Road bike recommendations

I wasn't aware of the canyon sponsorship programme, thanks a lot for that. The only bad things i've heard with canyon is the ridiculous wait time/lousy customer service.
As it stands i'm leaning towards towards the Bowman, as it seems to be the best bike to start properly racing on.
I'm waiting for insurance to come through, and they may simply say that they'll replace like for like, in which case i'll have a Giant TCR. Not really the worse situation to be in haha.
£800 for the allez is ridiculous.

Canyon refuse to revise their £ sterling prices more than once a year despite the weakness of the euro.

So you can beat them on price. Have a look at the Rose website which allows you to pay in Euros.

Arent the Bowman frames about £650?

I'd get something more affordable to start racing on. Unless you're lucky, constantly off the front or constantly off the back, you will have a crash.

I got my CX bike from Rose, they have an awesome customer service. They even adjust the price of the bike to be in line with the Euro when I bought it as it took a while to get it. got about £90 back as a result.

Well, i've been riding for ages, i'm 17 and only just starting to race crits etc. The Bowman is indeed £650, and (it seems) is geared towards crits. It won't just be a crit bike though, it's going to be for everything.

Canyon geo is pretty different from the Rose and Bowman. IIRC the canyons has much headtube until you get to the aero bike.

Rose used to do a discount with BC membership on framesets.

They still do I believe, provided you have a valid racing license from a European bike sporting federation.
https://www.canyon.com/en/service/sponsoring.html

That link is for Canyon.

So it is, completely misread your post. That's embarrassing.

I didn't actually consider rose properly. Does anyone know if the 2015 xeon rs 3000 frameset is available? They've only got the older version for sale.

...if you get an answer from Rose let us know plz.

(the main differences between 2013 and 2015 Xeon RS framesets are the seat tube and post dia and the very slightly lighter fork)

Not saying you shouldn't buy yourself a nice bike but I found very quickly when I started racing that nobody wins a Cat 4 race based on the standard of their kit.

The Bowman frames are lovely, I'll give you that.

Planet X Pro Carbon can be had from about £350. People love to say they're 'flexy' through the front end but I think that's because most people ride them with an inch of spacers under the stem.

I know plenty of big, punchy lads who have raced them up to Cat 2.

+1 for Rose as well. I've got a 2013 Xeon CRS. I don't know if they've changed the geometry but mine's certainly aggressive enough for racing.

CAAD8 105 is a pretty good all round bike for the money.

@miro_o I sent them an email this morning, will report back when they reply.
@Chadders81 Fair point, I think i'm going to just wait until my insurance comes through, as that'll ultimately depend on what comes up.
@edscoble CAAD 8 does indeed look good - although i'm more interested in buying a decent frame/wheels+tyres.

If this is the wrong place for this please forgive me...

I've been riding an old 58 (56cm TT) cm raleigh 3 speed roadster converted to SS for the last year or so. It is quite upright with relaxed geometry and a stem with no real forward reach. I'm wanting to upgrade to something a little faster and was wondering if I would need to size up or down when taking the different angles, much longer stem and drop bars into account, or stay at 58st/56tt.

I know there will be no substitute for sitting on a bike before I buy but I think I will end up buying online.

If anyone can make a suggestion I would be hugely grateful (and feel free to make a recommendation on a suitable bike while you're at it!)

Go to a reputable bike shop and test ride some road bike.

^ this, if you don't know what size you want, try first.
As your current stem has no forward reach and a 56 tt I would start on a 56 and a 100mm stem, this should feel less upright than your current bike.
If you want to have an aggressive riding position see if a shop will let you up on a 54 with a longer stem.
Alot of shops will still have 2014 bikes on sale. Picking up one of these and making the most of a fitting in shop will get you both the a good fit and a good deal.

@miro_o From Rose: "Sorry, we will not offer the Xeon RS 2015 as a frame set only."

:((

Booo.

Insurance came through today. Now have £1500. I'm going with the rose xeon rs 3000 2015 105 build up, swapping the 105 for ultegra (which i have already), meaning i'll always have spare parts. Rest of the money will go on a bike fit and new wheels when the time comes. Will report back with thoughts when i've got some km logged.

The euro is so weak these bikes are a steal.

If you get 52/36 105 and the 2015 DT wheels and fancy selling... let me know.

The entire groupset? I'm up for that, depending on price.

Yeah, unless you need certain bits. I need the lot (plus 11sp wheels) I'll PM a juicy offer?

Sure thang, shoot

So i ended up going for the full build in matte black, despite the sensible thoughts, the shiny just wasn't for me...

Shit photo at shit angle