B'Twin 500 vs 520 vs 540 for first bike

IrishStu
IrishStu Posts: 10
edited May 2016 in Road buying advice
Question time! I know that as a general rule of thumb you get what you pay for but for a first time buyer like myself is the additional £320 for the 540 over the 500 (£600 vs £280) really going to make that munch of a difference and if so is the 520 the sweet spot or just a filler, so to speak, between platforms.

Thanks,

Stu

Comments

  • germcevoy
    germcevoy Posts: 414
    I would go for the cheaper. I got the original Triban 3. and put 10k mikes on it. Sold it for £200 three years later then upgraded.

    Go for the 500 to build fitness and get bit by the bug. Use the money saved for some nice kit. You're going to need shoes and shorts etc which often aren't cheap.
  • dj58
    dj58 Posts: 2,222
    Is it the 500 or 500 SE, the SE has a carbon fork. 520 use a compact chainset, 500, 500 SE a triple, the 540 will take up to 32c tyres so with 28c or 32c quality tyres and appropriate pressures you could have a smooth ride.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    Definately at least get the 500SE at £299 - the extra £20 is well worth it for the carbon forks.
  • srendell
    srendell Posts: 15
    To my mind the 520 is the sweet spot.

    With the 500 you are getting microshift 8 speed gears, which may not be terrible, but the sora gears on the 520 will definitely be much nicer, and if you get bitten by the bug and start to wear out the chain, cassette etc replacement parts will be far easier to find (replacements for sora are inexpensive). The carbon fork on the 520 will also give a slightly nicer ride than the steel fork on the 500.

    As far as I can see the 540 is the only one which comes with a double chainset, the other two being triples. This doesn't make a big difference, but you have more gears towards the easier end with the triple.

    Comparing the 520 to the 540 the 540 has 'better' gears again but I've had sora (as found on the 520) for years and the shift feel is as good as my mum's 105 gears (as found on the 540) which are only about a year old. You do get slightly better wheels too but I reckon you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference in a blind test.

    Basically it's a case of diminishing returns. Going from the 500 to the 520 gets a much better bike, but from the 520 to the 540 you'll see a much smaller benefit imo.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    Isnt the Microshift the old Shimano 2300 stuff that Microshift bought the patterns for when Shimano dropped it off the end of the line?

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