Road bike recommendations

Yeah, I'm in N16. I'll post up a thread in classifieds and see what the lay of the land is with regards to interest :)

....

I might be in the market for a new frame as my road bike seems to be dying on me.
What are my options? Requirements are: decent, light, fast, durable and available as frame only. Alloy or steel or carbon or mixtures thereof. Preferably something that might crop up on ebay every now again as a bargain.

Just an entry level racing frameset for £150 -300 that's reliable and fast.

What modern brands are worth looking to? And which models are recommened?
Trek? Cannondale? Giant? etc etc...
Sorry for such a wide open question... I've been on ebay and frankly I have no idea what's good and what's shite when I'm looking at anything post-1990!

I'll be using it to train all year round and hopefully race in the summer.

^^ To be honest I don't think it will sell on here. (Frame)

Maybe chuck it on the bay first and see what happens.

Campagnolo not Shimano not Colnago not Eddy Merckx but Tonic Fabrications etc.

should get some interest.

....

I might be in the market for a new frame as my road bike seems to be dying on me.
What are my options? Requirements are: decent, light, fast, durable and available as frame only. Alloy or steel or carbon or mixtures thereof. Preferably something that might crop up on ebay every now again as a bargain.

Just an entry level racing frameset for £150 -300 that's reliable and fast.

What modern brands are worth looking to? And which models are recommened?
Trek? Cannondale? Giant? etc etc...
Sorry for such a wide open question... I've been on ebay and frankly I have no idea what's good and what's shite when I'm looking at anything post-1990!

I'll be using it to train all year round and hopefully race in the summer.

Alway worth checking EBay for stuff the MAMILS have upgraded from.

As for new stuff. This would be my chioce. You even get a Ritchey WCS stem.

https://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3128

Thanks for the tip @Ordinata - I'll try that.

....

I might be in the market for a new frame as my road bike seems to be dying on me.
What are my options? Requirements are: decent, light, fast, durable and available as frame only. Alloy or steel or carbon or mixtures thereof. Preferably something that might crop up on ebay every now again as a bargain.

Just an entry level racing frameset for £150 -300 that's reliable and fast.

What modern brands are worth looking to? And which models are recommened?
Trek? Cannondale? Giant? etc etc...
Sorry for such a wide open question... I've been on ebay and frankly I have no idea what's good and what's shite when I'm looking at anything post-1990!

I'll be using it to train all year round and hopefully race in the summer.

Keep an eye on ebay - I got a Canyon F+F off there last month for about £100.
Cannondale, Canyon, Giant, Specialized etc etc all make good bikes.
Tbh most modern bikes are great. Chainreaction have some good deals on Ridley frames at the moment too.

I would go for straight alu - not really convinced by bonded carbon/alu mixes - especially if you're buying them 2nd hand.

....

I might be in the market for a new frame as my road bike seems to be dying on me.
What are my options? Requirements are: decent, light, fast, durable and available as frame only.

As always second hand gets you more. Bike Radar is great for road stuff.

I'd focus on setting up decent search filters based on size and keep hunting. This Giant TCR Composite just went for c.£200. I've got one and really like it. It doesn't obviously fall into the "all-year-round", but I use it as such.

Kenisis have a good rep, are practical (room for 28mm tyres, mudgaurd eyes, etc.) and the cheaper ones are in your price range and look nice imo. Equally PX are an obvious option.

I would go for straight alu - not really convinced by bonded carbon/alu mixes - especially if you're buying them 2nd hand.

This.

Expensive alu over cheap carbon.

^^Where is mech hanger?

No idea, but literally everything that could be stripped has been stripped, so no surprise. It's probably why it went (relatively) cheap.

Thanks all.
Is there a popularly accepted "king of the entry level road bikes"?
Prob stupid question, but I keep thinking of Dawes Galaxy, Ribble Audax, or Dolan Precursa and wondering what the popular racing specific equivalent might be, if there is one.

Question:

Value: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/dolomite-5-2013-road-bike-ec044213

Or

Beauty: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/equilibrium-00-2013-road-bike-ec044427

Also another quick one re group sets - the genesis has sora nine speed, meaning that if I want to upgrade, I can't do it by installments? For example by buying bits of 105 and gradually adding them on?

