[Closed] OT: What roadie bike for £1500-2000?

Was going to say Cannondale - I bought a Six last year and have been very pleased with it. It's got a good level of comfort combined with nice stable hadnling and a frame that wastes no power - it looks good as well, which is a far more important consideration when buying a road bike IMHO 🙂

Have a look on the Canyon site, there's some great value

Have a look at the 2010 models as well and you might be able to raise your price range as they're all on sale at the moment. The shop near me is doing 10% of 2010 bikes and I just bought a road bike at 75% of the original cost because the paint was a year old. Found that I was getting more for my money on the 2010 bikes than the 2011 bikes at a similar price. Happy hunting!

I`ve just got a Cube Agree GTC Race, spec for the money was superb

Ive got a Giant TCR advance - well impressed so far...

Depends what size you want but Mister P is selling a nice genesis over there --->

What sort of thing are you after? head down racey, or relaxed-comfy cruiser?. If it's the latter, test ride a Bianchi Infinito it's unbelievably comfortable and you can really put the miles in!, think my LBS (Hertfordshire) even has a deal on them with free Garmin GPS's

As above, the Cube Agrees seem to receive good right ups too and the specs are fantastic for the cash

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikebuilder.asp?action=GenerateConstructor&part=BB11RIBSTEALTH&sub=conf_BBRC&bike=1
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXNAHMDLTD/nanolight-high-modulus-duraace-limited-edt
http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2113
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=57234

You could probably get a ribble with some pimp wheels and dura ace for that. Or decent canyon.

if you want a fast/race bike, this one is good value and the frames are amazing:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b4s6p2765

At that kind of money listen to your heart (looks gorgeous, Italian eg Infinito) and not your head (Ribble with pimp spec).

That said, the Cannondale does a reasonable job of satisfying both, and Cannondale do a good job of not being Trekalized etc. The only bummer is it was bike of the year in Cycling Plus, which is a bit like trying to get excited about What Car's best family saloon.

I had this dilemma recently - ended up with a Kuota Kharma custom build.

Fairly similar to this with except with Ksyrium Elites. Bought mainly on the great reviews it seemed to get. I didn't really have much to compare it to (apart from a shonky old Allez) so it's a fair step up for me 🙂

[img] [/img]

Originally I was going to get a Ribble, but they were a PITA to deal with, and they were out of stock on most of what I wanted.

Now that's nice.

You do get a lot for your money from Kuota, and very aero so with a set of clip-on tribars you wont be able to blame slow TTs on your bike.

Oooo those Cubes look nice. Found a nice 0% deal at Stif too.

I'll have a look at those other options as well.

Cheers folks.

+1 Cube Agree

did some research recently for a mate and this one stood out. Well reviewed and well specced.

[i]Depends what size you want but Mister P is selling a nice genesis over there ---> [/i]

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-genesis-equilibrium-56cm-ultegra-pro-vibe-carbon-rs80 ]Under your budget but well worth a look[/url]

Dunno what size you are but there loads of cracking bikes at Canyon.com.
Maybe a little over budget but you'll not find that spec anywhere else for the price

[img] [/img]

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/outlet/article.html?o=A1022168

Crikey, that Canyon is seriously ugly!

Yeah it is. I'm sold on the Cube now: Stunning looking bike.

Canyon...ugly? eh?
It's not the worlds prettiest road bike but it's far from ugly.

Try and ride a few.

That is what I spent on my last roady.

I had an idea what I would like based on tests eg Cycling +, then rode a load of bikes and found what I liked was quite different to what I thought I would like and what was the best bike for my riding according to mags.

I found carbon bikes at that price quite dead*, and liked nice alu frames with a carbon rear much more, which gave me a choice of Colnago Arte or Wilier Triestina. Both looked pimp, rode pretty much the same, but I as the Wilier was cheaper I could spend £400 on wheels.

I would have had to spend more than I could afford to get a carbon frame I liked.

*Turns out I am quite old school in may tastes, compared to the mass of C+ reviewers, so now I just look for which one their mechanic likes, as he is clearly a discerning chap. Other people may call what I call dead, comfortable. It's pretty subjective. I also like my head down and arse up, so rel short headtube for a given frame size, again, not everyone does

Get a canyon. the build quality and spec is second to none for the price.

The Cube's do look nice I have to agree, I looked at one, as my budget was really all over the place & I was considering allsorts.

I was put off them by quite a few shops (mainly higher end to be fair) and one recurring opinion was £200 frame, £2000 paint job.

