Help me buy a road bike (£1500 budget)

KenKennedy

Hi everyone!

After receiving great advice and feedback previously when I was looking to purchase a MTB I thought it would be ideal again to get your knowledge and experience on purchasing a road bike that will suit my needs. Not gonna lie here, I've never been on a road bike in my puff so if you think my budget is silly or over the top let me know. It probably is but I'm prepared to spend £1500 on 0% finance.

I've always been more of a downhill and MTB man. My cycling buddies all seem to favour the roads these days and I'm getting fed up trying to beat strava times on a 12kg MTB with 29 X 2.25 tyres . I've also been invited to be part of a team of 6 to have a shot at the Le Mans 24 hour race in August so I feel obliged now to buy a road bike.

In terms of usage, I'd hope to be out 3 or 4 times a week, averaging around 90 miles a week give or take. I'd like to give my mates something to think about when it comes to strava segment times.8) I occasionally do 100 mile rides but it includes breaks as there's ferry crossings. I'd say maximum non stop rides would be 4 hours but on average a lot shorter.

As I mentioned, I'm going the finance route so unfortunately that rules out some great bikes such as Canyon, Rose, etc.

One thing I'm concerned about is the transition over. Clip on pedals, no disc breaks. I'm so used to disc breaks I'm tempted to buy a road bike with disc breaks. I know it would be heavier but how much would it really hold me back? Significantly?

If you guys can give me any advice and help me get good value for money it would be greatly appreciated. If you think I'd be better with an older model with better spec, please advise. Any feedback would be great. Thank you.

Danbob312

What are the roads like where you live? Bumpy? Smooth? HIlly? Flat? You really don't need discs unless you plan on riding in foul weather often...I say go for something aluminum so you can get your parts spec up such as a trek emonda ALR or cannondale caad10...You can get a lot more bang for your buck with an alloy frame and great components. You can always upgrade all the parts to a carbon frame later if you love road cycling. The best alloys are every bit as light and good as carbon...just less expensive. Alloy might ride just a tiny bit more rough, but if you have wider tires and good bar tape on it, it will be very bearable. A really decent carbon bike would cost you in the neighborhood of 2200-2500 us dollars. The same bike in aluminum would be right around 1500-1700 dollars. Add a couple hundred on for disc brakes and thru axles if they are even an option. If you have to have discs, look at the Giant Defy, Trek Domane, or Specialized Rubaix. All great bikes. I just purchased a Domane 4.5 without discs to keep the price at that 2600 dollar range. Of course I already purchased some upgrades for it, but I felt like sacrificing discs for lighter weight and a better drivetrain was well worth it.... I ride xc mountain as well, and I would have to say that the road mindset is totally different. Dare I say my mountain bike only goes out in the woods about 10x per year ever since started riding road 5 years ago!

Forgot to add that on a road bike, fit is EVERYTHING!!! If you are not comfortable, you will be miserable. A cheap, perfectly fit road bike is fifty times better than a pro-spec, horribly fitting bike. Make sure you get the best fit possible from a knowledgeable staff member at your shop. Do not listen to any friends who tell you that your stem must be slammed and bars need to be low...trust me.

kajjal

As above on a road bike you ride in a fairly fixed position compared to a mountain bike so bike setup, sizing and fit is very important. I came to road biking from mountain biking and found rim brakes very poor which is why my new bike has hydraulic disc brakes. Road bikes vary from head down racing bikes like the specialized tarmac, to more upright comfortable bikes like a specialized roubaix to more rugged bikes like a specialized diverge. Other brands have similar road bikes.

I bought a diverge as i wanted something smooth, capable of smoother off road trails and had hydraulic disc brakes ( r785's based on XT disc brakes.). It is good for long distance riding and handles rougher roads well. Compared to a more traditional road bike in my experience it is faster downhill, similar on the flat and a little slower uphill. You can test ride bikes in good bike shops which will help.

kingrollo

Current Kuota Kiran looks a nice bike for the money.

bendertherobot

Disc brakes would be marginally heavier overall. Unless you're looking at marginal gains don't worry about the weight they add. Just wonder whether you want them. My personal view is that if you have a stable of bikes, then your summer best bike might as well be rim brakes, light and fast. But if you can only have one good road bike it makes sense to have discs as they are better, generally, in the wet. Your wheels will last a lot longer. You'll be more inclined to go out if you know that you have that extra bit of control. But many manage quite happily with rim brakes in the wet.

