First road bike help

[Craigmorris23]

Having spent the last month or so cycling to work for rehab following a hip replacement I have really began enjoying cycling and can feel the improved fitness already, even though I am only cycling 6 miles per day with a couple of good hills each way. At the moment I am using £300 worth of Carrera mountain/hybrid jobbie.

I would now like to purchase a road bike and begin to extend the rides to and from work, in all weathers I might add, especially the ride home, i can pick up a few nice routes of approx 20 miles to get home, and also hope to get out for soI am told that it Is worth questioning what the disciplinary decision has got to do with Jim McKenna as he was not involved in the disciplinary hearing and not directly involved in the investigation. It appears that anybody making the disciplinary decision must have been present at the hearing. And that anybody making the decision has the authority to do so.

me long leisure rides when time permits.

i do not want to spend more than £1k at the moment, if I stick at it for 12 months then this may change but for now I feel that this is enough to spend.

Question is, what do I buy? I have got a few of the basics like looking for carbon forks, half decent group-sets etc but with so much choice on the market I really am stumped. There is a local bike shop near to me who is a dealer for Specialized and has offered me a 2012 'Allez' for £575. On the other hand, a Boardman carbon on offer for £1k at a local Halfords is also tempting. Then of course is the second hand market, surely I could pick up what was once £1.5k worth of bike for half that?


any suggestions or advice for this novice would be greatly appreciated.

oh and I am based in the Dudley area of West Midlands, 30 year old male, 6ft tall.

[BeSpoke]

IMO Boardman team (alloy frame) is probably the best value bike at £1000 http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...Id_165710**tab2
If you can get the team carbon for the same price, take their hands off.

I would tend to avoid the 2nd hand market unless you have a good idea what you want and maybe some advice from an experienced hand....(main things to watch out for are worn or damaged parts)

Other than that you could shop around for a 2012 bike. At this time of year there will still be a few vendors selling off old stock to make room for their 2013 models. checkout the online vendors such as Wiggle and chainreactioncycles.com etc.

[Craigmorris23]

Having spent the last month or so cycling to work for rehab following a hip replacement I have really began enjoying cycling and can feel the improved fitness already, even though I am only cycling 6 miles per day with a couple of good hills each way. At the moment I am using £300 worth of Carrera mountain/hybrid jobbie.

I would now like to purchase a road bike and begin to extend the rides to and from work, in all weathers I might add, especially the ride home, i can pick up a few nice routes of approx 20 miles to get home, and also hope to get out for soI am told that it Is worth questioning what the disciplinary decision has got to do with Jim McKenna as he was not involved in the disciplinary hearing and not directly involved in the investigation. It appears that anybody making the disciplinary decision must have been present at the hearing. And that anybody making the decision has the authority to

oh and I am based in the Dudley area of West Midlands, 30 year old male, 6ft tall.

I have just noticed that somehow my phone has picked up something from work and pasted it to this thread. God knows how but I am sure you can work out the bit to ignore.

Anyway, for anybody who can be bothered -


ribblecycles, bike builder. What would you build with £1k to play with?

[BeSpoke]

Ok, Ideally I would get the Ribble Evo Pro Carbon + tiagra groupset and Shimano RS 80 24 wheels. However that would set you back £1180.
The same bike and wheels with Sora group would be £1079.

Sora + Ultegra 6700 wheels or maybe Fulcrum racing quatro would get you below the grand but for me the tiagra + RS80 would be the best choice.

You could also get under a grand with the Ribble Sportive 7005 + tiagra + RS80s

[Mostyn]

Hi Craig,

Welcome to the forum!

I suggest you shop around the large (and small) bicycle (on line) shops and outlets. Then when you find something you quite like? post a link on here. You will get the advise you need; and maybe the bike you really want?

[allezhopper]

Hi Craig, welcome to the forums.

I've not had to endure having to have a hip replacement, so don't know what impact it has short or long term. As you'll know, bikes coming in all shapes and the geometry is different based on the purpose of the bike. Hybrids and MTB have a more upright riding position than out-and-out racing road bikes. 'Sportive' road bike geometry is a slightly relaxed position to racing too.

Then there's the gearing, with MTB having a wide spread at the back and smaller-than-road at the front. This means that you pedal more for the same distance but you can use less pressure to turn the wheels if you need to (at the expense of speed or spinning faster). But then there are bigger rear cassettes for road bike rear mechs than normally are fitted by the manufacturer (I think the current Shimano mechs can handle up to a 28 tooth gear at the back).

If you have any doubt about the geometry then going to a shop will give you the chance to try sitting on the bike before laying down the cash (and there's no harm in asking for them to try to match, or get close, to a competitor's price).

Just to throw something else into the mix, have a look at the Cannondale Synapse. The 2013 Tiagra is 20 speed and has a good spread of gears. Their SAVE Plus shaped rear tubes should work to reduce vertical vibrations but be laterally stiff. I've the CAAD10 which has Speed SAVE (ok it's marketing speak) and I find that the CAAD10 is more comfortable than my Allez, but it also could be a combination of the CAAD's carbon seatpost and being lighter too.

You might find this useful http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tech/...nder-1000.html (links to the Synapse review).


BTW Shimano Tiagra groupset (series 4600) is a trickle down from the previous 105 groupset (series 5600). Likewise, the Sora (series 3500) is a trickle down from the older Tiagra 4500 series. Just make sure you get what you want (9 or 10 speed, double or triple) as changing up will cost quite a bit, especially the brake/gear shifters.

[Bassett]

Plus 1 for the cannondale synapse I have a 105 alloy model the mrs has a tiagra triple they can be had fairly cheap if you shop around online very comfy take full guards and 25 or even 28 mm tyres.