Road Bike Purchase, up to £1000

I already have a cheap daily mtb as a daily hack.

I am looking for a proper road bike, which would be suitable for proper road training.

I visited Evans Cycles and sat on a 58cm Fuji Roubaix which seemed to have a good frame and components.

Is this is a suitable bike for me (6ft1 and 15,5 st) for proper riding. I don't really want to spend over £1000 all in for bike, mudguards and pedals/shoes.

Hmmm... It's Shimano Sora components that are one it. I'd look around for Tiagra or even 105 if you can find it.

I am looking for a proper road bike, which would be suitable for proper road training.

What sort of road riding? Distance, speed, hills, TT, racing?

bikeradar -->

Check the £1000 road bike thread on here for some suggestions. Consider buying used/ebay. Make sure it fits.

I already have a cheap daily mtb as a daily hack.

I am looking for a proper road bike, which would be suitable for proper road training.

I visited Evans Cycles and sat on a 58cm Fuji Roubaix which seemed to have a good frame and components.

Is this is a suitable bike for me (6ft1 and 15,5 st) for proper riding. I don't really want to spend over £1000 all in for bike, mudguards and pedals/shoes.

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/PBPXPCSRRI/sl-pro-carbon-road-sram-rival

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/PBPXPCSRRI/sl-pro-carbon-road-sram-rival

big +1 to that. Some people have taken issues with the quality of the lay up of the carbon fibre. Mine is fine though, and a lot of people love them.

Also... these are the sort of questions you should be able to confidently ask the people in the shop. That's what they are there for, after all!

You'll get much more for you money if you look for second hand, unless the 1k is from the Cycle 2 work scheme?

You'll get much more for you money if you look for second hand, unless the 1k is from the Cycle 2 work scheme?

Unless you're prepared to shell out for replacement chains/cassettes/cables/tyres/brake pads/other miscellaneous components that have worn out, on top of the cost of the bike itself, I wouldn't bother with 2nd hand road bikes.

Unless you're prepared to shell out for replacement chains/cassettes/cables/tyres/brake pads/other miscellaneous components that have worn out, on top of the cost of the bike itself, I wouldn't bother with 2nd hand road bikes.

Eh?

I paid £1,200 for a £3,000 Cannondale SystemSix which had less than 20 miles on it- it still had the anti-scratch stickers on frame and mechs that the shop put on.

I put pedals on it, that was the only additional cost.

Second hand is an extremely good idea unless you have zero knowledge, and even then one of us will help in exchange for making us laugh and/or beer.

Eh?

I paid £1,200 for a £3,000 Cannondale SystemSix which had less than 20 miles on it- it still had the anti-scratch stickers on frame and mechs that the shop put on.

I put pedals on it, that was the only additional cost.

Second hand is an extremely good idea unless you have zero knowledge, and even then one of us will help in exchange for making us laugh and/or beer.

This^

There are alot of weekend warriors out there that buy the new 2010 Cervelo, to replace their 2009. Because its a different colour. then sell on the old bike, for a fraction of what its worth.

Unless you're prepared to shell out for replacement chains/cassettes/cables/tyres/brake pads/other miscellaneous components that have worn out, on top of the cost of the bike itself, I wouldn't bother with 2nd hand road bikes.

Not true at all, as the other two people have said above.

What makes you think you would have to replace all of that from buying a second hand bike?

I picked up a Claud Butler touring bike last year for my dad changed a few bits (fitted new racks, tires, bars) and the cost was still under £200. I looked at maybe buying a touring bike for myself brand new and the cost was at least £750, how'd you work that one out?

To be fair I've seen a few bikes on EBay etc. which sounded like they'd been 'ragged'.

I suppose its like buying a used car. If you buy a fiesta XR2 with full body kit and over-sized exhust. It may not have seen purely careful, low-rev, driving.

Hmmm, I think the issue about 2nd hand is risk- there is the risk that loads of stuff is toast, and the more expensive the bike, the more expensive the bits.. Simply, if you know squat about bikes and/or you buying basically sight unseen, you may be very unlucky, or you may score. Have you not got mates who can steer you on second hand condition- just not that lot on LFGSS :-)))).

It's also pretty expensive to buy a bike that doesn't fit, and then to have to unwind the transaction somehow. Worse if you go new then, of course.

bikeradar -->

Check the £1000 road bike thread on here for some suggestions. Consider buying used/ebay. Make sure it fits.

This one.
http://www.lfgss.com/thread4114.html
Which was started March 2008.

The more you know about fit, frames, componentry, etc. the more money you could potientialy save buying used, or off an internet vender. If you're not that knowlegable in these things, it would likely be better to use your LBS.

I just got a new job which offers me the chance to get a bike on cycle to work. The job comes with a 10 mile each way commute so I'm thinking I'm going to graduate to something with a few gears.