£1500 is a damn good amount. You'll do well with that. Usual thing goes, you'll get your pick of carbon/alu, a good groupset choice and so so wheels. Here are some to have a look at:

https://www.evanscycles.com/jamis-reneg ... e-EV245159

Nice frame, good groupset, very good (semi hydro brakes), ok wheels, great tyres. You'd be surprised how far off road you can go with that, and happily set Strava times on it (though the tyres are best suited to the rough stuff and you might fancy swapping them to, say, Schwalbe S-One)

https://www.evanscycles.com/cannondale- ... e-EV239394

Arguably a purer and faster bike than above, still with discs, less tyre clearance, wheels still so so. Full hydro.

https://www.evanscycles.com/cannondale- ... e-EV239395

the same bike but with normal brakes. Bit cheaper, probably no faster. Arguably better wheels just because they're lighter. Though still absolutely entry level.

https://www.evanscycles.com/cannondale- ... e-EV239390

Fancy some carbon? the Six is a great bike. 105 a great groupset. Wheels are entry level but actually very good. That chainset is excellent.

I've only chosen Evans as they do finance and it was easier to cut and paste them all. I've picked the above as representative of the types of things out there. There are loads more. If you fancy discs we can narrow it down. If you don't we can discount them.

And then we just need to decide what your favourite colour is.

alan_sherman

If you need finance then worth seeing if your employer does the cycle to work scheme. Will limit the suppliers a bit but should be cheaper. Check if the Le Mans event allows disc brakes (i expect it will). If you want to start 'proper' British Cycling racing then you can't use disks yet, possibly 2018 they will be allowed.

mrb123

http://road.cc/content/review/180536-bo ... carbon-slr

This looks a pretty impressive package for the money. Full carbon frame, excellent groupset and wheels. I believe that Halfords currently have 10% off bikes and you can get a further discount if you have British Cycling membership.

alex222

MrB123 wrote:

http://road.cc/content/review/180536-boardman-road-pro-carbon-slr

This looks a pretty impressive package for the money. Full carbon frame, excellent groupset and wheels. I believe that Halfords currently have 10% off bikes and you can get a further discount if you have British Cycling membership.

I'd be tempted by this in light of what the OP has detailed.

galatzo

Alex222 wrote:

MrB123 wrote:

http://road.cc/content/review/180536-boardman-road-pro-carbon-slr

This looks a pretty impressive package for the money. Full carbon frame, excellent groupset and wheels. I believe that Halfords currently have 10% off bikes and you can get a further discount if you have British Cycling membership.

I'd be tempted by this in light of what the OP has detailed.

Nice deal at the current price
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/r ... -_-TopLink

Boardmans latest makeover makes them a whole lot more appealing IMO

What size bike are you looking for and whereabouts are you located ?
It'll help us lead you to something quicker than just shouting names of bikes out we like.

lakesluddite

If you are used to disc brakes, and in particular Hydraulics, then there's no reason why you shouldn't go down that route with a road bike. You should be able to find plenty of options for the budget, I'm guessing mostly based on an alloy frame, but there could be the odd carbon frame hydraulic disc brake bargain going somewhere, especially if you can stumble on a 2015 in your size somewhere. I have a Specialized Roubaix SL4 Elite Disc, which is carbon frame/hydraulic brakes, but I got the 2015 model for a discount - the 2016 retails for around £1800 now.
Also look at Ribble and Planet X to see what you can get for the £1500 (quite a lot usually), if this works with the 0% finance you are thinking of.

Welcome to the Dark/Light Side (delete as applicable!)

KenKennedy

Thanks for the responses. To be honest I think I'm already leaning towards disc breaks but will still keep my options open. I should have said initially, but I'm up in Scotland and the roads around my area are pretty rough. The weather for the most part is miserable but I tend to go out in all weathers anyway. I also enjoy climbing but what goes up must come down hence why I'm leaning towards disc breaks. I'd be shitting myself coming down some of the roads up here.

Apart from the Le Mans race, which we won't be taking too seriously anyway I won't be participating in competitive races. It's more just competitive banter with mates regarding strava times.

