Budget £9k, choose me a bike.

Vslowpace

I'd be getting a Bianchi Specialissima with SR EPS although you'll need to find some cash to make up the difference.

rick_chasey

Might have to find £500 down the back of the sofa:

http://road.cc/content/review/115400-st ... -road-bike

rick_chasey

Club mate rides one of these.

http://www.legend-bikes.com/

Fairly sure they fly over a tailor from Italy to size you up.

rank_amateur

I'd spend the first few quid going to the Bespoked hand made bicycle show at Bristol next weekend. The other £8900 and whatever would soon be taken care of.

gweeds

Off the shelf for £9k - sod that

Has to be custom

cycleclinic

First of all if you have that money to spend give me a call but seriously if you have £9k to spend on a bike don't until you know what you want.

No one should be telling you what to buy. Make an informed choice otherwise you could be disapointed.

I have spent more on my Look this year than I have ever spent before on a bike. Until this year though I was not comfortable with spending that much on a bike. I have finally worked out what I wanted. It has taken me 5 years and no input from forums.

all of the suggestions above are fine but pointless as no one know what the OP (not even himself really wants)

Going to shows is a first step then finding that bike you lust after is the next step then workout how much you have to spend to buy it and bingo you'll be happy.

PTestTeam

JesseD wrote:

Id say custom as well, maybe Legend/Sarto etc if you want carbon, if not then maybe Repete in Prague (and you get a weekend away!)

Top end groupo of your flavour (Campag/Sram/Shimano), Lightweight wheels maybe, top end finishing kit and you will still have change to buy some new cycling kit (shoes/helmet/togs etc).

Half the fun of spending this much is the research (I would imagine as I am at the exact opposite end of the spectrum).

http://www.sartoantonio.com/en/bicycles ... d-bicycles
http://www.legend-bikes.com/Products.aspx
http://www.repetecycles.com/EN/reborn

Add an Epoca R60 to that custom carbon list https://www.epocabikes.com/61/en/r60-series

JesseD

PTestTeam wrote:

Add an Epoca R60 to that custom carbon list https://www.epocabikes.com/61/en/r60-series

Think I would be looking at the R50 - just WOW

gweeds

'Read our customer reviews to see how the R60 just blows away any other road frame.'

Riiiiiiight.

kleinstroker

thecycleclinic wrote:

First of all if you have that money to spend give me a call but seriously if you have £9k to spend on a bike don't until you know what you want.

No one should be telling you what to buy. Make an informed choice otherwise you could be disapointed.

I have spent more on my Look this year than I have ever spent before on a bike. Until this year though I was not comfortable with spending that much on a bike. I have finally worked out what I wanted. It has taken me 5 years and no input from forums.

all of the suggestions above are fine but pointless as no one know what the OP (not even himself really wants)

Going to shows is a first step then finding that bike you lust after is the next step then workout how much you have to spend to buy it and bingo you'll be happy.

To be fair, I did say buy 3 bikes and you will like one more! Good advice I thought

pblakeney

£2k on bike, £7k on cycling holidays/bucket list route cycles.
That is a serious suggestion that you will get the most out of.

Guernsey Donkey

Thanks guys (and girls) for your suggestions. I did have a few ideas but didn't want to mention them as I didn't want to prejudice the replies.

One thing that I can say with absolute certainty, my next bike (or the next ten after that!) will never be a Cannondale Slate. I come from an aviation background and there is an old saying that 'if it looks right, it will fly right'. If the bike doesn't look right there is no way I am riding it. Yes I know that there are sound engineering reasons behind the design (as there were behind that Lotus bike in 1992) but a single leg fork just does not look right to my eyes.

What you have done is to open my eyes to the numerous small frame builders who are out there but do not get the exposure that they might deserve. The Legend and epoca certain deserve more investigation. I'm in no hurry, the bike has to be 'right'. If anyone has anymore ideas of high quality niche frame builders then please post them. Whatever I eventually decide on I'll keep you all posted.

Finally, I have to say that I really really like marcusjb's suggestion of a tandem but I'm damn sure that I would be stokerless (and probably divorced!)!

Anonymous

English or feather?

gweeds

Saffron. Rusby. Demon.

bendertherobot

If you dont like the slate I don't trust any decision you make.....

