[Closed] What £4k road bike?

Something he can test ride

Something custom built? Rourke? Off the peg frame and a custom spec from Condor?

Canyon ain't special 😆

for 4 k you could build something a little special based around that super 6 evo hi mod frame on sale at Pauls for 750 quid.

Frame - Cannondale super six hi mod - 750
Group - Dura Ace Mechanical - 950
Set of firecrests for around £1700

Leaving you about 600 quid to spend on bling finishing kit...[s]

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Speak to Ricky Feather?

Definitely something custom, for that amount of cash.

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[url= http://talbotframeworks.co.uk/2015/04/composite-dalsnibba/ ]Talbot Frameworks[/url]

First question - what sort of riding does he do now, and what riding would he like to do?

Only after he's answered this honestly, is it really worth thinking about models.

In the same position, first time aroud I decided that for this budget I would want a professional spec frame - one actually ridden by the pros, not something made with lower carbon to look the same. I found that with this requirement, Dura Ace was not an option. So I plumped for a Giant Defy Advanced SL with Ultegra 6700, now upgraded to Dura ace 9000. And what a bike it is!

Second time around was for a race bike that I would be racing. So Giant Propel Advanced SL, again with Ultegra 6800.

So neither bike fulfils the super bling "pride of ownership", both bikes are classics (Defy) and stage (Propel) winners. Love them both.

For the "pride" bit. I'll be having a custom steel fixed wheel frame to replace my Paddy Wagon. For proper road bling, his budget will stretch to a Pegoretti, and Dura Ace if he has some wheels already!

None of those bikes are 'a bit special'
Me I would get a custom tube to tube Italian carbon frame built to my weight and intend use plus a 'reasonable' group set/build kit (no room for super record at that budget)

Something from Storck. Such nice looking bikes.

New Madone looks like a very nice bike.

Been lucky enough to have this on loan recently (perk of my job)...

[img] ?oh=3dce792656f69422fb241947f6df9b51&oe=5746959C[/img]

Apologies for all the add ons and the photo after a mucky ride (it was in December and I only had it for 3 weeks so had to get the miles in), but you get the gist...

It's a Wilier Cento 1 SR Ultegra. Normally comes fitted with Mavic Ksyrium Elite's for £3199 (fitted my Reynolds to give it a fair test against my old bike), but a decent wheel and/or groupset upgrade would see it up around the £4k mark.

I've ridden a number of very high end road bikes, and I've got to say, this is right up there with the best of them. The fact it's "relatively" affordable with it's Ultegra/Ksyrium build is a bit misleading, as with Dura-Ace/Red/Record and some top quality wheels, this thing is easily the equal of any other superbike IMO. Very very impressed I was, and to be fair, I think I shall be getting one of my own sometime in the near future...

I built my Rourke up for £3k but specified relatively modest groupset and wheels, £4k would get him a top notch build if he sourced the bits and built himself. IMO if he wants special but doesn't race then custom steel is the way to go.
[url] http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/new-sunday-best-953 [/url]

New Madone looks like a very nice bike

Agreed, but £4K won't even get you a frame! You can get the entry level bike for £4500 admittedly, with Ultegra and some heavy wheels.

In a similar position (slightly higher budget), I bought a Chinese carbon frame. I can actually hear the snorts of derision from here! I was really uninspired by all the big brand options, didn't want to pay a premium for something niche with backward bottom bracket threads, and had zero interest in custom, particularly given the compromises I'd have made elsewhere.

Dura Ace 9070 group set, some carbon wheels (Chinese obvs) and a smattering of decent finishing kit would come in about on budget. Get it custom painted and you'll never see another one. More special than a Giant or a Cannondale IMO!

I have the same budget options last year.

I opted to take advantage of the good pound / Euro rate and order a Cervelo s3 from Spain.
I paid just over £1800 for the full ultegra bike (that's pretty much half price) - I added Reynolds assault wheels, new for £750 from Germany.
Zipp carbon bars for 80 and a zipp Stem for £60.

Ok, not uber flash, but a solid bike that's flash enough and isn't a garage queen.
It's a bike to ride an enjoy - not race bike

He could get two Ultegra equipped bikes for that, and give you one as a thank you?

Left field, but a Douhan DS1.

Something Titanium from Enigma! Clubmate has one and it looks amazing!

@rascal

Racey but comfy, something along the likes of De Rosa/Colnago/Cervelo as opposed to Specialized/Giant.

Specialized and Giant are well known for offering comfortable, quick road bikes like the Roubaix and Defy.

It's worth your colleague working out what he/she wants the bike for, rather than looking at different brands?