For 2 grand though, i'd probably be looking at something second hand. Only reason I couldn't was employer was funding mine (internal C2W type scheme, only better) because £2k gets you one hell of a barely used lovely bit of kit.

I saw a Cervelo R3 SL go for 'just' over your budget dripping in top end kit - I know where my money would go!

Specialized Roubaix - there are different finishing levels through the price range you stated. I have one and its one of the best road bikes I ever ridden. Comfortable but light and quick.

I have a Cannondale Six 105 from last year, wheels needed an upgrade to match the lovely frame. Am very happy with it but if I had the same money to spend I dont think you can beat Canyon.

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2113

Nice frame and much better spec than the 'dale I think, full Ultegra.

I got a Canyon mtb so I'm prob a bit of a fanboy.....

Having said that, I am now quite tempted by this:

[url= http://www.evanscycles.com/products/colnago/arte-20-105-2011-road-bike-ec025630 ]Colnago Arte 2.0[/url]

Specialized Roubaix

be aware that 'comfort sportive bikes' can be a compromise if you are flexible and not a mamil with a gut that precludes you using the drops. i find the head tubes too tall and would need a silly angled stem to get the bars low enough. i recently rode a new fuji altimera and just used 1 spacer and a level stem. (the altimera is a great bike BTW and came out on top in a recent cycling weekly test) you may find you need a 'sportive' bike rather than 'normal' bike or vice-versa.

love the Kuota Kharma...

Colnago is nice but you should be getting better than 105 for that price....its all in the name!

Look 566?
[img] [/img]

Mine is super-comfortable, but still more than enough for keeping up on the club-rides I've been on.

This is turning into a porn thread for me - a newbie to this road lark.

Those Kuotas are heavy aren't they?

I'd hate to head into the garage and see that Canyon on a daily basis, it's one seriously ugly bike!

[img] [/img]
Liking this a lot.

Those modas are great, that one pictured is only around £1800! The lbs have a couple in stock and they look great,

They're a uk brand and you can juggle specs a little,especially with the am-classic wheels.

That moda is like a work of art. A shop near me has started selling them. Think I'll take a closer look this week.

Need to angle the handlebars down on the one in that photo, nice looking bike though.

Mikey74 do some test riding - obviously you have good taste

The Canyon road bikes look gash but their MTBs don't

On the other hand ridden by Phillipe Gilbert the total king of road biking awesome

Kuota come up light £ for £ the full pro tour KOM is a mere 4 grand 😉 which is half a dogma cost but weighs less

Thanks for all the replies. I really like that Moda.

I may take a trip to my local Evans (which is, incidentally, my only LBS) and see what they've got.

Those Kuotas are heavy aren't they?

Rubbish. Mine below (now with Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels) is 8 kg including pedals.

[IMG] [/IMG]

Another mint looking Kuota - they really are the road bike 'bargain'

Cav's Mclaren S-works weighs 7.5kg - I bet the Kuota above doesn't weigh much
more than that. There comes a point when things can get too light...

Hey, I was going by a review on cycling plus that said the one they tested was around 19.5lbs. They did say that it wasn't the frame, but the kit, that was resulting in the weight.

merlin are doing ultegra wheels for about 200 quid, and the latest 105 groupset for 450, even allowing for tyres bars stem saddle seatpost headset bartape, you'd have enough to get a top quality frameset

or go onto weightweenies and get a carbon frame direct from china, they have very useful threads on there 🙂

or if you fancy a full build, have a look at the planetx himod with athena

I'd agree with all the kuota recommendations, we build alot of them and they're great vfm! Also very light.. I've got a couple of pinarellos on special depending on your size.... Mail me if you need more info

Planet X SL Pro with SRAM Red groupset - £1300. You wont find another bike out there with a carbon frame and a pro level groupset for that kind of money. You could then use the money you have left over to buy some pimping wheels for it.

I rode a mates Planet X the other week and it was excellent.

Very close to going for one of those Kuotas: I notice that it comes with either SRAM Rival or Shimano 105 groupo. Any recommendations which one I should go for?

I have used 105 before and found it to be reliable, but I have no experience of the SRAM kit.

Damn, Primera are closed today. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to order one 🙁

Planet x get the ti one with ultegra.

CAAD9

Planet x get the ti one with ultegra.

The Planet X Ti bikes START at £2600; and no Ultegra option, only Dura Ace.

Buy frame and build it up.

Moda Stretto, Felt F5