Need a new bike

Foxymoron

Longtime lurker, 1st time poster here, looking to tap into the wisdom of crowds, or anyone who will listen. I've decided to upgrade from my 2014 Allez (105, RS21 wheels)

I need an all rounder, commuting 30km a day (I will get caught out in the rain every now and then) a couple of long rides a month (100km with some hills) and the odd short distance tri once or twice a year. Budget $3k Aus.

I've been going round in circles and would appreciate a stern talking to when it comes to the options below

Current front runners
Merida Scultura 6000 D https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /103955854

Giant TCR Pro 1 Advanced (Rim)
https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /103951156

Possibles
Scott Foil 20
https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /104218985

Specialized Tarmac Sport
https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /104951858

Wildcards
Argon 18 Go
https://www.bikebug.com/argon-18-go!-ul ... ition.html

Focus Izalco Race
https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /105504149

Any advice is hugely appreciated

lakesluddite

You can commute on anything, and those you link to will be fine. It just depends on the amount of bad weather commuting you'll have to do I suppose. If it's anything like here in the UK, then you would usually need mudguards for at least half the year, but you may only get rain now and then, in which case you can always use the 'strap-on' temporary mudguards.
The other decision is disc brake or rim brake. Again, a fair amount of rain would suggest hydro disc brakes would be advantageous, less rain and rim brakes would be fine.
Then you have the wheelset - a couple of these have deeper carbon wheels, which would be good for triathlon (although if they are sprint distance then the advantages over that distance are negligible).

Are you restricted to buying online, or can you test ride?

joe_totale-2

Any reason you can't just keep commuting on the Allez and then buy a nice aero bike which will be good for your long rides and tri races? The Allez sounds perfectly decent for 30km commutes in all kinds of weather and you don't want to commute on something too fancy.

Foxymoron

I used to live in Leeds, Melbourne weather is nowhere near as wet so could definitely get by on rims and some common sense in the wet.

The group set on the allez is 4 years old and has about 20,000km on while the wheel set is definitely long overdue for a change. The cost of replacement on both is leading me to the new bike and the standard bike envy on the sunday ride.

I did think about the two bike set up but if I'm gonna spend alot of cash on a nice bike then I wanna be riding it all the time.

I'm visiting a few bike shops tomorrow. Just seen this. It's over budget but I've got a feeling if I walk in there tomorrow I won't be walking out without buying it....

https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /105199582

keef66

Sounds like you've mentally binned the Allez already?

Sit on a few of your short-list. See which feels like it fits the best, and more importantly, which you like the look of most. Hard to buy a bad bike in that kind of price bracket, but you can still buy an ugly one.

My personal preference would be for rim brakes but Di2

j_w_h

keef66 wrote:

My personal preference would be for rim brakes but Di2

Is Di2 really worth it?

Are there any specific bikes and/or brands you could recommend in the sub € 3.000 range? I am looking for a bike that has rim brakes, Di2 and is as light as possible.

Matthewfalle

how about a Canyon or Rose?

shirley_basso

Go used. Obviously.

j_w_h

Matthewfalle wrote:

how about a Canyon or Rose?

Nothing really - I was looking at Canyon or Giant but Giant is sold out (TCR Advanced 1). Since Canyon doesn't seem to have good customer service I will look into Rose a bit more. Thank you.

arlowood

j_w_h wrote:

Since Canyon doesn't seem to have good customer service I will look into Rose a bit more. Thank you.

How about the Rose X-Lite 4 Ultegra Di2. Comes under your budget of 3000 Euro

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/rose-x-lite ... i2-2661729

Quoted weight is 6.8Kg and I can vouch for the accuracy of their claims. I ordered the 105 version of the X-Lite 4 in October last year. Weight came in at 6.7kg without pedals on my scales at home so you will get one of the lightest bikes available at that price point.

I've done around 600 miles so far (health issues and holidays have limited my riding this year) and I can't fault it. The frame will easily take 28mm tyres if you want to maximise comfort - I'm running 28mm Michelin Pro 4 Endurance which tend to come up bigger than the stated size. (Edit - just noted that they offer 32mm GP5000 tyres in the buying options so clearly the frame will take bigger than 28mm.)

The Rose ordering and delivery process was also seamless if you're worried about an online only retailer

Foxymoron

So I popped into 3 stores today

Saw the Giant rim version https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /103951156

It was on a wahoo kicker so jumped on and it felt very narrow. It was a medium which he reckons won't be a problem (i am.180 com 86cm inseam) it's only $300 more for the disc and it does look alot better so I'm leaning towards the disc version but I really want to ride it https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /105199582
He should get it in the next day or two for a ride.