GC Race bike (i.e. Tarmac, Super Six Evo, TCR)

Aero Race bike (i.e. Venge, Propel, Aeroad)

Endurance bike (i.e. Roubaix, Defy, Endurace)

I've given examples of popular models for reference.

Narrowing this down will really help with choosing a suitable bike.

If not racing (holding a race license, sportives are not licensed) then a well fitted endurance bike is often the best choice.

Unless there is a specific need to ride very fast on the flat (aero bike) or a love of climbing and short duration fast riding on mixed terrain (GC race bike)

That Willier is lovely. As I said, sadly £4K will get you bike with a pro-spec frame, but it won't get you a pro-spec bike. Fortunately Ultegra and wheels are so good, you won't feel the difference beyond the weight of a large water bottle.

Top end frames are a bit special, regardless of brand.

I'd be getting this - special enough for me

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/tcr.advanced.pro.0/24956/90500/#specifications

http://road.cc/content/review/174726-giant-tcr-advanced-pro-0

Look
or
Time

Specialized Tarmac Pro Disc...RRP is over budget, but I'm sure you could negotiate a discount...OK I know you said no Specialized, but I absolutely love this bike despite being anti Specialized previously. Very stiff, but also very comfortable.

Sorry for the crap pictures, but they're the only ones I've got.

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£4k not actually that big a budget for a dream bike. If he wants the best bike possible for the cash then, as has been said, get the highest spec Propel, Madonne, Foil, etc. that's in budget. Won't be anywhere near the top spec versions for that sort of cash though. And not really a dream bike either.

For that cash I'd be tempted to get an Allez Sportsweld and use the rest of the budget on an Ultegra Di2 group, some decent wheels (404's or similar) and nice finishing kit. But I doubt your mate would consider that a dream bike 🙂

I guess it would have to be something a bit custom and not off the peg for it to be a bit special. Maybe a nice Ti frame?

If it were my money, it'd be Colnago

De-Rosa, cheapened by stickering up imported frames
Cervelo, never liked the brand
Willier/Pinarello - too wierd looking
Trek, Spesh, Giant - a bit like buying a Mondeo ST when you could have bought a Ferrari. It's good, and just as fast in the real world, but it just doesn't feel special.
Cannondale - a halfway house, they've built enough mental/experimental bikes and gone bankrupt often enough to be considered a leftfield choice, but still comparable value to the other mainstream brands.

Colnago's always look timeless. You can turn up on the same bike for 10+ years and no one will notice, and that to me is good design.

Basically it's an admission that with £4k to spend you really are buying with your heart not your head. The mainstream brands will likely be making bikes just as good <£2k.

This is sort of a question only he can answer. What is 'special' has so much to do with his association with the brand. For example, Giant and Specialized make very nice bikes which have won a lot of races, but they're said to be not special.

I have just got myself a Scott addict, full durace and carbon wheels for a lot less than 4k and the Cannondale which was in the sales was mentioned and that will be what I'll be going for. Spend the rest on a power meter.

If he's considering Colnago and DeRosa I'd have a look at Scapin too. And another shout for Storck.

Carbon hand built in Italy

http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/700/deanima-factory-visit

Some USE 4.5 carbon wheels from Rutland in sale for £650, then maybe Ultegra or Force would leave budget for finishing kit.

Or the Paul's Supersix Hi Mod frame which would leave cash for top end group set.

i've just paid £338 for a brand new road bike, i'm sure i'll be as fast'comfy on it as a £4k one*

i.e. very slow and ponderous

Basically it's an admission that with £4k to spend you really are buying with your heart not your head. The mainstream brands will likely be making bikes just as good <£2k.

But as said elsewhere, like it or not this is firmly "mid range" these days, which is a bit shit. That was the issue I had. I quite liked the Emonda SLR, but I [i]only [/i]quite liked it, and it was £3000 for a frame, so you're into £7k+ territory being fairly sensible with build (eg Chinese wheels not Enves). The C60 is even more - £3300 for a frame. The V1-R is £2200. So your aspirational 'special dream bike' or whatever is actually a 2nd tier frame with a pretty nice groupset and some components bought to satisfy a price point.

The end product is wholly functional of course, but for me personally I actually found the whole thing a bit depressing, which is not how it should be when you're buying an expensive bike!

Cannondale - a halfway house, they've built enough mental/experimental bikes and gone bankrupt often enough to be considered a leftfield choice, but still comparable value to the other mainstream brands.

Ha, that's nicely put, I've always considered Cannondale to be, if not niche, then sort of quirky and interesting, despite the fact they're a huge mainstream brand. I also have some confused residual affection from the Pantani/Bianchi days due to the Liquigas sponsorship.

