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Buying a new bike..help wanted.
Hi, looking for a bike between 1000-1300 euro. Thats about 1000 sterling to maybe 1100. New enough to the sport so looking for something light with the best possible spec available in that price range.
I initially rode a defy 3 (stolen last week) and was looking at the defy 1 2012 which looks on the face of it good value for money for what you get, but I bow down to superior knowledge on all things bike related and would be grateful if anyone has any ideas about what would be the best value at this price range.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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Err UCI minimum weight is 6800g.
Not 6.9kg.
Sorry.
Shows you how much attention I pay to the rules I race under.
Still my crit bike will be under the UCI minimum weight of 6800g
Back to the OP topic
If you are confident with the spanners and know what you want building a bike is a great option
If you are not confident with the spanners, have not got the time or are just impatient, but know what you want buy online there are great deals out there.
IF you are unsure what you want, particularly size/ fitting wise as Bedfordshire Clanger said you need to talk to your local LBS or LBSs. Test ride as much as you can, talk to the different shops, find the LBS that talks the right language to you and will help you the way you want and buy from them.
Yes you will pay more for the service, but it is the cheaper option than the wrong size frame, groupset you don't like, new saddle, bars and/or stem to replace the original parts not right for you.
Thanks guys some good ideas and stuff to ponder,appreciate it.
It depends on your definition of value for money. If you are just looking for the highest specs available then it's hard to beat the German brands like Canyon and Focus or else whatever you happen to get heavily discounted in a sale. Beware that some online retailers have a great reputation for customer service and others are pretty poor. If you really know what you want and you have the time and knowledge then building your own from parts sourced on eBay or elsewhere. If you're not sure then a trip to a decent bike shop is the way to go. A good shop will listen to your wish list and turn it into a great bike, ensuring that you get the right size frame, decent wheels, tyres, stem, bar and saddle that all fit and are of good quality. The LBS option will come up more expensive but will mean that you don't end up buying your wheels, tyres and contact points twice if you didn't know what you wanted in the first place.
Err.
Both
Is it worth it doing a build. Not something I had thought of.....is it cheaper or just more satisfying in the end ?
Depends
With some of those deals out there on complete bike it is hard to do better in the value for money stakes. Though it does depend what you want, how much effort you are willing to put in to find cheap parts, the willingness to use slightly used parts.
I decided I needed a crit bike for the season which starts in October down under. I got lucky and scored a near new Canyon Ultimate AL 8 frame in the right size off my local cycling forum (Lucky because Canyon do not distribute to AU or US). So I went shopping, new 1250g 38mm carbon clinchers & Microshift Carbon Aris groupset from China. Lightly used FSA carbon cranks, SRAM red cassette, my favourite bars, pedals & saddle from ebay. Brakes from a friend. New tyres, tubes, bar tape, chain & cables from Ribble with 10% off promo.
In the end, I ended up spending just under what a new Canyon Ultimate AL8 would cost (if available here), except mine is a 1kg lighter, built to my personal preferences, race ready weapon (as long as you ignore the UCI's minimum 6.9kg weight).
Yes there is also personal satisfaction is building your own from scratch as well the frustration when things go wrong/break/do not behave as expected.
Some people like building bikes (like me), others just ride them.
I've been quite tempted by a few bikes on wiggle although I don't have the space or money some good discounted bikes available at present
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/colnago-air-105-2012/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/basso-laguna-105-2011/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cinelli-experience-105-2011/
okay 2 out of three well over budget but all look nice having said that what i did myself was build up from the frame and bits which is fun and i'd recommend doing it
Just probably don't get a Planet X.
Unless you either just love the compact frame.
Or have a hair dryer.
I'm really happy with my Canyon Roadlite 7.0. http://www.canyon.com/_uk/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2500
Under £1000 at the moment. Was a little concerned about not being able to test ride it, but the online size guide was great and I needn't have worried.
test ride everything you can, keep notes, find out if you prefer shimano, campagnolo, SRAM or microshift shifters, find the geometry that works for you, etc ...
The draw up the list, the thing you must have, the thing you would like, see which bikes fit the list, talk to your local bike shops, contemplate building your own
And get the bike that best suits your needs, preferences, riding style & budget
Or you could just go to ribble for everything:
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-ri...
Er, just for balance, worth mentioning that Raleigh has an S1! Are you looking for a complete bike, or build up the bits as per the previous suggestion?
Personally, I shopped around until I found a bike shop that seemed to take me seriously, stock decent kit and have knowledgeable staff, then ask what they could do for £1000. I ended up with full carbon and SRAM Apex. Sure the frame is a generic far east thing, but it's light, is predictable and has no marks/problems after 2 (admittedly low-speed) crashes.
If you want something already fully-formed, you could do a lot worse than a Boardman.
Obvs Cervelo S1.
Shopping list:
You can get the frame for £750 new.
Get some Apex or Rival off ribble.
Get some crappy shimano wheels, rs501 or something.
3T finishing kit available, even a Fizik Saddle.
Schwalbe R1s are £20 each.
Innertubes.
Roubaix Bar tape (or whatevs really)
Pedals.
Should come out at AROUUUND £1100
Bargain in my eyes.
Or you could get some crap, non aero carbon piece of crappy crap, stiff as crap and aero as crap and cost of crap.