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New road bike recommendations £2000-£2500

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  • March 14, 2017 at 12:38 pm #26886
    hawkinspeter

    I currently commute (about 100 miles per week) on a Cannondale Synapse that I’ve had a few years and am looking to get a race geometry bike as I like to pretend that I’m quick.

    My budget is somewhere around £2000-£2500 and so far I’m thinking of a carbon frame with Ultegra Di2 and disc brakes (i.e. quite different to the alu, mechanical, rim braked Synapse). So far, the bikes I’ve looked at seem to mainly feature mechanical groupsets at that price range, so would it be more sensible to get a decent frame and spend less on the groupset? Or should I beef up my budget to get new shiny toys to play with?

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  • March 16, 2017 at 3:57 pm #888921
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    zombiejack

    If you’re a medium:

    If you’re a medium:

    http://www.startfitness.co.uk/cycle/bikes/scott-2016-solace-10-disc-mens-road-bike-grey-241443.html

    Discs, carbon, Ultegra. Not Di2 but you’ve got a bit of money left for future upgrades.

    March 16, 2017 at 10:21 am #888919
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    hawkinspeter

    Thanks for everyone’s

    Thanks for everyone’s comments. I’m going to go visit a few bike shops and have a good look at a range of bikes to either confuse me some more or to help me decide. I am tempted to do the whole bike build process myself as I’ve got some experience and a bunch of tools, but I’ve never worked on disc brakes before – how hard can it be?

    March 15, 2017 at 9:40 pm #888917
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    matthewn5

    I built up my Bianchi Sempre

    I built up my Bianchi Sempre Pro with full Chorus and Vision Metron 40s for less than £2.5k.

    You can do so much better if you build it yourself and its loads more FUN!

    March 15, 2017 at 8:24 pm #888915
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    Daveyraveygravey

    I wanted carbon too, but the
    I wanted carbon too, but the CAAD 12 is meant to be fantastic.
    Get down to your local Evans, they have a proper demo scheme where you’ll have to book and have some security, but you can ride anything on real roads.
    For your needs, titanium may be better. A year round UK commuter? Kinesis or Enigma, what have they got in that price bracket? UK conceived too, if not actually built here. 105 would be tempting too, almost as good as Ultegra and cheaper to replace

    March 15, 2017 at 3:03 pm #888913
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    700c
    hoffbrandm wrote:
    Personally wouldnt bother too much with carbon. 

    that’s quite a sweeping statement! whatever the frame material, a bike can be designed to be as agressive, reactive, comfortable, forgiving etc as you are likely to need.

    FWIW I ride both Ti and Carbon – I would just say that Ti is a little more versitile overall if it’s your one and only bike – dealing with winter roads and commuting etc, they tend to be a little more durable and take knocks better.

    However it sure is nice to have a light, carbon, racy ‘best bike’ that you take out on good days, in the knowledge that you’re not exposing it to the poor conditions and it’s kept nice and shiny in the shed ready for when you next want to use it

    Loads of choice at this part of the market. Personally I’ve only got great things to say about Giant and Kinesis. Others swear by their own brands. Canyon is good vfm. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    March 15, 2017 at 7:15 am #888911
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    CXR94Di2
    hoffbrandm wrote:
    Personally wouldnt bother too much with carbon. I’ve gone for titanium and built it up, and am of the perspective that a good frame can be made of any material inc steel and aluminium. and I like to spend money on good components too. If I had your budget, I would try to just built my own up.

     

    Ditto, I built a Kinesis Tripster V2 in Ti.  Blended Di2 road and mtb components, to make a big tyre mountain climber/ tourer.  I used it to ride up MT Teide several times with easy spinning(40T rear cass), now I use it for club runs with 11-32 cass.  I run 40mm ‘G Ones’,  just love the comfy easy position ride.

    March 14, 2017 at 10:49 pm #888909
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    davel

    I’d throw the Merida Scultura
    I’d throw the Merida Scultura into the mix too.

    March 14, 2017 at 10:42 pm #888907
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    hoffbrandm

    Personally wouldnt bother too

    Personally wouldnt bother too much with carbon. I’ve gone for titanium and built it up, and am of the perspective that a good frame can be made of any material inc steel and aluminium. and I like to spend money on good components too. If I had your budget, I would try to just built my own up.

