Looking for a road Bike

[kopite]

Hey All,

I`ve been thinking about getting into road racing to supplement my running and maybe even do the odd duatholon/triathlon in the future.

With this in mind my company has started doing the ride 2 work scheme so i thought it would be a good oppurtunity to get a bike

Now the budget seems to be limited to 1k but that doesn`t mean I want to spend that much if possible.

Basically I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions? I was in Evans cycles on the weekend and was told that the pinnacle dolomite 2 is a good bike but I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions?

Cheers for any help

[sabre74]

I bought a ribble on the same scheme. Absolutely outstanding value for money and very helpful. I have had it 2 years now and couldn't be happier. Have a look at their special edition bikes, I got a carbon/105 setup for just over 1k.

[kopite]

I`m currently looking at a cannondale caad8 105 which is going for 1050.

Going to go down and try some out

[b0redom]

Not sure I'd want to drop £1k on a mail order bike. For that kind of money I'd want to be able to go in and get some support if there were problems. Ribble have a good rep for bikes, but a poor rep for service - build times slipping etc.

If you're considering mail order, have a squiz at Planet X too. Very good value for money.

105 groupset at £1050 isn't bad though.

Don't forget you'll need shoes/pedals/helmet/lights/bike computer etc. Most shops will offer 10% of the value of the bike as 'bits'.

[kopite]

I`ll be getting it from the Evans shop

They do test rides so I`m gonna try it out first. atm I really just want some suggested alternatives to the cannondale caad8.

I`m Stuck with Evans to get the bike from as thats who the company have the ride2work with

[TheAnimus]

Don't forget the locks! Have a look on youtube to see how easy it is to bottlejack some dlocks, how pretty much all chains are completely useless (split in seconds, no matter how chunky they look).

caad8 looks fairly decent, bit pricy for something that has just 105s if you ask me thou, but I'm guessing your paying a lot for the frame.

If it is really for everyday commuting, keep the running costs in mind, I went for a cheapish Gen Day 2, its about 5 years old now, cost me £600, but has running costs last year of about £350. I did do about 15,000km thou. But I ended up needing a fair few re-spokings, new wheel, 2 new cassette and chains, some arsehole broke my front derailer....., about 20 innertubes and 8 set of brake pads.

I hope you're budgeting for SPDs too, would be a crime not to have them on a bike like that!

[kopite]

Thanks for the advice

I`ll be getting SPD/shoes

I`vbe been told by a few ppl that 105`s are the way to go and are worth the extra although looking I can get the same bike for about 150 quid cheaper with triago..

[b0redom]

Well I usually see lots of Specialized Allez bikes at events, but they don't go as high as 105.

I raced a bit on a Tricross which only had Tiagra, but really if you're looking at having a go a triathlon you should get something which you can clip tribars on to at a later date, so 'cheater' brakes are a bit of a nono.

How about a Trek?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/...-bike-ec041058

Carbon fork, and the only non-105 bit is the cassette which is a doddle to replace when it wears out.

@TheAnimus, 105 is now pretty pricey. If you just buy the groupset, you're looking at probably £400 quid, so bikes under £1k with it would be, I'm guessing, a rarity.

[b0redom]

Thanks for the advice

I`ll be getting SPD/shoes

SPD or SPD-SL?

[b0redom]

Oh, appears that the Allez is available with 105, just not online with Evans. Might be worth asking if they do and price match:

http://www.leisurewheels.co.uk/produ...s=gb&vid=32789

[TheAnimus]

105 is good, I think everyone agrees, just I thought they were cheaper, they were a lot cheaper when I bought mine!

[kopite]

Evans do price match but I cant seem to find that bike on the site.

I`m aiming to go down in the next couple of weeks again and try out a couple of the bikes.

Whats the difference between spd spd-sl ?

[b0redom]

SPD = mountain bike style
SPD-SL = road bike style

Depending on the distances you'll be going SPD is probably good enough, and they're certainly much tougher (as they're made from metal instead of plastic), and are generally recessed.

SPD-SL are made from plastic, and offer a much bigger contact surface, so your power transfer is more efficient and you don't tend to get 'hot spots'. The downside of that is that they're harder to run/walk on and wear out (if you walk on them) very quickly.

I've had my racing bike for around 12 months and am about to get my 3rd set of SPD-SL cleats. I've never bought a replacement set of SPD cleats (having owned the tricross for probably 6 or so years).

Be careful. Triathlon is a slippery slope, soon you'll be spending megabucks on carbon wheels, neoprene wetsuits and lycra compression wear!

See you at Kona!

[TheAnimus]

I'm still on SPD, because that's what was good value when I bought my bike.

They have warn really, really well. They must have done some 35,000km (sweet, just realised this year I'll have done the circumference of the earth!) and have not needed more than an adjusting and lubing.

My shoes are still OK, though they are falling apart a bit, nothing I couldn't glue.

Everyone I know who has tried the "lighterweight" variants of SPD regret it. If its every second counts stuff then maybe worth looking at it, but for fat ol' me, it matters not.

[kopite]

Well light weight isnt something that important atm as it`s a bit pointless when I have enought weight myself that I can lose for free without paying

SPD sounds like the way to go then

Then its just shoes. As I have mentioned I`m a bit clueless. Do I need to spend loads on them or will a cheap pair be ok ?

[Tumble]

don't scrimp on shoes - you only get one pair of feet! get the best you can afford and make sure they fit properly - like any shoe, if it's not right, you'll have an uncomfortable experience at best and nasty physical damage to your feet at worst. I learned that lesson a while ago, not had a problem since. If your pockets are deep enough, get a pair of SIDIs. Everyone should have a pair of them at some point. They are the god of cycling shoos.

It might be worth your while as well checking if there's any deals on last year's bikes - I got £400 off mine from chain reaction - full carbon loveliness with full Ultegra... the bikes are out there if you look for them. The Cannondale is a nice machine, but I really can't fault my Giant (Defy Composite) - beautiful geometry, smooth as silk and way above my current ability level, but it's 'future-proof' and I WILL get better at riding it!