If he's not specifically after a 'race' bike then for £4,000 he could do interesting things with a Genesis Datum, obviously it's not a 'race' bike but after finally accepting that even a Cannondale Synpase might be a bit racey for me I'm considering a £3,000, 8.4kg Datum build. Up the budget to £4,000 and you'll get a sub-8kg carbon framed, carbon wheeled, disc braked super versatile 'road' bike

I'd be tempted to visit Racescene in Barnsley and have a chat with the guys there. top bikes and something different/out of the ordinary. http://www.racescene.co.uk

Most carbon bikes, especially Trek/Specialized/Giant/Canyon are really bland, and they'll be out of date come next year.

Look/Time/Colnago always appeal though. But they'd be well out of budget I'd have thought.

I'd get one of these since the exchange rate is pretty good at the moment: http://www.marinoni.qc.ca/html/PiumaSupremeFr.html

Or one of these: http://www.condorcycles.com/collections/road-bikes/products/condor-super-acciaio-frameset

Some Campag Chorus/Record bits and some of those Bora wheels. Perfect.

If they're after a proper fast bike, hard to look past one of these though.

[img] [/img]

Nothing especially 'fast' about that apart from the wheels Shirley?

What Njee said, fast is 99.5% about the rider (unless your Greg Lemond, in which case TT bars help), hence my comment that in reality a £2k bike form Trek will easily be as good as a £4k bike from Cervelo, and in real life no better than a £400 bike from Decathlon. Ok that's stretching it, but I bet that a faster rider would still be faster on the B'twin carbon-tubs or no carbon-tubs.

njee20 - Member
Nothing especially 'fast' about that apart from the wheels Shirley?

Yes, ok, it's missing a Trek logo and multiple grand tour wins

What Njee said, fast is 99.5% about the rider (unless your Greg Lemond, in which case TT bars help), hence my comment that in reality a £2k bike form Trek will easily be as good as a £4k bike from Cervelo, and in real life no better than a £400 bike from Decathlon. Ok that's stretching it, but I bet that a faster rider would still be faster on the B'twin carbon-tubs or no carbon-tubs.

All well and good, but the OPs mate has £4000 to blow on a bike!

What's being fast got to do with wanting a nice bike? 🙂

unless your Greg Lemond, in which case TT bars help

Oh and not having a giant great saddle sore on his arse probably helped him more!

an ex-dem bike like one of these in carbon or steel if he’s 55 top tube or thereabouts.
nobody is going to have one quite like it.

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right on budget too.

As its been said £4000 can get you a very nice bike but it's not really enough for a "dream bike". You'll get as many opinions as there are people asking on here, so your friend is going to have to make his own mind up bout what to buy. His original idea about a Canyon is worth sticking with, they will sort themselves out and they are great bikes and such good value. I'm a large and it's in stock ( allegedly )
My £4000 would go on one of these.
https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road/aeroad/2016/aeroad-cf-slx-9-0.html

As its been said £4000 can get you a very nice bike but it's not really enough for a "dream bike"

my pegoretti cost around that. i wouldn’t swap it for anything (apart from another pegoretti)

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike'

Well that was an interesting trip to the LBS - he's only gone and bought a Cervelo R5!
Dura Ace Di2, Rotor, Hed wheels RRP £6699....he got it for £4500, so a bit over budget.
It's blinking lovely though....

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike'

Exactly. Unless you come from a working class background.

Or you accept that so did the Cervelo. And that unless you fall at the extreme outside the normal distribution then custom is just an expensive way of buying an average bike, the only difference is you (possibly) met the bloke who's name is on the down tube.

TBH, it doesn't really matter where it came from. I'd really quite like an aluminium Canyon with deep section carbon rims, it just appeals to me. Probably because it's just on the upper limit of what I could afford/justify.

Depends on what you dream about. Personally crashing a Peg in a 2/3 race would be a nightmare. So I ride my dream race bike 😉 .

I'd really quite like an aluminium Canyon with deep section carbon rims, it just appeals to me

So would I. Or even one of these older ones.

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my pegoretti cost around that. i wouldn’t swap it for anything (apart from another pegoretti)

I'm sure there lovely, if it's your dream bike it's great you've got one.

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike'

This is why I love STW 😀 One of the most successful world pro tour bikes in recent years. Ridden by some of the greatest riders of this generation, can't possibly be anyone's "dream bike". 😆 😆
Why not because its not steel welded up by some Italian !!

