Road bike recommendations

My budget was ~2k and it's the first time I've not bought off the peg.
I got the Canyon SLX disc. Adavantage was it came with headset, fork, seat post and intergrated stem and bar.
Reducing the amount of bits you have to find yourself. Then just scoured the net for best prices knowing roughly what I wanted.
Ended up with a slightly better spec than the shop bought equivalent. More importantly how I wanted it from the start.
If I had another £1k I'd have got the Reynolds wheels and perhaps been able to stretch to etap.

Indulge my lunchtime(ish) fantasising - what road bike can I get which will fit 32c + guards?

Mason Definition. Fairlight Secan.

and on the cheaper end of the spectrum: Triban RC520

fantasising

You only go to the cheaper option when you’ve stopped fantasising and checked your bank balance.

Bowman OFC. Genesis equilibrium. Kinesis something.
If you go to the endurance end of the spectrum there's dozens of options

Your current bike + 650b wheels.

I'm in a proper pickle about what to do about my girlfriends bike situation but before i commit forum suicide do we have a specific thread for ladies/shorter people road bike recommendations? Is the best place to post right here (please don't send me a link) or do people think it justifies a thread of it own (could include track/gravel etc)?

There's a Women's subforum?

Women's Arkose, next.

classic LFGSS mainsplain®

the smallest reach is too long and the stack too high for my partner for example.

Its cool to say just get an arkose but not to say just get a women's arkose?

the smallest reach is too long and the stack too high for my partner for example.

👆🏽

Only if you're a woman, sexism still exists in 2019.

I considered it there but as this concerns not just women but shorter people i thought bikes and bits would get more input.

Regarding the Arkose it doesn't fit her, isn't light and by all accounts isn't much fun to ride on the road. I'd like recommendations on bikes that have a degree of practicality but that she'll genuinely enjoy riding and not just a bike that ticks the most boxes. I can go into more detail here but i just thought it might be a useful database for people.

Along the lines of this

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/women-bikes/road-bikes/endurance-bikes/endurace/endurace-wmn-cf-sl-disc-7.0/2132.html

Canyon has done a great job in the geo esp on 2XS ands 3XS with 27.5 wheels.

I'd go with it if you kinda know what stack and reach you are after.

The only way to make sure is to go for the 'lightest' bike-fit (most fitters would call it bike buying consultation or something) and get the correct stack and reach, stem length, saddle setback, crank length nailed.

For my partner we went with full fit at Pearson Cycles, I think they have Retul or something similar. But it was to give Matt the geo for a custom Talbot.

I'm not sure if I'm missing something here. Only a woman can tell a woman to buy a woman's bike?

Regarding the Arkose it doesn't fit her, isn't light and by all accounts isn't much fun to ride on the road.

These points would have helped :)

Only a woman can tell a woman to buy a woman's bike?

No but you can't go 'here is a solution that I have selected for you' without knowing all the factors involved. To anyone really. But especially to women as its classic definition of mansplaining. Shops do this all the time and thats bad.

Don't be absurd. We literally have a thread called just get an arkose. Someone asks for a bike recommendation without any information (granted he was looking for a place to put the information) and I suggest just get an arkose, only its for a woman/shorter human so I suggested getting the woman's one. Hop off your high gender neutral horse, I'm not being sexist.

classic definition of mansplaining

Explaining something to a woman with an assumption that you know more about it than her because you're a man.
That is what I'd consider to be classic mansplaining. Only thats not what just happened. I suggested arguably the best value all round bike to a guy, for a woman, without more specific requirements.

Someone asks for a bike recommendation without any information (granted he was looking for a place to put the information) and I suggest just get an arkose

you can't go 'here is a solution that I have selected for you' without knowing all the factors

🤷🏽‍♂️

If its fine for me to assume a man's requirements and suggest an arkose then it is fine for me to assume a woman's.
Positive discrimination is damaging.

Went with my Mum to pick up a Genesis Col du Glandon last week. It's essentially a kids CX bike with 650b wheels - she's 5ft. She's miles more confident and stable on it than she ever was on her XS Giant Liv Avail.