0ced0

Jaegher

kleinstroker

Sod it, just buy one of these

Elfed

If you haven't already you need to have a look at this forum to see all the high end expensive bikes, most are amazing with all the top level components.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum ... m.php?f=10

joenobody

kleinstroker wrote:

Sod it, just buy one of these

Looks like urban camo - can imagine a "I just put my bike down for a sec and now I can't find the damn thing" moment

PTestTeam

JoeNobody wrote:

kleinstroker wrote:

Sod it, just buy one of these

Looks like urban camo - can imagine a "I just put my bike down for a sec and now I can't find the damn thing" moment

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dazzl ... 92&bih=891

fenix

Erm aren't aeroplane wheels supported on one side only? Pretty sure they take more weight than a lefty fork would need to cope with.

bmxboy10

Fenix wrote:

I did the custom build and the best group set for my fourth bike it was. Lovely thing but at the end of the day - it's just a bike.

It's not the bike itself - it's what you do with it that counts.

Totally agree

meesterbond

bendertherobot wrote:

If you dont like the slate I don't trust any decision you make.....

Too heavy - wait for the carbon version next year

mercia_man

I was in a similar position to OP when I unexpectedly inherited money a couple of years ago. After buying a campervan, putting an end to 30 years of cycle camping, I decided to buy a lightweight bike for holidays in the mountains. Until then, my upper limit for a new bike had been around the £2,500 mark. Now, I could have anything I wanted.

I bought a Legend HT10.5 (a top end custom carbon model for riders under 75kg) through Bike Science at Bristol with Record mechanical groupset and brilliant Cycle Clinic wheels (White Industries/Archetype). I collected the built-up bike 11 weeks after having test ride, bike fit and ordering. It cost just over £6,000 in total although the OP could easily increase this to 9K by specifying fancy carbon wheels and finishing kit and EPS or Di2. The frame geometry, tubes and stays and carbon-wrapped joints were all custom to suit my weight, flexibility and desired riding characteristics. I chose colour, logos, components, finishing kit, cabling options and bottom bracket type. I had a replacement frame after four months when the threaded BSA insert came loose in the carbon bottom bracket shell but this was dealt with efficiently and pretty quickly by Bike Science and Legend. It was upsetting for them and me but the test of good service is when something goes wrong and I was satisfied with how this issue was dealt with. I'm delighted with my bike. It rides exceptionally well and it's a pleasure to own such a good looking and unique machine. It's definitely a step up from my previous excellent carbon bike, an Orbea Orca.

I think that if you have a 9K budget for a really special bike it's a good idea to go custom. For the same price you could have a custom build on an excellent frame such as a Bianchi Specialissima or Cannondale Super Six but at the end of the day you are getting something mass produced in the Far East. There's plenty of steel and some carbon custom builders in the UK as well as small Italian firms like Legend and Sarto.

wishitwasallflat

Seven (622slx probably) or legend - if it was me.

ugo.santalucia

Seriously,

have you considered a top end bike with an electric motor in the seat tube? You can use it or not to your discretion, but that would put an end to those young lads passing you just because you are old, fat and have an expensive bike... imagine their faces when you drop them like it was nothing... priceless!

That's what I would probably do

Anonymous

Why would you have to necessarily be old and fat? There are plenty of fit young and healthy people who have money to spend on bikes?

joenobody

PTestTeam wrote:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dazzle+ships&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinjpCT7f_LAhVEHxoKHeR5CuwQsAQIHA&biw=1692&bih=891

I knew it! :P

ugo.santalucia

bicycles have no intrinsic value, they are just assemblies of components that have no value, they are not even collectables. You spend a quarter of a million on a car and you get something that does things that a cheaper car does not do, because they include the motor and maybe in 30 years time it will be valuable as a classic. You spend 10K and you get a bike that does exactly the same things of one that costs 10% of it... the resale value is paltry with no exception (and that includes those Colnago Mexico and such, which in the days were very costly), I really don't see the point in spending that kind of money, unless you add some extra functionality, a motor, for instance... :-)

slowmart

The benefit against a set value means diminishing returns past £1500-£2000 but thats really an argument that's lost as how many of us buy what we need rather than what we would like?

It's how something makes you feel, smiles per mile and on that basis follow your heart and find beauty in the build, the bespoke approach to building your new frame or the ethos of the company or a blend.

Most small frame builders, either high end or cottage business have a love for their work and that's not lost on the bigger buys either.

Personally my Tarmac is one of the best bikes I've ever owned. It's not got the emotional connection I had with my custom Ti Deluxe as that was a work or art, both in the geometry and the welding but technology moves on and the handling, weight and clean lines of my Tarmac still make me smile every time I ride my bike. It's Saturday night and I'm so looking forward to spending the best part of 5 hours riding my Tarmac tomorrow and that's really what it's about.

If it's a itch you have to scratch, enjoy the search for your new bike.