Also I'm self employed so no cycle to work schemes I can take advantage of.

I like the look of the Cannondale CAAD12 105 which is right on budget. 8) Thanks for the feedback, any more suggestions would be appreciated.

bendertherobot

Yeah, sounds like discs to be honest Ken, if this is the main road only bike:

PX are definitely worth looking at as well, this is super value:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBRTD90CMP ... -road-bike

and, to confuse you more, this would be a very fast bike on 28c tyres, but allow you a lot of room if you ever did some off road stuff as well (but you already have a MTB of course)

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBVISBRIV2 ... ravel-bike

Once you've decided on discs it's really whether you want something full on race (arguably the Caad12), pretty much race (something like the Synapse disc) or full on do it all (like the Viner above).

PX do some good finance deals as well.

Magem

Consider the Trek EMonda ALR 6. Aluminium frame but very light for the money. Complete with full Ultegra groupset.

mrb123

If it's got to be discs then a Synapse disc would be a good option as mentioned above.

Another Boardman here, this one with discs,
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/r ... arbon-bike

A left field choice maybe a Genesis Datum 10 if you can stretch the budget a bit.

My other half got herself a 2015 Pinnacle Arkose from Evans which is a really tidy looking bike and very versatile. Full hydro discs.
https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ar ... e-EV244110

lakesluddite

Kind of guessed you were North of the Border given your vernacular in the original post! I'd never have known 'puff' meant 'life' unless I'd watched Trainspotting all those years ago!
As for the roads, trust me it's not just up there where they are dire, most councils around the UK can't afford to keep them up to standard if you believe the contributors to this forum. I can tell you for a fact the roads in Cumbria are no billiard tables either.
Given this, you may want to research the various innovations that some road bikes have these days. I know my Spesh has shock-absorbing inserts in the forks/stays and seatpost, and the Trek Domane has something similar - these can make a real difference, along with their more 'relaxed' geometry on longer rides. These tend to have sloping top tubes and taller headtubes so that you ride slightly more upright. The aforementioned Synapse is also in this 'sportive/endurance' bracket, and always has good reviews, and comes in Alloy or carbon depending on budget. The CAAD12 you mention, although an excellent Alloy bike with excellent hydraulic discs, is more on the 'racy' side - but that doesn't mean necessarily that it won't be comfortable, wider tyres and lower tyre pressure can also improve comfort. Lovely bike mind, I'd have one if I had the cash/room!!
As with any purchase of course you will need to hoy your leg over it and try it out first. And a Bike Fit, although potentially pricey, could be well worth it if you're not used to road bikes.

KenKennedy

Oh boy, I'm more confused now than ever! There's so many options The Plantet X bikes look tasty too.

Thanks LakesLuddite for the info, appreciated. I'm exactly 6'0 for what it's worth. How much is a bike fit roughly? It's probably a good idea to get one when I finally decide what I'm going for. Does the Synapse have discs, can't seem to find it?

I know its minus the discs but the Boardman Road Pro Carbon SLR on paper looks terrific value also. :shock:

852Kompol

KenKennedy wrote:

Oh boy, I'm more confused now than ever! There's so many options The Plantet X bikes look tasty too.

Thanks LakesLuddite for the info, appreciated. I'm exactly 6'0 for what it's worth. How much is a bike fit roughly? It's probably a good idea to get one when I finally decide what I'm going for. Does the Synapse have discs, can't seem to find it?

I know its minus the discs but the Boardman Road Pro Carbon SLR on paper looks terrific value also. :shock:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b65s6p66 ... 105-5-2016
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b65s6p66 ... c-105-2016

Here's the disc one, I have embraced the disc early as well(Shimano-Hydraulics), felt excellent the stopping power with 160mm rotors.
I might suggest a Defy DIsc at this price range as well...just more to confuse you.
I am not even 30 so I tend to run my bike almost rock solid with 23c clinchers at 115psi... might not be good for everyone, but you might wanna go 25 or even 28 if you are not that shock-proof. :P

Bike fit might be better once you go clipless and embraced tight lycra... with normal flat pedals I don't see much point since you're constantly shifting about than in a stable position. Just get one that's your size(with accordance to your measurements of course) and fit it later-on once you get used to it and started clipping in.