Which Bike?

Probson

Hi,

I have never ridden a road bike first time buyer. I am going to use it to cycle to work which is 13 miles away. It will be once a week maybe twice after May half term.

Originally I was going to get a Triban 540 due to the 105 gear set. However, I have found out we need a new roof so 4K out of the window.

I am therefore having to scale back. New choices are

Boardman Sport - 400 (Shimano Claris)
Boardman Comp - 525(Shimano Sora)
Triban 500 350(Looks nice bike but unsure on gearing as it's microshift or something not heard of)
Triban 520 500 (Shimano Sora)

Any advice would be gladly taken. I was leaning towards BT Win Triban as look like clearance for bigger tyres so could put 32s on if going on gravel tracks etc.

Also I think I am going to put deposit down and put rest on card or 0%. I see you can do cycle to work but worried implications or pension with NI etc. Also worried will take ages to resolve.

yiannism

Just dont buy claris

Moonbiker

Nothing wrong with the new Claris R2000 but don't buy tourney.

the_cyclist_of_catan

Buy second-hand? That way you get 105 (or whatever) without breaking the bank. If the bug bites, you'll be after something better/lighter/more expensive within a year!

yiannism

Moonbiker wrote:

Nothing wrong with the new Claris R2000 but don't buy tourney.

When he can get sora whats the reason to even consider claris?

By the way my 1st 2 bikes (road &MTB) where brand new, within a year they lost like 40% of their value, so their replacements where 2nd hand and they are great. 2nd hand market is good advice if you know what you are looking.

Andymaxy

I train on Claris and race on dura ace(big jump I know), I have to say that while dura ace feels so much smoother, the shifting difference isn't all that big. In fact, I'd say Claris doesn't feel smooth because it has 8 speeds and I'm running 11-32 cassette, therefore the jump between gears is huge. I love both of my bikes, sure I prefer the dura ace on a race day, but I did race my very first race on the Claris, and it did everything it needed. There's nothing wrong with Claris. buy better groupset for better feel, not better performance necessarily(unless weight is your priority).

Just remember, having properly adjusted gears is more important than anything, I laugh like hell when my friends dura ace shift worse than my Claris.

pinchez

I bought a 2017 Specialized e5 Allez Sport with Sora reduced from £799 to £550 as a winter trainer around Christmas and it’s a fantastic bike, the new sora shifts better than my 105 5700 on my other bike! the new Sora groupset is fantastic if you can cope with fewer gears.