A climber's bike (sub £1500)

bendertherobot

Tiesetrotter wrote:

Ribble just bought out a good value SL bike.

They did. Sadly it comes out at £1700 odd with Sora 9 speed and Rodi wheels.

105 and Racing 7 take it to £2100. Racing 5 and Ultegra to £2300. Which is a lot.

iron-clover

Giant TCR? They look like cracking bikes and the one I rode from many years ago was quick.

I'd add BMC Teammachine to the list- the SLR03 will be well within budget but the 02 will be a fair bit lighter. By most accounts the 03 is just as stiff so almost as quick.

itboffin

That ribble frame is a dead ringer for Cervelo R3 or R5 and only 100g heavier my guess is same frame manufacturer, i have two ribble my carbon sport from 2010 is my most ridden bike, all round great bike and would/do recommend.

That said there's a lot to be said for buy the best frame you can afford because everything else is just an upgrade.

cycleclinic

How about something different

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_p ... =1&p=10335

Or

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_p ... =1&p=10333

The one thing i know is all bikes climb. Some can dl it better than other or at least feel like they do.

The problem is with choice you feel like one maybe better than the other. The truth is buy the bike that fits the best. If there is more than one that fits the best then look at the spec. Tjst eill be the best bike for you. All of the above post are looking at the spec.

Most of my bikes are forum finds as a frame. I pick s frame that fits then dress it. £1500 is enough to play with. Built a 6kg bike this way. It dod not cost me much either.

GWalke11

Vitus Vitesse Evo looks a good buy too.

Bobbinogs

As many have said, all bikes climb. Most bikes for around £1,500 will be pretty good and up the task. I ride in a popular club and there can be 4-5 groups out on hilly rides with varying speeds...and it is noticeable that the faster groups ride exactly the same kind of bikes as the slower groups. A nice variety will be out: Spesh, Trek, Giant, etc...you name it, along with the occasional retro bike and oddity! Hence, don't fuss too much about a "climber's" bike, just get a decent bike that feels good, has nice wheels to start with or priced into the purchase (in other words, if the stock wheels are rubbish then budget accordingly... so £1,200 for the bike, £300 for wheels and then keep the stock ones for winter, etc.). The list of decent options is pretty much endless, so get down a shop and pick something you like.
BTW, groupsets can be over-rated. Modern Tiagra works great if well setup and maintained so you don't need Ultegra to get a nice ride. FWIW, I rode my Allez E5 today which has an old Heinz 57 groupset which is 9 speed and a Tiagra/105 and Ultegra mash up but I have spent a bit of time recently overhauling it (new cables, hanger, RD, etc.) and it shifted perfectly and felt slick.

neeb

You mentioned descending as well as climbing - look at geometry as well as weight. Things such as head tube angle, fork rake and trail (the third is a product of the first two) make a big difference, as do wheelbase and stiffness. I think different geometries might work best for different people. I had a bike once that I hated descending on and it had quite a lot of trail due to a slack HT angle and a fork that didn't compensate for that. I'm a poor descender, but paradoxically a twitchier front end gives me more confidence (perhaps because I'm too tense). Others prefer a more stable feel.

Tiesetrotter

You'd never regret buying either of those ......... always nice being on something different.

thecycleclinic wrote:

How about something different

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_p ... =1&p=10335

Or

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_p ... =1&p=10333

The one thing i know is all bikes climb. Some can dl it better than other or at least feel like they do.

The problem is with choice you feel like one maybe better than the other. The truth is buy the bike that fits the best. If there is more than one that fits the best then look at the spec. Tjst eill be the best bike for you. All of the above post are looking at the spec.

Most of my bikes are forum finds as a frame. I pick s frame that fits then dress it. £1500 is enough to play with. Built a 6kg bike this way. It dod not cost me much either.

itboffin

I just bought an alu CAAD12 frameset for £395 with wheelset and groupset it'll be sub £1000 easy and pretty lightweight

letap73

If I was 72kg and had £1500, I would probably get this:

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p66 ... O-105-2016

Use the 6 months interest free option .
I would consider selling the Askium with the tyres ( you could keep them for winter) and use the money saved + rest of the budget to see what a decent wheelbuilder could do for me with regards to a new set of wheels.

If you look at the cycle clinic website there are two good tubeless wheelset options - one all weather the other a more lightweight set.

There is a cube with ultegra at Pauls which is only £1000 - you could concievebly buy a summer and winter wheelset for around your budget.

peteco

Would love to know where you got one at that price please.

Thanks,

Pete

itboffin wrote:

I just bought an alu CAAD12 frameset for £395 with wheelset and groupset it'll be sub £1000 easy and pretty lightweight

philbar72

iron-clover wrote:

Giant TCR? They look like cracking bikes and the one I rode from many years ago was quick.

