Ridley Compact VERSUS Focus Variado Expert

hollywoodhoppy

Right, this is following on from a previous post i had over the past few days

so i went to buy the Canyon Roadlite this morning, but they are sold out with no restocking in sight for the season. This leads me onto the following:

Was in Cycleogical today and saw this Ridley Compact reduced from €1499 to €1199

http://www.ridley-bikes.com/2008/lang/uk/bikes/CompactBlue505E/index.htm

or i could go back to my original proposal of the Focus Variado Expert for €1170

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetai...0Expert%202008

Hmmm, what ye think lads, is the Utegra Stuff on the Variado worth chosing it over the very beautiful Ridley which i was really impressed by when i saw it. I dont want to be gettin it if the components are not near as good as the Focus.

I know Tinyexplosions has one of these so hoping he reads this...

cunnins4

Linky no worky for the ridley. That's 105 yeah? I've last year's variado, as does tiny explosions. Fantastic value for money from my limited experience. I haven't had one problem with it.

But.......ya can go back to cycleogical for service etc.... so if it were me back when I spent that chunk of change on the variado, i'd probably've bought the Ridley, just for the local bike shop aspect.

My brother's got a 105 equipped bike, and I noticed sweet fa difference in the shifting.

Can't fault wiggle though, and they keep sending me vouchers!:D

blorg

The Ridley, presuming it's the one you linked to in the other thread, is Campagnolo Mirage. Mirage is way way way below Ultegra. Mirage would roughly be equivalent to Tiagra, with some people putting it a bit lower, between Sora and Tiagra to give you an idea.

On the other hand you are getting it from a LBS, and I don't know about the frame. But the component level is completely out of whack.

hollywoodhoppy

thanks for that lads, i corrected the link there after. So Blorg you reckon its poor in comparison to the other one? sorry for the incorrect link, i dont see any mention of Camoagnolo Mirage in the spec but i may be wrong

cunnins4

ahhh, tiagra groupset? That makes it a bit different. I just googled Ridley Compact and i found one with dura ace and another with 105? What groupset is the one in cycleogical?

Are tiagra shifters the ones with the thumb shifters? Or are they sora? I really didn't like that on my friend's giant.

If it is tiagra, I'd probably go with the focus. Just my 2c though.

hollywoodhoppy

i'm not quite sure, they were 105 tiagra as far as i can remember!! ye the ficus is looking to be the better option but imho that ridley is better looking!

TinyExplosions

As I said in the other thread, Variado all the way, it's what I have and I think it's the best bang for the buck out there

hollywoodhoppy

ah ye i reckon you're right, gonna sleep on it and make my decision in morning, its alot of money to part with!!

blorg

From that link the Ridley is Tiagra on the spec, but in the picture on the right it is Mirage; I imagine it is Mirage in Belgium and Tiagra in the UK/Ireland.

Tiagra doesn't have the thumb shifters (that is Sora) but Ultegra is unquestionably much better than Tiagra.

If the two bikes were otherwise identically specced I would go for the Ridley from the LBS but I don't think I would spend that on a Tiagra bike if I was happy buying online and could have Ultegra for the same price.

To be honest though I think if I was looking at the Focus Variado Expert at £899 I would spend the extra £200 and get the Cayo instead at £1,099. £200 (€250) is well worth it for a carbon frame, to the point "you would be insane not to" (the other components are almost all identical.)

Alternatively there is the Planet-X Carbon which has Dura Ace shifters and mechs for only £999. Pan from boards has one (below), and Quigs has a Pedalforce which I *think* uses the same frame- he speaks highly of it's comfort. Think Pan got it before they upped the spec to Dura Ace. They get generally very good reviews and TBH if I was going again I think that is what I would go for, it is a cracking deal (I have a Cayo myself.)

cunnins4

blorg wrote: »

To be honest though I think if I was looking at the Focus Variado Expert at £899 I would spend the extra £200 and get the Cayo instead at £1,099. £200 (€250) is well worth it for a carbon frame, to the point "you would be insane not to" (the other components are almost all identical.)

