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Mountain biker for over ten years but I've fancied a road bike for about a year now. I don't really know where to start, do I get something with a relaxed geometry, or something racier? Are disc brakes worth it or are rim brakes still fine?
Probably looking to spend around £1,000.00 or so, at least for now until I know if it's something I'd stick with long term.
Geo depends upon how your body is holding up and how fixated you are about speed, especially downhill and on the flat.
You ought to be able to get at least Tiagra, if not 105 7000 with hydraulic disc brakes for £1k, but I'm not sure you will manage a carbon frame in addition these days.
Decathlon is excellent VFM at that price, well worth checking out.
Nah, they're rubbish.
You're in exactly same position as I was 2 years ago, I went for Boardman Team Carbon. £1000 , 200 discount and 50 cash back. So £750. Never regretted it, 11000 road miles later.
All I've done is change tyres to Contis 4000 and pedals to clipless/flat reversable
Maybe discs would be better , but I think its more to do with bigger tyre size on MTB than road stuff. Haven't crashed yet, apart from falling with clipless pedals at the start.
Oh, and decent brake blocks, swiss stops or the like. Makes big difference
That halfords one looks good. What's the sizing like? I'm 5 foot 11.
Specialized Allez Elite will see you right for 1000. 👌
That halfords one looks good. What’s the sizing like? I’m 5 foot 11.
I'm 5 10 and went for medium 53cm. Ok for me, but try before you buy if you can. Feels weird/sodding dangerous to start with
Go to a decent bike shop and get one the right size, any of the big brands will be fine. Giant are good value. Discs are nice but not a game changer, as above at a grand a good aluminium frame carbon forks and discs are possible, wheels likely to be guff but you can upgrade later if you want.
At 5ft11 with that sort of budget i would probably look on ebay for something like a 56cm caad10 disc (i like cannondales and im a smidge over 5ft11)
95% of road bikes tend to have pampered lives and do very few miles yet depreciate like a stone. Get one of those and avoid the one in one hundred thats done 10,000miles a year.
What about Ribble. They normally have some good deals. If you are near Preston they have a small showroom, there are also shops in Birmingham and London (I think) so you can check sizes.
I've got a Ribble as my good road bike. It's lovely and always a pleasure to ride.
Unfortunately not based near any of those, and having bought a bike online before that didn't fit me I'm very wary of not sitting on them before I buy now. I like the look of the cannon dale. Centimetres as a measurement for bicycles still confuses me...
Same boat as you back in June. Had been looking at secondhand bikes etc. One thing I wanted was hydraulic disc brakes as I figured that being used to good brakes on my mtbs and Halfords hybrid commuter I'd struggle with caliper brakes.
Then Planet X brought out this
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXPCEDRIV22/planet-x-pro-carbon-evo-disc-rival22
for £1100 so I snapped one up. It's £1299 now as there was a pre order £100 discount and prices subsequently went up £100 due to weakening Sterling. Still a bargain price for a full carbon bike with decent groupset and hydraulic disc brakes. I've only done about 500km to date as mtb is always the preferred bike but very happy with it so far. I got it in Matt black and it looks brilliant (IMHO).
I'd halve your budget and go 2nd hand OP, if it sticks you can always trade up later, but £500 should get you something good enough to decide if you like road bikes or not.
As for Discs, personally I don't think they're essential but it is the way road bikes are going and it is an improvement, you'll probably pick up some better bargains if you go shopping for a 2nd hand rim braked road bike now, but you may well want to trade up to discs for your next one (assuming there is one)...
Aluminium is fine if done well.
Cheap carbon is cheap.
Discs are good, but so are rim brakes.
Going to a bike shop is probably a good idea.
Don’t actually worry too much about the group set, it doesn’t really matter. Just don’t get caught on the wrong side of the standards war.
I’ve just spent a week touring in the Vosges on an aluminium road bike with discs. My partner was on a steel road bike with discs. We rode tubeless tyres. It was all fine.
Just buy something and get out and use it.
Which type of road riding do you envisage doing primarily? Locale/roads, distance, touring, audax, club rides, fitness, etc?
Another vote for get down your LBS and get fitted on something that suits, rather than chasing the online bargains per se... Road riding is ALL about the fit, you'll want to ride an ally road bike with 9spd Sora groupset that fits far more than you will a carbon one with 105 11spd that doesn't...
As for discs... They make a HUGE difference... If you ride in all conditions and/or in big mountains. That is to say, for 95% of UK riders, rim brakes are more than adequate. Certainly they aren't the immediate performance upgrade that they are on an MTB for most people.
Ally vs Carbon...? Well I've ridden many good bikes of all frame materials, and many crap ones too. At the price you're looking at, I'd far rather a decent ally frame than a bottom rung carbon one.
As someone who's ridden and owned many high end road bikes, the £1k price point really does get you a hell of a lot of performance for not a lot of money all told...
Shameless plug, but I have a 105 equipped Canyon Endurace CFSL Disc that I'm about to put up for sale, which will fit easily in your budget. I'm 5'10 and a half and it's a perfect for for me.
Lovely bike, super comfortable, relatively relaxed Geo, 11 speed.
Only selling as I don't use it as much as I could and I need the money!
cheap carbon is shite
The Boardman Team Carbon was my first road bike and was actually a really comfy, responsive frame with balanced geometry.
Upgraded the wheels after a year or two and it was a fast enough bike to grab me a few road KOMs - and that's not something I can do anymore!