I'd add BMC Teammachine to the list- the SLR03 will be well within budget but the 02 will be a fair bit lighter. By most accounts the 03 is just as stiff so almost as quick.

the 02 is by far the better bike. its effectively the 2013 SLR01 bike but with better stiffness to weight, and a BB that isn't made of lard, and hasn't got the cheapo SLR03 fork ( which is good but heavy). if you look around you could get a 105 equipped one for around your budget.... Go to the European vendors...

edindevon

peteco wrote:

Would love to know where you got one at that price please.

Thanks,

Pete

itboffin wrote:

I just bought an alu CAAD12 frameset for £395 with wheelset and groupset it'll be sub £1000 easy and pretty lightweight

Sigma Sports have the disc version of these frames for £395.99 with the code KBK10. Only a few left in some sizes though.

jlloyd

Thanks for all your feedback.
My list has grown and shrunk and I’ve changed my mind several times. I've measured myself, my existing bike, compared them with the specs of several online bikes. I’ve visited the limited array of bike shops in the area and sat on the wrong size bikes (none of which particularly grabbed me).

I’m going with the Rose Xeon Al*. It offers the most wiggle room in terms of fitting. It’s gorgeous and on budget

*subject to change - the credit card arrives next week

string78

JLloyd wrote:

Thanks for all your feedback.
My list has grown and shrunk and I’ve changed my mind several times. I've measured myself, my existing bike, compared them with the specs of several online bikes. I’ve visited the limited array of bike shops in the area and sat on the wrong size bikes (none of which particularly grabbed me).

I’m going with the Rose Xeon Al*. It offers the most wiggle room in terms of fitting. It’s gorgeous and on budget

*subject to change - the credit card arrives next week

What size are you looking for?

Rose have an ex demo Xeon GF4400 (55 frame) for £660 - leaves plenty in the budget for upgrades.

jlloyd

Good spot - tho a little big for me, am a 53

string78

JLloyd wrote:

Good spot - tho a little big for me, am a 53

53 in Rose's sizing? I've got a Rose in a 57 and it's the equivalent of a 56. I'm 5'11

jlloyd

Yeah unfortunately - in rose sizing. Am a 52 on most other bikes.

wotnoshoeseh

Edindevon wrote:

peteco wrote:

Would love to know where you got one at that price please.

Thanks,

Pete

itboffin wrote:

I just bought an alu CAAD12 frameset for £395 with wheelset and groupset it'll be sub £1000 easy and pretty lightweight

Sigma Sports have the disc version of these frames for £395.99 with the code KBK10. Only a few left in some sizes though.

So at £395 for the frame and fork, on a disc braked version, it's going to be hard to get below £1k for that, surely...
105 group with discs is ~£500 - disc wheels, probably £200 minimum, then finishing kit, would suggest ~£1250 - 1300 minimum??

Or, am I miscalculating?

drwae

wotnoshoeseh wrote:

Edindevon wrote:

peteco wrote:

Would love to know where you got one at that price please.

Thanks,

Pete

itboffin wrote:

I just bought an alu CAAD12 frameset for £395 with wheelset and groupset it'll be sub £1000 easy and pretty lightweight

Sigma Sports have the disc version of these frames for £395.99 with the code KBK10. Only a few left in some sizes though.

So at £395 for the frame and fork, on a disc braked version, it's going to be hard to get below £1k for that, surely...
105 group with discs is ~£500 - disc wheels, probably £200 minimum, then finishing kit, would suggest ~£1250 - 1300 minimum??

Or, am I miscalculating?

You could buy parts on bikeradar/ebay
I got brand new ultegra 6800 shifters , front mech, rear mech for less than 165 quid
Just got to wait for the right deal

veronese68

thecycleclinic wrote:

How about something different

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_p ... =1&p=10335

That's a climbers bike if ever there was one.

pblakeney

I'd get the one with the best engine.
Or just the nicest looking if that isn't the decider.

davidof

I bought a 1981 Mercier SSC for about 80 quid last year which I rode on the Eroica long course. I was very disappointed to find my climbing times on it were not that much slower than on my lightweight carbon bike.

jlloyd

Veronese68 wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

How about something different

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_p ... =1&p=10335

That's a climbers bike if ever there was one.

Out of interest - What in particular makes that a climbers bike?

veronese68

JLloyd wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

thecycleclinic wrote:

How about something different

http://www.chickencyclekit.co.uk/show_p ... =1&p=10335

That's a climbers bike if ever there was one.

Out of interest - What in particular makes that a climbers bike?

The name, Scalare means to climb. Probably should have put a winking smiley after my comment.

Matthewfalle

Buy the P/X Superlight frame and forks from the bloke in the thread below and fit that out with nice lightweight stuff in the sales, carbon saddle like mine from Amazon and carbonzone tubulars- you'll hit 7kg and below easily, well within budget.

Job jobbed.