fit to those Mavic XM319 rims is 28mm.0 -
If I understand your post, you are getting rid of the full susser, so will have one bike? If that is the case a CX is probably a good choice as you say you still want to go off road.
Yes that's correct, can only afford one bike.
I seem to get two different sets of advice.. Either the CX would be a great all-rounder and best of both worlds... Or the CX is a jack of all trades and master of none, either an mtb or a road bike would be far superior?0 -
Depends on how much road vs off road riding you think you will be doing. A CX bike will be a compromise, however you should be able to keep up with you mates on the road much better than with your full sus MTB, even though your CX is heavier than their road bikes.0
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Using rim brakes will just teach you how to stop a bike, they're not as good but they work and they're appropriate for road bikes. And don't get the wrong idea about weight, lighter is nicer to ride but unless your bike weighs 15kg (which modern road bikes typically don't), it's not going to actually impact on your riding as you're implying. I do most of my cycling on my old steel tourer which weighs 11.5kg odd, and the rest on my TT bike which is lighter but still a TT bike.0
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Hi all,
Just after some advice on my next purchase. I currently have a full suspension mountain bike and i'm looking to change to something lighter/quicker and more road orientated for fitness.
A few of my friends now have road bikes and we have started to go out on group rides and i'm struggling to keep up on my mtb. I find that I only really get to use my full susser to it's full potential once a year (if i go away on holiday), and tend to ride on the road 95% of the time. This has led me to the decision to buy either a road bike or a cyclocross bike.
My budget is around £550 so i'm now torn between two bikes:
My dilemma is it will be my first road style/drop handlebar bike, so the style of riding will be very new to me. I'm worried with getting a road bike I will miss being able to go off-road, hence the cyclocross option. However, the lightness of the road bike is very attractive (almost 2kg lighter) which makes me wonder whether it will be more enjoyable to ride (especially uphill) meaning I could ride faster for longer? I could go for the cyclocross bike and put road tyres on it saving some weight, but it would still be over a kilo heavier and no longer be able to go off road.
Has anyone come across this dilemma before and have some advice they could give from experience? Does anyone have a cyclocross bike and keep up with other road bikes? Or does anyone have a cyclocross bike and wished they'd bought a road bike?
A lightweight bike will definitely help with group riding. Lots of accelerating out of bends to hold a wheel as well as hills. This is completely different to riding a TT where the effort is largely constant. As regards to rim brakes I would say that if that is what the group is using then they are what you need. Having more powerful brakes than those around you could be problematic."You really think you can burn off sugar with exercise?" downhill paul0 -
The CX does seem like the sensible option, I just wish there weren't so many problems with them reading some of the other threads, its a bit off-putting!0
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Does anyone know why i'm not getting notifications that someone has replied to this thread? I have to keep coming back to check!
I've selected the option to notify me and they are not in my spam folder? :?0