Alternatively there is the Planet-X Carbon which has Dura Ace shifters and mechs for only £999. Pan from boards has one (below), and Quigs has a Pedalforce which I *think* uses the same frame- he speaks highly of it's comfort. Think Pan got it before they upped the spec to Dura Ace. They get generally very good reviews and TBH if I was going again I think that is what I would go for, it is a cracking deal (I have a Cayo myself.)

Saw a Cayo on sunday in town, sweet looking bike......(don't suppose ya cycled down jervis st. on sunday blorg?;))

Looks like your decision's made hollywood!

blorg

Ha no, was nowhere near there, but sure the Cayo is common as muck!

liamtinney

If Its the 2008 Blue Compact it has 105 groupset on it, with proper spoked wheels for our crappy roads, These bikes are made for Belgium cobbles and are super strong and a nice riding bike and its well priced at €1199, as Wiggle bikes are made at a price point we will have to wait and see how they last.

hollywoodhoppy

blorg wrote: »

From that link the Ridley is Tiagra on the spec, but in the picture on the right it is Mirage; I imagine it is Mirage in Belgium and Tiagra in the UK/Ireland.

Tiagra doesn't have the thumb shifters (that is Sora) but Ultegra is unquestionably much better than Tiagra.

If the two bikes were otherwise identically specced I would go for the Ridley from the LBS but I don't think I would spend that on a Tiagra bike if I was happy buying online and could have Ultegra for the same price.

To be honest though I think if I was looking at the Focus Variado Expert at £899 I would spend the extra £200 and get the Cayo instead at £1,099. £200 (€250) is well worth it for a carbon frame, to the point "you would be insane not to" (the other components are almost all identical.)

Alternatively there is the Planet-X Carbon which has Dura Ace shifters and mechs for only £999. Pan from boards has one (below), and Quigs has a Pedalforce which I *think* uses the same frame- he speaks highly of it's comfort. Think Pan got it before they upped the spec to Dura Ace. They get generally very good reviews and TBH if I was going again I think that is what I would go for, it is a cracking deal (I have a Cayo myself.)

WOW Thanks Blorg, really like the look of them, have an email gone to see how much delivery is and availibility etc, its going a bit over price limit which i had already gone over already so hopefully its worth it. Is the Dura Ace spec better than Ultegra?

TinyExplosions

hollywoodhoppy wrote: »

WOW Thanks Blorg, really like the look of them, have an email gone to see how much delivery is and availibility etc, its going a bit over price limit which i had already gone over already so hopefully its worth it. Is the Dura Ace spec better than Ultegra?

Dura Ace is the top of the line Shimano groupset, it's what all the pro tour guys ride (those that are on Shimano). If you can afford the extra for Carbon, definitely go for it -only problem is that you're back a little to square one, with Canyon, Planet X and Focus all having carbon bikes for similar prices!

blorg

liamtinney wrote: »

If Its the 2008 Blue Compact it has 105 groupset on it, with proper spoked wheels for our crappy roads, These bikes are made for Belgium cobbles and are super strong and a nice riding bike and its well priced at €1199, as Wiggle bikes are made at a price point we will have to wait and see how they last.

This is complete scaremongering; the exact same Focus bikes are sold across Europe from a wide range of different retailers (and at considerably higher prices than from Wiggle.) Similarly the Planet X frames are Taiwan standards that crop up from multiple brands (including the Planet X time trial frame rebadged Ridley under Cadel Evans in the Tour de France ;-)

I would pick a Ridley myself at the same spec level but are you honestly saying you would choose an aluminum Ridley with Tiagra over a carbon Planet X with Dura Ace/Ultegra (for a £100 price difference.) Or an Ultegra carbon Focus for that matter.

hollywoodhoppy- yes, Dura Ace is better than Ultegra; it is Shimano's top groupset. That Planet X build is using Dura Ace shifters, front and rear derailleurs. Ultegra cassette and chain, FSA chainset. The brakes are relatively cheap Tektro jobs, probably fine. It is a cracking bargain. If you are going for it I would upgrade the tyres to Schwalbe Ultremos- this is well worth the extra £15 (these are excellent tyres, cheapest you will get them anywhere else would be €60.)

hollywoodhoppy

Thanks for that, ye i really need to do the figures on this so because it is gone well above what i had initially intended on spending, i have gone from looking at an Allez Sport for £699 to a Planet-X which is over £1000 with all the trimmings, its a substantial increase.