I popped into specialized to look at the https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /103734912

But they had sold it already

Then popped into one more store and rode the disc version of a cervelo s3 https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /104143753

It was so light and responsive, being the 1st time I've ridden a disc brake i was expecting a much different experience to rim brakes but it wasn't noticeable at all. Obviously it wasn't raining but it really got me questioning the benefit of discs.

At the moment the deals on rims are massive, the guy at the bike shop was saying that it's because in Aus the distributors are all leaning heavily to disc on the new bikes.
I got two more shops to visit tomorrow looking forward to trying the merida but still struggling to figure out if I should go disc or rim and get a better bike

lakesluddite

Of course another advantage with disc over rim brakes is the lack of wear on the rim, so in theory the wheels will last longer. Then again if you're not riding in the wet that much, rim wear will decrease (as you won't get as much rim destroying detritus between the pads and the braking surface).

I do agree with the retailer though - it does look like the industry is pushing disc brakes more and more, here in the UK as well as Aus.

j_w_h

arlowood wrote:

j_w_h wrote:

Since Canyon doesn't seem to have good customer service I will look into Rose a bit more. Thank you.

How about the Rose X-Lite 4 Ultegra Di2. Comes under your budget of 3000 Euro

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/rose-x-lite ... i2-2661729

Quoted weight is 6.8Kg and I can vouch for the accuracy of their claims. I ordered the 105 version of the X-Lite 4 in October last year. Weight came in at 6.7kg without pedals on my scales at home so you will get one of the lightest bikes available at that price point.

I've done around 600 miles so far (health issues and holidays have limited my riding this year) and I can't fault it. The frame will easily take 28mm tyres if you want to maximise comfort - I'm running 28mm Michelin Pro 4 Endurance which tend to come up bigger than the stated size. (Edit - just noted that they offer 32mm GP5000 tyres in the buying options so clearly the frame will take bigger than 28mm.)

The Rose ordering and delivery process was also seamless if you're worried about an online only retailer

When I said sub € 3.000 I was thinking more like around € 2.500

Problem with the Rose bikes is that I can get the Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8.0 for just € 100 more than the Rose X-Lite 4 but with Ultegra instead of 105. Same with Di2: Canyon is € 100 cheaper for Di2 and just 0,2 kg heavier. So the question is, why should I go Rose instead of Canyon. Or do you pay for the better service with Rose?

At the end of the day the deciding factor will be if Di2 is really worth it or not - and I am just not sure about that. Any opinions on that?

105 and Ultegra seems to be pretty close from what I have heard and read.

ridgeway_swiss

I had thought about upgrading my non-Di2 Ultegra Cervélo C3 to Di2, but it just seem worth the cost so i put it down to one of those things to yearn for on a next bike. Well that next bike came around much quicker than i thought and through some luck i have ended up with a Di2 equipped bike about 6wks ago.

I have to say that whilst Di2 almost certainly isn't needed at all, i just can't imagine riding without it now. Beyond all the obvious stuff that Di2 brings the best part for me is the ease of gear shifting and being able to change gear with a finger tip and not needing a full wrist action, it makes changing gear something you can now do at times when your hands are more focused on something else (if that makes sense). Also i like the fact that i can fine tune my gears whilst on the move with the push of a button and then then flick of a switch, not possible before.

I never thought Di2 would have that much impact on my riding but it has and it does bring a lot of satisfaction as well.

j_w_h

Since this is my first roadbike I will most certainly not need Di2. Having said that I might regret not getting it later on, altough I won‘t have the direct comparison between the two, so I might not miss it at all.

One thing I struggle with it is repair and maintance cost: My understanding is that if something breaks and needs to be reapaired Di2 is very expensive. Mechanical on the other hand is fairly cheap and straightforward. This is something that actually draws me away from Di2. Or is this more like buying a typewriter instead of a laptop cause the later is more expensive to repair? Are Di2s so reliable that repair is not an issue, besides crashes of course.

Foxymoron

Bought the TCR. It's over budget but great value with the carbon wheels

https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/road- ... /103951131

I tried the tarmac and it was really nice ride great, had the new 105 group set but it wasn't lighting any of my fires.

I tried the merida scultura next and it just didn't feel right, stunning bike and in the looks dept probably my favourite but the bike felt big at 56cm.

Then tried the TCR last, I was worried the medium would be too small, but it felt amazing. Interestingly I've ridden a 56 the last for years and the cervelo (at 53cm) and the TCR (medium) both felt better. I think I've been riding a frame thats slightly too big for me the last 4 years.

I pick it up tomorrow can't wait

Foxymoron

Got it today, it's amazing...I put the allez in the shed, going to sell it. Got strangely emotional about it.

lakesluddite

Foxymoron wrote:

Got it today, it's amazing...I put the allez in the shed, going to sell it. Got strangely emotional about it.

Can you not keep the Allez for the crappy commutes?

Enjoy the new bike - pictures in the 'Your Bike' section please!!