Anybody got any particularly strong feelings as to what my best bet would be? Looking at the moment at the Specialized Allez Elite - any thoughts?

Cheers

Well my first thought was, "I wouldn't ride anything but a s/s or fixie around most of London, especially the centre." I used to do about 25 miles a day by fixie from Greenwich to Clapham and I hated having to switch to the dropped bars on my road bike in town because you can't see over the traffic so easily, the levers are that bit slower to grab when an emergency happens and for whatever reason, I seem to make the overall ride more quickly riding in single gear over multiple when there is traffic around (no idea why though). 10 miles really isn't that much, you'll step up to doing that easily in a month or so.

I guess this isn't much help for you looking for a bike though. I'm more suggesting you might be better off planning to buy yourself a good road bike which is good for the open road, rather than aiming to use it for urban riding.

Edited to add: I'm also not one of the super-trim forum cyclists, I'm old and I'm fat, so if I reckon it's not a huge distance, you should be fine. :-)

Thanks for the input. I've been doing a 7 mile commute fixed for a while now, so not too worried about the distance to be honest. Just desperate to get out a bit more and I think I'd get much more out of something with gears - I live in the country and I struggle to motivate myself to get any proper rides in on on a fixed gear.

Pretty much I'm torn between the Giant Defy and the Specialized Allez, if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it.

Don't ask for advice, all bikes feel different to different people. Go and test ride them all, then decide which one suits you.
Personally I would go for a Langster and HTFU on the hills.

;-)

Agreed. Ask 10 cyclists their opinion, you'll get 11 answers. And 12 of those will apparently be wrong.

Take me... Because I'm tall, heavy, have a long back, long arms, short legs and child-bearing sit bones, the way I like my bike set up is apparently "completely wrong". Except it works really well for me and has done for over 5000 miles.

No harm in asking though. But the best thing is if you have a mate that you can swap bikes with and try his for a while on a ride. It's amazing how annoying little things can get after just 10 or 15 miles - which is a lot further than you'll go on any test ride from a bike shop.

Have you tried either of those bikes you mentioned yet? Have you seen the Chris Boardman bikes too? I know they were aimed directly at the cycle-to-work scheme people by bringing the cost in at about £995.

Oh, and +1 on the Langster. I thought it was a great bike - felt sturdy enough to take a bashing, light enough to take you around pretty quickly, really nice handling, very sharp in the corners. It gets MASHED here on the forum though. And yet my mate and I quite happily did a hundred miler around the Chiltern Hills last year, him on his single-speed Langster and me on a fixed Charge Plug. Although I don think with hindsight I should have ridden single-speed, but that's another story.

Are you sure a "better" bike will make you ride more, if you're feeling unmotivated right now?

Pretty much I'm torn between the Giant Defy and the Specialized Allez, if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it.

Never ridden either, but both consistently get great reviews. Head over to Road Beginners at Bikeradar and you might find the advice you're looking for.

First narrow it down to bikes from brands sold by shops supported by whichever scheme your new employer is set up with. This will cut maybe 1/2 of your potential options. Then go out and test ride them. Keep in mind that the defy and the allez are pretty different in terms of geometry - the former being a sportive, more upright position (perhaps better for commuting??), and the latter being more aggressive/racy (more fun?) - so they will ride quite differently to each other. When it comes to choosing, test ride is king.

My 2010 Allez Comp still makes me smile when I get on it, plus she's lasted very well. Only thing bar bar tape and tyres I've had to replace is the larger chainring.

Lovely bike!

Thanks for the suggestions. My shortlist to try is down to the Giant, the Allez and the Boardman Team but I'm not going to limit myself to those if something else comes along.

Not sure that I'm going to find anywhere that stocks all three though so guess I'm gonna have a busy week.

Aren't the Boardman bikes sold exclusively through the big Halfords shops? I know they signed some sort of deal to stock them and I can't remember seeing them in other bike shops - not that I was looking, to be fair.

Cannondale CAAD 8 Tiagra
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caad8-6-tia-2012-compact-road-bike-ec031475

Supposedly the best aluminium frame on the market. My mate has the 105 version and it's far more lovely than the Allez Sport it replaced. See if you can find a way to get the 105 for under £1000 or the CAAD 10, my mate managed it with a cunning Evans 10% off voucher

Alternatively, check out Ribble.

I have a Ribble Winter SRAM Apex picked up for <£700 and I didn't even bother with CTW. Ribble can't be beat from a price value perspective, check out the special offers if you're not too bothered by the brand name

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/pu/road-track-bike/special-edition-bikes/specialedition/1

Rose Bikes (of Germany) is also worth a look, no CTW but prices low enough that it really doesn't matter
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/