Evans ride2work - what bike for me?

unimaginative-user
unimaginative-user Posts: 3
edited January 2012 in Road buying advice
Hi,

I have a £650.00 ride2work voucher to use at Evans. I'm 6ft 2" and 90kgs and was looking at a Specialized Secteur Triple 2012 Road Bike which they sell for £650.00. I've found it 10% cheaper elsewhere so will get them to price match but I am wondering if I have made the best value choice. I was looking for a Hybrid bike (sirrus range) but have now decided on a road bike - I'll only be using it 5 days a week along roads in London, with the occasional longer ride outs.

My question is if there are any better options for me available at Evans? They have some 2011 bikes in the sale.

Thanks

Comments

  • pete54
    pete54 Posts: 488
    Maybe a Cannondale CAAD8?
  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    Yeah, i'd look at:


    Caad8
    Specilized Allez
    Trek 1.2? not sure which one fits in your price range, might be the 1.5?
    Fuji Roubaix
    Jamis Ventura
    GT GTR series 5
    Felt F95

    they have a pretty good selection of bikes in that price range -> although getting to look at them all is unlikely in one store!
  • unimaginative-user
    unimaginative-user Posts: 3
    Thanks for the replies

    I've looked at the below

    Cannondale CAAD 8 Sora CD 2011 Road Bike (£629) - both are discontinued for my frame size (188cm)
    Specialized Allez Sport 18 2011 Road Bike (£599.99 was £719) - this is only available in frames for 190cm plus
    Trek 1.2 - I could stretchto the additional £50 if it was substantially better
    Fuji Newest 2.0 2012 Road Bike - as above
    GT GTR series 5 - seems to be OOS at evans till end of Feb
    Felt F95 2012 Road Bike - tempting, but OOS for 3 weeks


    So the Cannondale CAAD 8 , GT GTR and F95 are ruled out which leaves the Allez Sport 18 2011 (with the bigger frame), the Trek and Fuji which cost another £50. Do you think it would be a better choice going for one of these 3 rather than the Specialized Secteur Triple 2012?

    Am I also right in thinking that this model is kind of like the entry level one for this range? and if so, how does it compare to the previous ones in terms of quality/features?

    Lastly, I did look at Specialized Tricross Sport 2011 Road Bike (£699) - any opinions on this one?

    Cheers,
  • notlongnow
    notlongnow Posts: 176
    Buy the bike you like the look and feel of youll be the one riding it. :D most bikes in your price range are similar spec anyway alu frame carb fork sora gears etc
  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    I would try and get a Sora groupset rather than the 2000 series stuff as you'll get a 9-speed instead of 8-speed and you can therefore upgrade with the older Tiagra stuff if you want proper shifters without the thumb shifter. (aside from the other advantages of it being a better quality groupset)



    however its all about the fit really, you could buy a bike with a great spec but if you're not comfortable on it then you're not going to enjoy it... so don't just judge on specs.

    My only other thought would be that the Specialized secteur is probably the heaviest

    oh and the trek 1.1 is in your price range, same as the 1.2 but with 2000 series gears.



    is your voucher only valid at evans?

    if i was looking in that price range i would almost certainly go for the Boardman Road Race (providing it fits well!)-> comes in £50 under budget because of the sale price at the moment, has great spec when compared to the others and it gets good reviews.

    but its only available from halfords

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_789247_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#dtab

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