Another new cyclist question

boshk

Hi all

What's your opinion on these bikes as first time road bike, actually first time cycling.

I don't live in UK or US so access to certain bikes and demos are non existent.

Bike fitting is available after I purchase the bike.

Initially I went with Giant since it was widely available here but after much research it soon gravitated to Specialized Diverge Elite DSW, even the colour was right, 2016 model orange.

Long story short, not available in HK, no market for it.

Now it's between these and the Synapse has the best/most comfortable basic Stack Reach ratio with anything above 1.5 indicating it's an Endurance road bike.... Apparently..

Cannondale Synapse Alloy Tiagra or 105 2016, ratio 1.514
Merida Ride 3000 disc 2016, ratio 1.476
GT Grade alloy Tiagra 2017, ratio 1.46
Giant Defy 2 Tiagra 2016, ratio 1.503 (didn't really like the colour though)
Specialized Allez E5 2016, ratio 1.36....Full on road bike??

Opinions?

Bobbinogs

My opinion on those bikes is that they are all nice and the ratios being quoted mean nothing whatsoever. Flip a stem, swap a stem, add some spacers and all that tosh goes out of the window. I would rather go for a nice looking bike that felt right than one that had a certain number. They are all good bikes, as are dozens of others.

Go to a shop, swing a leg over, see if you can get a test ride, pick the one you like.

jgsi

Bike fitting after handing over cash..? What they saying to you? "Buy now, we make your body fit bike , no problem at all...."
?
Arent they giving you at least some modicum of expertise in the shop considering your complete inexperience?

boshk

JGSI wrote:

Bike fitting after handing over cash..? What they saying to you? "Buy now, we make your body fit bike , no problem at all...."
?
Arent they giving you at least some modicum of expertise in the shop considering your complete inexperience?

It's just the way it works here haha.
They did advise me which size to get and there are bikes on display so they would let me sit on it. Some shops won't even adjust the seat because it will/may scratch the seat post

After I pay for it, they will unbox a new one and do a basic setup, i.e. Seat height, bars, install pedals. If I want bike fitting it's about £50-100.

StillGoing

boshk wrote:

Cannondale Synapse Alloy Tiagra or 105 2016, ratio 1.514
Merida Ride 3000 disc 2016, ratio 1.476
GT Grade alloy Tiagra 2017, ratio 1.46
Giant Defy 2 Tiagra 2016, ratio 1.503 (didn't really like the colour though)
Specialized Allez E5 2016, ratio 1.36....Full on road bike??

Opinions?

I have a Merida Ride as a winter trainer/turbo bike and actually love it. By adding or taking away a few spacers on the stem, I can go from a very relaxed easy going riding position or slammed head down without compromising the rest of the set up, depending on how the mood takes me. It's a comfortable ride too, so should suit endurance rides well enough if that's what you're after. Mine has a good old English threaded bottom bracket too, making component selection easy and there's enough room to fit mudguards with 25/28mm tyres.

Merida are a huge company owning 49% of Specialized and second only to Giant in terms of the numbers of frames produced. The Reacto is their full on Aero road bike with the next to useless rear brake under the BB, the Scultura the lighter, slightly less focused model ideal for hilly rides, with the Ride being the easy relaxed endurance model, but more than capable of getting a wriggle on.