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike'

a cervelo popped out of a mould in china is never going to be a ‘dream bike'

taiwan = quality carbon fibre manufacturing

china = cheaper carbon fibre manufacturing

when I managed the workshop for a leading road retailer in the UK, I was shocked at the warranty return rate on Cervelo, having never worked on the brand before

great design, cheaper manufacturing, high retail prices.

as long as the OP's associate is happy with his new Cervelo, that is all that matters, just advise him to hang onto his receipt 😉

i guess if you aspire to the low hanging fruit then you would be satisfied with a mondeo.
(everyone likes a car analogy)

This is why I love STW One of the most successful world pro tour bikes in recent years. Ridden by some of the greatest riders of this generation, can't possibly be anyone's "dream bike".

They're easily obtainable (providing you don't expect it to be delivered on time) though; accessible to all and sundry. Anyone can buy one. A really mediocre dream.

A few years ago Cervelo did have a reputation for popping bb's. The newer frames don't do this.
I'd assume this is the sort of warranty issues you saw.

I can only say good things about my S3. Far nicer than the titanium litespeed crap I had previously. And the giant TCR.

They're easily obtainable (providing you don't expect it to be delivered on time) though; accessible to all and sundry. Anyone can buy one. A really mediocre dream.

Hadn't it been decided that £4000 didn't really buy you a "dream" these days, just possibly a great bike.

i guess if you aspire to the low hanging fruit then you would be satisfied with a mondeo

Whilst some on here do seem to genuinely aspire to a mid range bike with 105 and some trusty aluminium wheels, for most I'd extend your analogy further and suggest that it's more like a Ford GT40, or an Audi R8. Yes, they're mainstream brands, and you could buy a Pagani instead, but they're wholly comparable if you ignore the badge.

Nothing about a £10k Trek makes it less of a bike than an equivalent Baum (for example). Indeed the Trek will be lighter, stiffer, more aero and thus faster. To many that makes it 'better'. For others it's purely exclusivity and thus the Baum 'wins'. For them I recommend Chinese carbon. Even Baum have a colour palette you must adhere to. I could have my Deng Fu whatever Pantone colour combination I wanted 😀

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This thread has had be looking at all sorts of things.

I think i'm in love with this, no price tag though.

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I love my Canyon but it cost £1800. If I had £4000 to spend it'd be a Colnago Master in art deco with Campag Record and Eurus wheels. If I had another £2k, it'd be a C60. Another £2k on top of that I'd get some Boras.
I'd still be as crap on an £8k bike as a £1.8k bike, though. And the £8k bike would weigh more.

It's amazing that £4K doesn't buy you anything 'special' (i.e. clearly not expensive enough to be a status symbol). I took the njee approach that if you're not going to get 'special', you may as well get good - and that means specialized, giant, trek etc.

So, I bought a pretty much NOS 2010 giant TCR advanced SL ISP frame, a force groupo with Red crankset, some pacenti SL23 wheels and it cost me £1100 all in. That's for a pro level frame. It's an unbelievably good bicycle. I used to have a cervelo S2 with Reynolds 48mm wheels, and the TCR is lighter and comfier. I won't say faster as the engine appears to be showing some wear...

Exactly. Unless you come from a working class background

? 😯 ❓

council house upbringing/free school meals/ gap year shovelling crap on chicken farm/ pegoretti owner.
i guess theres always an outlier in the sample group. 🙄

Dream bikes are a funny thing. I bought my dream bike last year, a Colnago C60 with Dura Di2 and Ksyrium SLR Exalith. I have the advantage of having friends in the trade and it still cost circa £5k.

I wanted a bike I could keep for 10 years and not get bored of it or have it age greatly. Scott, Trek, Giant, Spesh or whatever just didn't do it for me as I feel they date to readily and I'd get bored of them. Also the handbuilt by an Italian man in Italy had a certain something about it, even if it's heavier than some of the opposition.

However, some would still argue the dream bike status as it ONLY had aluminium wheels and didn't have Super Record EPS.

It's MY dream bike however and I wanted to use it a lot come rain or shine, flat or mountains, so didn't go for carbon wheels or Italian electronics. In an ideal world a build with Super Record and Bora's would have probably looked nicer but they just didn't work for me.

I am in a privileged position that my very generous sponsor loans me a race bike (S-Works Tarmac SL5) so I don't have to worry about smashing the Colnago up in race crash.

The Colnago is without doubt the best riding bike I've even been on and I've had and ridden a few pretty damn nice race bikes in my life. so I'm happy with my purchase even if the bank manager isn't! I does seem crazy that £4000 is mid pack these days though.