    March 14, 2017 at 6:03 pm #888905
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    riotgibbon

    Specialized Diverge …

    Specialized Diverge …

    March 14, 2017 at 4:52 pm #888903
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    hawkinspeter

    Mungecrundle wrote:

    Mungecrundle wrote:
    Would agree with Python. Unless it is beyond serviceable use, you already have a commuting bike. You will have your own reasons, but if I had this as a n+1 dilema I would be tempted to get something special for weekends and for the commute when it is sunny. I am a great advocate for discs, and I also run Di2 but if I had to choose only one for a best use only bike then I’d go with the Di2 in preference.

    That’s kind of my thinking – keep the Synapse for bad weather and then zing along on the new summer bike when the roads are dry. Regarding discs vs Di2 – I’m thinking that I could upgrade to Di2 in a couple of years, but disc brakes can’t so easily be fitted to a frame that isn’t designed for them.

    March 14, 2017 at 4:36 pm #888901
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    Mungecrundle

    Would agree with Python.
    Would agree with Python. Unless it is beyond serviceable use, you already have a commuting bike. You will have your own reasons, but if I had this as a n+1 dilema I would be tempted to get something special for weekends and for the commute when it is sunny.

    I am a great advocate for discs, and I also run Di2 but if I had to choose only one for a best use only bike then I’d go with the Di2 in preference.

    March 14, 2017 at 4:06 pm #888899
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    SingleSpeed

    Even if the ALR Emonda is

    Even if the ALR Emonda is Lighter and Stiffer than the Equivalent Carbon Emonda 😉

     

    I’d skip Di2 also, you might find in 2 years you’re left with an unsupported product…true story!

    March 14, 2017 at 4:01 pm #888897
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    hawkinspeter
    SingleSpeed wrote:
    2 min google and £2400 will get you a 60mm Carbon Clincher, Dura Ace Equipped Emonda ok it’s a faff and involves a bit of stripping and flogging, but an example of mixture of off the peg and home building can get you. Plus I’ve seen a similar bike built and its daft light rocket for the money.

    Unfortunately, the Emonda is aluminium and I’ve arbitrarily decided that the frame has to be carbon. I’m now thinking I’d rather spend more on the base bike and “skimp” on the groupset so maybe Di2 will be consigned to the next next bike. Then again, Ultegra Di2 is only £900 from Wiggle.

    March 14, 2017 at 3:53 pm #888895
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    SingleSpeed

    2 min google and £2400 will

    2 min google and £2400 will get you a 60mm Carbon Clincher, Dura Ace Equipped Emonda ok it’s a faff and involves a bit of stripping and flogging, but an example of mixture of off the peg and home building can get you. Plus I’ve seen a similar bike built and its daft light rocket for the money.

     

    https://www.evanscycles.com/trek-emonda-alr-6-2017-road-bike-EV286642

     

    £1600

     

    https://www.evanscycles.com/shimano-dura-ace-9100-groupset-52-36-11-28-EV291534?xid=169609&awc=1302_1489506287_63f737aeabb108d3a0e9d6a3a00dfd97&utm_source=awin&utm_campaign=169609&utm_medium=Affiliate

     

    £1300

     

    +/- £700 (selling off unused Ultegra Groupset & Bontrager wheels)

     

    http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPPX6060/planet-x-60-60-wheelset

     

    £550.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    March 14, 2017 at 3:52 pm #888893
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    hawkinspeter

    arfa wrote:

    arfa wrote:
    I commute a similar weekly distance on a caad12 105 with hydraulic discs and can’t fault the bike at all. OK it is an aluminium frame but it is wonderfully stiff and there’s minimal flex when you drop the hammer. I’d save the £££’s or spend them on upgrades.

    There’s nothing wrong with aluminium, but I’ve never owned a carbon frame, so I’ve decided it has to be carbon (or possibly titanium, but that’s probably more wishful thinking).

    Liam Cahill wrote:
    Take a look at the Giant offerings. The components are brilliant for the price and can be bought in a real bike shop.

    Di2 might be a stretch at this price, especially if you want to buy from an actual shop, but Canyon do the Ultimate CF SL 9.0 Di2 for £2,349 (not disc though). Maybe the CF SL DISC 9.0 would be a better option. 

    For my money, I’d be looking for a power metre (or other such toys) before Di2. Di2 is great, but my 6800 has done 12,000 miles and it’s still perfectly crisp. I’d just go to as many bike shops as possible, have a ride and see what you like.

    Yep, I’ve been looking at some of the Giant bikes and Canyon bikes seem to be very popular with the Road.cc crowd.

    You may well be right about Di2 being too expensive in relation to the bike – maybe I should ignore electronic for the moment.

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