Road bike recommendations

How I wish I was no dinosaur and the racy geo would fit me.

Interesting, but I've got the Supersix down to just over 1400 quid. Wouldn't be able to stretch to 2k

@ChrisMGS Purchased.

First new bike in 7 years.
First crabon bike.
First 'best' bike.

Giddy with anticipation.

Congratulations. Start working on core strength.

You'll love it I'm sure. It's very light as it is, although swap the wheelset and bars to save some extra weight if you want.

I'm sure I'll get weight weenie obsessed once it gets here. I think it's meant to be about 7.2 off the bat - will be quite chuffed to get it under 7. No reason why, just "because"; probably because I've spent the last 7 years never riding anything under 10kg. Already considered getting silly shit like Planet X QR Skewers, cages, lighter tubes etc

Got an email about an hour ago saying it will be here Thursday. Excite.

What would you recommend for my friend, a 45 year old teacher who's just discovered the joys of cycling.

-£300-£600 budget
-Commuting bike, practical yet fast
-relatively short commute (5 miles), occasionally longer rides 50 miles+
-needs mudguards, and to be suitable for light off road use

One of those Pinnacle things

Merlin and Probikekit have Kinesis T2 for ~600

Dolan Preffisio comes with guards - takes 32c without guards (with the eyelet alpina fork)

Btwin have some decent model with massive clearance with leftover for accessories.

Cheers guys, the Dolan and Kinesis T2 look good. With a modified and accessorised Btwin as budget bike if needed.

I'm eyeing up the 2015 CAAD8 105.
For £750 seems like pretty decent bang for the price. To do or not to do?

I doubt you can go far wrong with 105 for £750.

The new Mango bike seem to have a decent review on road.cc (plus a decent price too)

Will have a look, cheers :)

@amey #buyer

He bought another bike ;-)

Got a quick query on geometry.

About to buy a Ribble Winter Audax. I've measured myself up and also taken notice of the geometry and set-up of my Canyon.

In the below chart, I have the 'S', which I have no spacers on and have gone from a 90mm to 100mm stem.

Going by Ribble's measurement guide: inseam (77cm) x 0.69 = 53.13 - I should round down to the 52. The top tube of this size is 1cm longer, so I'm planning to spec a 90mm stem. The head-tube is much smaller on the Ribble, but they seem to come with quite a big spacer stack.

My reason for posting is whether anyone thinks I've missed something obvious and to see if there are any Ribble owners who have any sizing advice.

Bear in mind if you want to run bigger than 23 with mudguard, the audax is not the best choice.

Ah - hmmm. I am intending to run 25mm or even 28mm. Thanks for pointing that out!

I think I may go for their CR1 instead (with 105 and Fulcrum 7s). From the geo chart, it looks to have a shorter top tube and taller head tube. My height is 5'9", but I think I'll be going for the 54cm frame and get a 100mm stem. Never had the joy on cantis before.

Cantilever brakes... Motherofgod.jpg

Just don't. I had some decent Shimano ones. They stop you. Then the pads wear a little bit and you have to pull a foot of cable to get them to stop you. Then you spend DAYS adjusting the pads. They don't work. You buy new pads. They still don't work. Then you go to the LBS and buy mini vees and all is right.

That is the joy of cantis. I've never been so annoyed in all of my futile bike maintenance attempts.

rant

Also if you do go for that one I can endorse Fortezza Senso Xtreme tyres, despite the ridiculous name. Been running one on my pompino for about 8 months now.

Hmm. That doesn't sound ideal. Another alternative is the Planet X 'London Road', with Rival 22 and mechanical Avid disc brakes, which seem to be well reviewed.