Help with buying my first road bike

nitram12321

Hi all,

I'm completely new to this so apologies if I've not posted this in the right place!

I've been looking into buying my first road bike with a max budget of about £500 (including accessories/clothing). I get 50% off through work but only for brand new bikes, so this means I'm looking at bikes in the £500-£600 range.

After reading (probably far too many) forum posts, speaking to a few bike shops and trying out several bikes I've decided on a 2017 Specialised Allez. Unless this is a completely terrible choice (in which case let me know) then I'm happy with this! What I'm not sure about is whether to go for the E5 Sport for £675 or the standard E5 for £525.

The only difference between the two is that the E5 Sport has Shimano Sora (2x9) and the E5 has Shimano Claris (2x8). I think the E5 also has the gear wires coming out the side, unlike the E5 Sport.

What are people's thoughts? Is the Sora worth an extra £150, which will actually only be £75 after my work discount? Are there any other differences between the bikes that might help me make a decision? I'm planning on this bike lasting me a good few years so I don't want to regret it down the line!

Thanks!
Martin

pashda

Not a lot of difference between Sora and Claris apart from the extra cog really. Having internal routing of the cables will mean they don't get covered in road grime and it looks neater. Flip side is go with the cheaper one and if in a few years you need to replace the Claris gears you could go for an upgraded group set (eg 105) or more likely if you get into cycling a new bike.

myideal

I think 105 fits with many Sora bikes as well? Well that was what I was told, however I was also told that Sora was a bit more "tougher" than the more fancy sets - more suited to the amiture ..however not sure if that YouTube video knew what it was on about. lol

raisinberry777

Pashda wrote:

Not a lot of difference between Sora and Claris apart from the extra cog really. Having internal routing of the cables will mean they don't get covered in road grime and it looks neater. Flip side is go with the cheaper one and if in a few years you need to replace the Claris gears you could go for an upgraded group set (eg 105) or more likely if you get into cycling a new bike.

There's a pretty big difference for 2017, the new Sora is modelled on the newer Shimano groups (9000/6800/5800/4700) but in 9 speed, so the nicer shifting long arm front derailleur, new rear derailleur geometry, internal routed cabling, etc. The Claris group is unchanged for 2017.

At the end of the day, both still shit gears up and down rather nicely though.