First road bike - £1000 budget

If you don't feel the need for mainstream 'brand' Decathlon - Btwin Mach 700 carbon stealth machine 105 groupset, currently on sale at £849.99 is great value for money. Leaving you change for shoes helmet clothing etc... Absolutely love mine also on CTW scheme...

For what it's worth, the Giant store in Rutland hire defys out for something like £25, refundable if you buy one. Gives you a good chance to try one out for hours if you like. I guess other places may well do the same.

In a different context I'd made my mind up to buy a trek mountain bike, but my wife wanted an anthem, so I tried one too - I was blown away by the difference, the anthem really suited me, so a test ride is definitely the way to go

Good luck

"First road bike £1,000"--- -- ***First*** road bike - £1,000!!!!

Go to planet x and buy a bike.you will soon be k.o.m on numerous strava segments

I'm stuck in the same rut. I have my heart set on a 2015 Giant Defy 0 at £999 with mostly Ultegra. However it looks like it wont be available until 2015 and I already have my voucher.
There are several other bikes at the £1000 mark its hard to choose but do I take the hit and go for the 105 which is the common spec.
Decisions, decisions as it looks like manufacturers are making the £1000 very attractive

Hi

Just got a bike myself through C2W, i went over the £1000 and just paid the extra. If you could stetch the budget a little you could pick one of these up.

Scott CR1 20 for £1,050.00 (blazing bikes have one at the moment)

Not sure waht size you would be but there are plenty of deals out there at the moment as new 2015 coming in.
I tested the Scott Speedster 20 and this the CR1 20 (full carbon) and this was a lot better to ride.

Comment is correct when you are spending this much, all are good, its just a prefernce on how it rides and looks that suits your taste.

To be honest, all 3 of these are decent bikes, but then you won't go far wrong with pretty much any road bike around the grand mark, they all offer good value for money because of the popularity of cycle to work schemes.

Main thing is to get out and test ride them. Any reputable store should allow this, if they don't then just go elsewhere. Ok, you won't get an hour on the bike, but you should expect more than just a ride around the store's car park, so you can actually get a feel for how the bike rides.

I tried all three of these bikes (2014 models) in my search, and opted for the Trek. I liked the Cannondale, with it's slightly more relaxed geometry, and the disc brakes are a bonus for UK conditions. I couldn't do a deal with my LBS though as Cannondale had naively priced the 2014 model above the £1k cycle to work limit. The 2015 model appears a much better proposition in that regard.

The Scott I just found a bit rough, it seemed to have the harshest ride of all the bikes I tried, but then aluminium is never gonna give a silky smooth ride anyway. It was just a 7/10 bike, nothing particularly wrong with it, but nothing that stood out either.

For me, the decision to go with the Trek was a combination of its price, spec, ride and the way it looked, with the Giant Defy 1 coming in a close second. The 2015 model Trek looks pretty much identical to mine save for the paint schemes, plus it has the new 11-speed Shimano groupset, giving you a better spread of ratios.

Near enough a year on, I'm still enjoying mine though. I use it daily for commuting plus weekend forays, and it performs mostly well in both settings, needing little real attention inbetween. Main issue for me is its wet-weather ability, in the stock configuration the 23mm slicks and relatively low-level rim brakes don't give the most confidence when the roads are damp, but they're an easy upgrade and that's a complaint that's probably true of most bikes like this.

When it's dry though its an enjoyable bike to ride, handling well on the descents and with a good turn of speed too. It's also a reasonably keen climber, and I don't notice any particular flex when you're grinding your way up hills.

On that note, if you are new to road cycling then just be mindful of the size of the cassette on the bike so you don't find yourself without gears that are low enough to get you up hills before your strength improves. Something like an 11-28 will suit someone who is already reasonably fit, but I'm frequently still thankful for the 30 tooth on mine!

Anyway, I'd personally recommend the Trek but, as above, you really won't go far wrong with any of those bikes, so just go with the one that makes you want to get out and actually ride it. Good luck with the search!

Hi,

I had the same dilemma. I had been riding a Bianchi made of alu which was pretty heavy and wanted a full carbon bike.

In the end I went for a Dolan L'etape with Campag Veloce. It is an amazing ride for £1000.

I now realise it was a mistake to buy alu when I started out, as carbon is much more exciting to ride and the Dolan feels like a much more expensive bike. Plus Dolan are a quality British brand, having built track bikes for Wiggins, Cav et al.

I think you can get it a bit cheaper with SRAM arival or Shimano 105.