New road bike

Raleigh wrote:I thought that

Raleigh wrote:

I thought that Shimano’s joke was that Sora was basically the same as Super Record.

:evil:

I use 2300 on my allez and its my only gripe really. When I bought the bike I never thought I would even touch the drops so it seemed far from an issue.

That said, my dad has same allez bar size / colour / couple of upgrades and he likes it due to not using the drops. In fact he keeps saying his next bike may well have campagnolo for that reason. He is tempted with Van Nic Mistral.

I have a 2011 framed 62cm
I have a 2011 framed 62cm Canyon CF SLX with full brand new Ultegra 6700 that will be for sale very soon. You’ll have a job finding a better bike for less than £3k and I won’t be asking for over £2k. Interested parties should pm.

Raleigh wrote:Never buy

Raleigh wrote:

Never buy Campagnolo, be careful as it’s often market as “Campag,” or “Campy.” Beware that these are all the same thing, and if anyone speaks recommends it, then they clearly know nothing about anything and should be ignored.

Though you won’t ever find me shortening it to “Campy”. Yuck!

The only experience I have of the Italian marque is that a friend has 9 speed Campagnolo on his old bike and hates it, and neither of us likes the thumbshifters (Shimano Sora does this too). Camapgnolo is still revered by equipment snobs and old(er) blokes who remember when it probably was the best.

CERVELO CERVELEO CERVELO
So
CERVELO CERVELEO CERVELO

So many options:

1). Alu Aero Road – S1

Want the best aluminium frame money can buy?
The daddy of aero frames. (formerly known as Soloist)
Used in the Pro Peleton until as recently as 2004.
(I’ve got one).
If you get this, people will give you the recognition that you have taste aplenty.

Frame – Between £800 and £1000 depending on where you buy it and what size you are

Gruppo – You could get some Ui2 off Ribble (full digital ultegra) for another grand.

Wheels and Finishing kit – For £500, some Planet x r50’s and 3T Arx Pro. Money left over for saddle and your favourite tyres.

😀

2). Carbon Aero Road – S2

Pretty much the same as the S1 but Carbon.
Used as the Soloist carbon after the S1 was phased out in the WorldTour, and still used as the S2 this year.

The frame is about £1500, so you wouldn’t be able to afford as good a gruppo, wheels and f-kit.

This frame would guarantee you a lot of taste, perhaps more than the S1 would.

Perhaps.

3). Carbon ‘normal’ road R3

Errm, you’d have to get a 2010 model, but this is well known for being the best bike in the world that’s not in the S series, or an R5 or a P5 or 4.

It’s pretty good really.

1500 squidz, same story as the S2 in terms of other components.

4). Get something else.

Not recommended.

Advice is the same as for a
Advice is the same as for a buyer looking in other price brackets:

Visit a few shops (including Halfords as Boardman range are superb value), have a look and see what they recommend. Choose the one that fits you, that you like best and feel you will enjoy owning and riding. For that kind of money you should find an excellent carbon frame from any number of brands with top quality components.

Don’t get too hung up on spec levels, and anyway you may be able to upgrade wheels or swap some parts you’re not keen on. Bear in mind that Sram, Campag and Shimano shifters all operate in slightly different ways but in the end most modern bikes are excellent.

If you’re looking to ride through the winter you may want to consider something that leans towards comfort rather than racy geometry and will have room for mudguards (or at least be able to fit Crud Roadracers or SKS Raceblade Longs comfortably). You could consider a secondhand bike or something around £500-600 for year-round use then, come the spring, splash out on a more highly specced one for better weather.

If you don’t already have any, decent cycling clothing will make as big a difference to the experience as anything, especially at the the contact points.

Great – we love this kind of
Great – we love this kind of question: Don’t expect a definitive answer, just lots of opinions 🙂

I’m a RibbleFan of massive proportions (the fandom, although I am a bit of a chubby) and have recently bought one of their excellent R872 frames (formally known as the Stealth) – I chose a Campagnolo Athena compact groupset and Campagnolo Scirocco wheels. For under £2K I have, what I feel is a perfect, full carbon Sportive machine. I also have a Ribble Audax bike (with Shimano 105) for days where the weather’s not so clement.

Wouldn’t recommend the Stealth as a year-round bike, though (although I’m inclined to take mine out in all weathers, I guess I’ll relent towards October)

For £2.0K you can now get on the electronic shifting bandwaggon with the Canyon AL 90 http://road.cc/content/review/56176-canyon-ultimate-al-90-di2

Probably best to visit you LBS to see what they have on offer as the ‘summer’ draws to a close: Also check Wiggle and CRC to see what end of season sales are going on. You can get plenty of bang for your buck.

Hope that helps – see below for contradictions and conflicting opinions 🙂