For me I’d want hydraulic disc brakes, a carbon fork, and if you can get 10 or 11 speed that’s preferable.
Carbon or alloy are fine - I found a good deal (£1100) on a Cannondale Caad12 105 disc and that frame was a pretty similar weight to carbon for around that price.
I’ve had Giant, Boardman and Cannondale rod bikes. I’d say the giant had ‘safe’ handling, the Boardman had similar handling but was lighter and stiffer so felt quicker. Both Cannondales have had livelier / more fun handling - but perhaps gave away a little bit of pure drive forward to the Boardman. But the Boardman was carbon and both dale’s have been lightweight alloy (caad9 and Caad12).
Most makes will see you right for that price though.
Cheap carbon is crap...a bit of a throw away generic comment. Cheap carbon is equivalent if not better than cheap alu...but at £1000 these days you can get a carbon bike with carbon that is not cheap. I got a carbon Giant Defy about 5 years ago on the bike to work scheme for a little over £1000 (£1200 I seem to remember) and it was the cheap carbon. It was lighter and as good as the CAAD8 it replaced which at the time was considered one of the best alu bikes out there.
These days a £1000 carbon Defy features Giants Advanced grade carbon, which was their top of the range carbon back int he day...so good carbon has now trickled down to the lower entry level of the product range now.
I would say that a carbon frame is definitely more comfy than an alu frame. My CAAD8 was as stiff harsh ride...great if you want the performance or are racing or something, but the carbon Defy made from the 'cheap carbon' of the time was so much more comfy and no heavier. A current £1000 Defy with the Advanced carbon will be lighter and even better.
But having said that the development of alu bikes has also come on over the last 5 years so at that price point they're all probably pretty equivalent. I would not get transfixed over what frame material to go for...just shop around your local bike shops and see what you prefer from a fit perspective. There are so many decent brands out there to choose from who are offering decent bikes at the £1000 price point so you'll be spoiled for choice.
The best Giant Defy in budget. If you are 5’11 then a Medium frame with 120mm stem. Discs are fine, but i don’t have them.
Avoid the BB30 Cannondalea the alloy ones just creak and creak. Despite the CAAD10/12 being superb bikes, eventually the creak comes.
Or for something a bit different, an Audax bike from Spa Cycles, road geometry, mudguards and generally a nice ride. What most people need rather than want.
Depending on how “powerful” you are you might want to be wary of more flexible carbon if you go for carbon. Basically bikes that offer themselves up as long distance thoroughbreds (eg cannondale synapse). Also if you can ride it you’ll know whether it will be enjoyable. A cannondale supersix type bike (even an older model year) is super sprightly and great fun. At the moment I’m mostly riding an Orbea orca which feels a bit boring until you realise just how fast you’re going with minimal effort.
cheap carbon is shite though. It's saving money in the resin, weave and time spent doing the lay up.
using hydroformed aluminium is a well estalished, high grade fabrication technique that can be done for less.
https://www.bmc-switzerland.com/teammachine-alr-disc-two-302029.html
cheap carbon is shite though.
I'm sure there are some bad carbon frames, there have certainly been bad aluminium bikes! But most are pretty good and I would probably accept that even at the 'entry level' for a fixed full bike price point the carbon and aluminium frames will be comparable. The difference is in the groupset and wheel. A carbon bike under £1500 is probably going to have very cheap wheels and tiagra level components or 105 with generic cranks and brakes. Where aluminium bikes might get askiums and a full 105 groupset. Typically aluminium bikes are lighter overall as a result.
At the end of the day, its not about the bike. You will turn up to a clubrun and watch an octogenarian ride away from you on an ancient planet x alu even if you could identify the 'best' bike to ride.
I don’t really know where to start, do I get something with a relaxed geometry, or something racier?
To labour the point, what kind of terrain, distance, surfaces do you envisage riding where you live? Or is it with a view to club rides, and if so what type? Is commuting or touring within the remit?
I would go and sit on a few instore to find what size you are, and which models you like, and then buy last years model 2nd hand.
£500 will get you a nice used bike, £1000 will get you a really nice one!
At £1000 these day's you're not getting cheap crap carbon. Not from the major brands. For that price point you can get really really nice carbon, alu or steel framed bikes. Yes you're compromising on groupset...but again today's Tiagra is as good as the Ultegra from a few years ago so that is no bother. Wheels are a compromise too, but you have to have something you want to aspire to upgrade!
As for the kind of bike then there is no reason to get a racier kind of bike unless you intend racing. They tend to have less options for tyres - and you're going to want 28's minimum for our crappy uk roads and the racier frames might only fit 25's at the widest, maybe 28's but having the option to fit 32's is good. You can always set your riding position to be towards the racier side if you want on a more endurance frame (I have), but an endurance frame isn't going to have twitchy unstable steering and be so stiff as to rattle your teeth out. Also the racier frames are far less likely to have mudguard and pannier mounts.
Specialized Allez Elite will see you right for 1000
Yep, that is what I would get. Probably not the best value but I just like it.
As for disc, all depends where you ride and what conditions you ride in. If you only ride in the dry and ride somewhere where you don't really need to slow down a lot then not much point to discs.
Vitus Zenium is a good option for £750. Carbon frame and Tiagra with mechanical discs. I got the Alu version with 105 and hydro discs last year at a similar price, when in the same situation as you. Weight is the same Alu/105 v Carbon/Tiagra It's been great.