On a budget

Hi Henbox,

That's an interesting question as at that level there is a great deal of variety. All of the ones suggested by hucko003 are definitely worth looking at and you should be able to pick up some fantastic bargains in the sales as well.

Have a look also at Ribble, Dolan and Planet X in that order.

However, for the money (£699) I doubt you could beat the Canyon Endurace AL. I bought the frame only from them for about £400 and have Campag Athena on it with Pro-Lite wheels and it's almost as light (and rides almost as well) as my Giant Defy SL!

The AL5.0 has the new Tiagra 4700 10 spd groupset which I've heard is excellent, it comes with a decent set of wheels with good continetal tyres, a big cassette for climbs (11 - 32) and even a carbon seatpost for smoothing out bumps on long rides. Pound for pound it's the best bike out there for the money if you compare at full RRP.

If you can stretch to the AL6 at £799 then even better.

You do have to pay for shipping though but it's still a bargain and a better spec than the B'twin.

Hope that helps.

The B'Twin's are very good - I have the Alur 700 and can hardly fault it. The Triban is a bike that is designed more for comfort / endurance so would suit you. Decathlon's warranty is also very, very good. The only downside to the B'Twin is before my Alur, I had a Triban 7 which I preferred to the Alur but it ended up being a duff frame and cracked. My Alur's been fine, but I'm just a little hesitant because of my past experience.

If you want some other suggestions, have a look at these:

- Specialized Allez
- Trek Domane
- Cannondale Synapse
- Fuji Sportif
- Pinnacle Dolomite