Wanted: Road bike for a Noobie...

Hi, as a noob to your forum I would like to ask for advice and also hope to find someone to buy a road bike off...

I have a Giant Defy 3.5 touring bike (I'm sure cycling aficionado's would grimace, but it has been a good introduction to road riding).

And now I'm looking to getting into road riding more seriously in Sydney where it is very hilly and would like to buy a bike before I head there.

The advice I have been given is get a nice stiff carbon frame kitted with Shimano Ultegra/105.

I'm 6ft5 and whilst I have chalked up decent miles on my trusty Giant (rode around france with my wife) I am not au fait with terminology or the different brands etc. Any advice on brands to go for/avoid? Pricing point or...

Does anyone have a carbon road bike for a lanky fella !!!???

Thanks for your advice and thoughts in advance, tt

Type this into "threads"-------------- Orbea Orca - 56cm. square.
I now have the Sales Receipt and it is in fact a 57cm.

He's 6 ft 5, 57cm would be ridiculously small for him.

^ agree.

I am 6ft 4 and find the Defy L a good fit, but it depends on how you want to sit on the bike. You might find it too cramped even with a 130mm stem. I started off with a Defy also, a 4 I think, then tried a lot of alternatives over the years (an expensive exercise) before deciding that the SL aluminium Defy was a good fit. I did go down a size though.

If you know that the Defy (I presume you have an XL) fits you and you like it, but want carbon, you could look at the Advanced ones with whatever level of groupset you prefer. You will go a lot better on a bike that fits you correctly than one that doesn't. They are well reviewed also, I don't think you will be making a mistake. Or a TCR, equally good but more aggressive geometry.

I had a M TCR at 5'10 it fitted perfectly.*

Loved it. Pretty neutral but a lovely bike.

http://spinwell.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/doms_cannondale_caad9v2-0-1.jpg

Does anyone know what model year this Caad is?

Plus if anyone has this model and wants to sell - please let me know!

Carbon isn't always necessary, it's nice but not necessary, good quality aluminium, look at cannondale's caad8/9/10 or the rose xeon RS, ribble usually have something and planet x have a lot of SAB frames at the moment for very good value, try and keep it all to one material though.

As far as groupset goes, shimano and you can't go wrong, the advice you've been given is very right, 105/ultegra is very good value for money, look for the ultegra 6700 stuff or shimano 5700 stuff (this is the latest version of 105) they can be mixed, so for example you could get ultegra shifters and derailleurs, and 5700 everything else, this is what I would do

Even though ultegra 6800 (the latest version of ultegra) can be had for a good price at the moment, it throws up a lot of problems with wheels etc. because it's 11 speed.

For the finishing kit, carbon seatpost and handlebars and aluminium stem from any major brand will do the job

Wheels wise you could get something handbuilt or otp, handbuilt makes replacing rims a lot easier when they get worn out though so that would always be what i go for

This forum is rad! thank you for all your advice and thoughts...!

SPJ I can see it is an expensive hobby; and i'll check out the carbon Defy's and TCR for sure... Yes you're right I have an XL defy 3.5... But when I took the measurements off the spec it says only 58.5 frame with 59.5 T/T... which made me wonder if it was the best size for me, or just the biggest one the bike shop guy had at the time! But I suppose proof is in the pudding...

Sirbikealot; you're right - me saying i want to buy a carbon bike a bit like saying 'i want a turbo on my car' without first thinking about why I want a turbo... (terrible analogy, but i'll check out the alu ones you mention).

Cheers!

Sizing: Carbon frame geometry needs careful checking from make to make; I ride 54/55cm on a steelie conventional geometry but on a Bottecchia 8Avio I ride 48! ( it has a 55cm top tube! )
Cannondale and Canyon both make superb light Alu frames, and don't overlook Ti. At the size you require, there will be little difference in combined rider/bike weight between any higher end frame really, a couple of pounds at the most. To get up hills you'd be better off investing in some decent wheels, that's where you'll feel the difference. Also a litre bottle of water weights 750g, that's the difference between a large carbon and light steel frame!

I think XL should be about right for you. You are only 1in taller than me and I found the XL just too big for what I wanted. Anyway as you say the proof is in the pudding.

As Chris says the numbers can be misleading - for example the 58.5cm seat tube on your Defy is 'compact', due to it having a sloping top tube rather than a horizontal one. If you measured what you think is point at which a flat top tube would meet your seat post this would give you an idea of how it compared to traditional geometry.

Personally I focus more on top tube & head tube length, and getting the right stem legnth. Although I prefer a compact frame (more exposed seatpost = more insulation from road buzz) the seat tube length is less of a consideration.

Sirbikealot is very wise. I would also recommend buying an good quality aluminium bike over a carbon one. They will come with carbon forks like almost all decent road bikes these days, and will be more robust and sufficiently stiff and light. The top couple of alu Defy models, 1 and 0, are made of a different 'superlight' alloy which is noticeably higher quality, and I think these offer the best bang for your buck. They come with 105 or Ultegra, depending on your budget.

You can usually tell the SL frames as they have no rack mounts on the upper seat stays (and they should say ALUXX SL somewhere). For reference I ride a Defy 1 (I bought a frameset from a friendly dealer) and built it up with a mix of Tiagra/105/Ultegra, with handbuilt wheels (105/Open Pro CD) and Vittoria Open Pave tyres. As a training bike which is capable of a lot more it is hard to beat. I would have preferred a TCR but they are hard to find in aluminium these days.

SPJ7 - thanks again! great to get such rich feedback and not have some chump in a bike shop basically eye up your wallet rather than give you good advice... I'll start off with the Defy's both advanced and 0/1 models...

Not sure I really understand this chat about wheels; but hand built with good quality hubs should prolly make sense and will put on the wishlist.

If you want some more detailed bike sizing, a good tool is:
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp
It's not perfect by any means, but it's pretty good.

thx eyebrows, got the measuring tape out at work... doesn't look strange at all a lanky man measuring himself... ha