Whyte Cornwall vs Ribble CR3 vs Orbea Avant M20

Gess

Hi Folks

I'm in the market for a new bike, and I posted on here a couple of weeks ago and got some great advice which has helped me narrow down my options a bit.

The background is - I’m looking for something lighter/ faster than my current bike (Croix de Fer 2014, 13kg all in) but still comfortable for long days and bumpy roads. I’ll be using the bike for anything from 10 mile commutes to 30 mile head-down runs to 80-90 mile full-day runs. It’ll be my only bike (apart from a full-sus MTB) so needs to be OK for some (probably fairly light) winter use. I’ll probably run 25mm tyres but maybe move up to 28mm in winter (no idea if this is necessary – running 28s on the current bike and have never tried 25s…).

So - my main criteria are - significantly lighter than my current 13kg (I think 8.5-9kg is within range), takes mudguards, takes 28mm tyres, max price £1500.

Currently looking at the three bikes below. I can go and try them all - and I guess that will be the key here - but any thoughts on respective spec/ suitability before I do that would be welcomed.


http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cr3-special-edition-shimano-105-5800-hydraulic-1-ribble/

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/79899/Orbea_Avant_M20D_2015_Bike_D11347B2?gclid=Cj0KEQjwmpW6BRCf5sXp59_U_ssBEiQAGCV9GoMRt_1Yf0ZgRompt6e5s0anHHvgazrB75rWmYLrPZgaAkAJ8P8HAQ

http://peakcyclesport.com/m1b4s6p772/WHYTE-Cornwall-2015

Thanks again.

alan_sherman

The Whyte frames aren't very light IIRC from reading some reviews. Should be lots of disc road bike options available now. for light weight look more at the race ranges than the allroad ranges, but I see you want to run mudguards (good choice). Giant defy maybe? Roubaix disc. Canondale caad disc

Gess

Thanks Alan. I had a look at the Whyte yesterday and it is actually pretty light - carbon frame on this one, and it must be 9kg max, so within the range I'm looking for. Going to have a test ride this weekend, and hopefully on a CAADX and a Synapse so I can hopefully see what style suits best. I also saw the Orbea Avant yesterday and it's not really suitable for all-year use, so I'll probably go for the Whyte or a cross bike.

Cheers

alan_sherman

Apologies, I thought it was the aluminium frame! Sounds good though.

apreading

Whyte is just over 9kg I think, but you can knock a bit off with lighter wheels. I got the Pro-lite Revo wheels from Wiggle, price matched with Ribble for £160 and they came with all the bits to change over to thru axle or QR etc.

Important to note, the Whyte has a thru axle front and centrelock rotors, although the website doesnt mention either.

I think for discs the thru axle front makes a good difference as with my previous Boardman Hybrid I had to do the front QR up REALLY tight to make it secure.

I have probably put around 500 miles on my Cornwall now, including one Sportive. The bike has performed perfectly well and the whyte mudguards fit really well. I do still miss my Boardman Hybrid though - not convinced that drop bars are for me as I still pine for the flat bars and bar ends I had before. I have had to fiddle with the setup a bit to get comfortable and am still not 100% so am going for a proper bike fit next week to give drop bars the best chance possible to win me over.

The Whyte is pretty light, but not as light as other carbon bikes.

I got the 2016 version with 105 thoughout apart from the chainset, which is FSA. I think it will be better than the SRAM version from last year and I got 20% off so down to £1500 - the deals are out there if you haggle.

The Orbea is a much better buy at those prices, with ultegra throughout. I think the Ultegra shifters are more comfortable than the 505s too.

The Ribble is a curious looking beast, with the front forks looking just wrong, but undeniably good value.

Gess

Thanks for the reply, excellent stuff. Good to know that the Whyte mudguards fit well, I've seen mixed review for them. And not sure about the thru axle on the 2015 model - the guy in the shop said it wasn't thru axle at all, I'll check when I go for a test ride becaue the thru axle definitely seems better. And I'd prefer Shimano too tbh, so maybe worth trying a bit of haggling on the 2016 model!

The Orbea was a lovely bike, just doesn't suit what I need...

Hope the bike fit goes well, I've got a MTB too but definitely appreciate the drop-bars for the felxibility on long rides.

Thanks again

apreading

The thru axle and centre lock are 2016 changes, along with the 105 hydraulics.

rickeverett

Noticed you have disks in there but I would look at these. I have a rt90 and the bike is great. Really happy with the buy. Was considering the Viner minus but colour was the only difference. The mutual and rt90 are the same bikes and are raced in Europe and planet x at home. The frame is super light, stiff but compliment. Not many reviews but the Viner got 4.5* recently. The camoag comp version of the rt90 got marked down because of the heavy wheeler but the frame is the same.
The rt80 is a different layoup of carbon and is more comfortable apparently . But heavier and I suspect less stiff?

RT90 in rim and disk versions 6.5-7.7kg

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes/rt-90

Viner minus in rim and disk versions (exactly same frame as rt90)

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road ... iner-mitus

Or the rt80 range...

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes/rt-80

Gess

Thanks for the suggestions Rick, but I think these are possibly a bit more aggresive than I am after? I tried the Whyte today and even it felt racy after the Croix! PlanetX have some excellent bikes but I don't think I'd get the chance to go and see them any time soon so these are probably not an option right now.

I did like the Whyte but want to try another couple of bikes before deciding, possibly the Ribble if I can get down to their showroom, and maybe a Synapse or a Roubaix. Or a Genesis Datum if I can find one with some money off...

Thanks again for all the replies.