Cheers

Thanks all.
Is there a popularly accepted "king of the entry level road bikes"?
Prob stupid question, but I keep thinking of Dawes Galaxy, Ribble Audax, or Dolan Precursa and wondering what the popular racing specific equivalent might be, if there is one.

Something like a Specialized Allez, or one of the alu 7005 Ribble frames. The Planet X alu f&f combo is also a massive bargain

Question:

Value: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/dolomite-5-2013-road-bike-ec044213

Or

Beauty: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/equilibrium-00-2013-road-bike-ec044427

Also another quick one re group sets - the genesis has sora nine speed, meaning that if I want to upgrade, I can't do it by installments? For example by buying bits of 105 and gradually adding them on?

Cheers

Neither! Buy a px with rival for 900 ish or a ribble carbon instead

Question:

Value: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/dolomite-5-2013-road-bike-ec044213

Or

Beauty: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/equilibrium-00-2013-road-bike-ec044427

Also another quick one re group sets - the genesis has sora nine speed, meaning that if I want to upgrade, I can't do it by installments? For example by buying bits of 105 and gradually adding them on?

Cheers

Better, and withTiagra.
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/bikes-c5/road-bikes-c18/cannondale-synapse-alloy-tiagra-performance-road-bike-2012-p194756

More expensive, but a cracking deal. Such a nice frame.
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/bikes-c5/road-bikes-c18/giant-defy-composite-3-compact-road-bike-2012-p202871

Go 2nd hand from BR, maybe ebay if you get someone to check it over who knows their shit. As the sales aren't on right now and nothing is a bargain.

Then get it serviced, or service it yourself, account for maybe £200 max, - chain, cassette, cables, brake pads, chainrings. But that shouldn't all need doing, but might.
Or just ride it untill april, when the weather is good and then get it serviced.

You'll end up with a lot more for your money, and then when you want a new bike in a year you'll feel less bad about keeping it for a hack or selling it.

My 2c.

I know we're discussing budget stuff. But I have serious bike horn for this frameset. Its probably one of the few I'd upgrade the BMC to......and its a fecking bargin here...

http://www.hibike.com/shop/product/p3fa1906b0265da47ef1d9b551764863f/sS9171471b9a66e4978540efc613b40e88/Storck-Absolutist-Rahmenkit-Gr-57cm-blue-black-Mod-2012-Der-Artikel-weist.html

Bezzin, weren't you looking for a 58cm bike? If so, this looks ideal.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b65s6p3680

Bezzin, weren't you looking for a 58cm bike? If so, this looks ideal.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b65s6p3680

Hey pal - yes I was, thanks for the spot - a good one! I'm waiting on my office to decide if they're going to do cycle to work, as that will obviously decide what shop I go to.

Thanks for the suggestions folks

I know we're discussing budget stuff. But I have serious bike horn for this frameset. Its probably one of the few I'd upgrade the BMC to......and its a fecking bargin here...

http://www.hibike.com/shop/product/p3fa1906b0265da47ef1d9b551764863f/sS9171471b9a66e4978540efc613b40e88/Storck-Absolutist-Rahmenkit-Gr-57cm-blue-black-Mod-2012-Der-Artikel-weist.html

That is good. But what is the deal with the headtube/fork interface? Why isn't it seemless?

There's no headset fitted.

Does anyone on here have the 'Planet X Pro Carbon SRAM Rival Road Bike'?

Seriously considering it over the 'Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0', which seems to be going up in price.

With an extra £170, the PX can be had with a carbon seat post and upgraded drive train from Rival to Force.

The Canyon has generally better equipment to my mind and has better looks - including the internal routing which I'm a total sucker for, but I'm thinking that the PX is the one to go for as I'll save about £370 all things considering. Just looking for a good enough reason not to get the PX. Any horror stories?

Any recommendations for an aero carbon frameset for around a grand, preferably Italian?

so far I've found..

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/FRGUTEUNI/guerciotti_team_replica_unico1_frame_and_fork

www.sigmasport.co.uk/p/19452/s2-frameset-2012/?OptionID=6347&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=pricecomp&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping

I believe both of those are fabricated in the far east.

You could consider battaglin, dedeccai, colnago, de rosa, or mario cipolinni's frames

Oh yeah, I knew that, more for the look really. The cervelo looks very mechanical, I fancied something with a bit of class. There's a Battaglin frame set, also from planet x but it's ugly as hell