Planet X

hollywoodhoppy

Planet X wrote: »

Ah Planet X, have you anything to add to this? Your opinion is very welcome

Planet X

I race a Focus Variado Expert but ride a PX TT bike in time trials. No use to you whatsoever I reckon. :rolleyes:

The Focus is a great bike though. Brilliant bang for your buck.

triv88

I bought a bike recently myself.Had only planned on paying 500 euros for a bike,then went up to 700 when i saw the beonestorm:) then nearly 900 when i saw the cube steamer with the ultegra set up,and all the thumps up from peeps that bought it here ,so that hepled my decision to buy it:).

Bascially you will always be tempted to go that extra 200 but it has to stop somewhere.Remember that you may need to get an expensive lock and all your other cycling gear etc so the price does add up

Whatever the bike you buy around the 1000 mark,you will be happy with:p

blorg

The Allez Sport would be very close to the Ridley Compact spec wise if that helps any. Both are good brands, Ridley would be a bit less common in Ireland but I suspect you are paying a premium for that.

hollywoodhoppy

ok lads thanks so much for getting me this far, i am in the process of ordering this bike at the moment and i'm just wondering about a few things listed below. The first is a build kit, now I am ordering a Medium frame because i am 5ft 9" and am wondering do i follow suit with the Bike Build Kit

Road Bike Build Kit

Road Bike Build Kit SMALL - Standard Clamp Stem 90mm - standard alloy bar 40cm - FSA Gossamer Compact Chainset 170mm (+£80.00)
Road Bike Build Kit MEDIUM - Standard Clamp Stem 100mm - standard alloy bar 42cm - FSA Gossamer Compact Chainset 172.5mm (+£80.00)
Road Bike Build Kit LARGE - Standard Clamp Stem 110mm - standard alloy bar 42cm - FSA Gossamer Compact Chainset 175mm (+£80.00)
Road Bike Build Kit XLARGE - Standard Clamp Stem 120mm - standard alloy bar 44cm - FSA Gossamer Compact Chainset 175mm (+£80.00)

also on the brake set, i have the following options:

Road Brakeset

Tektro R720 Brakeset Black (+£29.99)
Shimano 105 10 Speed Dual Pivot Brakeset (+£33.80)
Shimano Dura Ace 7800 Dual Pivot Brakeset (+£100.68)
Tektro Carbon R750 Dual Pivot Brakeset (+£90.00)
Shimano Ultegra 10 Brakesets (+£49.94)

is the Shimano 105 10 Speed Dual Pivot Brakeset better than the Tektro R720 Brakeset?

Other than that i think i'll finally stop annoying you and get on with it.

Thanks again!

blorg

Medium would probably suit you, yes, but it would be no harm sending your measurements to Planet X; I believe they are very helpful with the advice regarding sizing.

On the brake front I would personally go for Ultegra just to keep the groupset mix Dura Ace/Ultegra and also because it is very good value at £16 over the 105 (the 105 brakes retail at €55/pair in Cyclesuperstore while Ultegra will set you back €127.) If you don't want to spend the extra 105 are probably functionally almost/just as good and only 25g heavier. I would go 105 over the Tektros, yes.

EDIT: I have Ultegra SL brakes myself (only difference from Ultegra is 10g weight and the finish) and they stop phenomenally effectively; reckon they have saved me and the bike a couple of times!

Ghost Rider

Do you reckon there's really that much difference between different braking systems?

blorg wrote: »

EDIT: I have Ultegra SL brakes myself (only difference from Ultegra is 10g weight and the finish) and they stop phenomenally effectively; reckon they have saved me and the bike a couple of times!