Somebody Stop Me!

FrankGrimes

Right....ever since I saw short_circuit post a link to this Kiron Scandium 2009 road bike a few days back I've been toying with the idea of buying it as it seems great value with the current exchange rate with quality components throughout and I think it looks class too.

Am I right in my reading that the special alloy of the frame means it's quite light but not as fragile as carbon?

If I look at it practically, I just can't justify buying it as my cycling is basically commuting 20mile round-trip and some cycling up the hills at mountains and doing the odd sportive, though I'm targetting doing a good few more sportives in 2009. On the other hand, I've always wanted to have a classy bike - I don't spend megabucks on my car and have the cash so maybe I should just go ahead and do it as the nicer the bike is the more often I'm likely to take it out for a spin.

I currently have a Giant SCR 2.0 triple chainset which is a year old and is in great nick. Paid €800 for it - what ballpark should I be looking at getting if I were to sell it now? If I got €400 for the bike or €450 with the raceblade mudguards and front and rear lights, I'd probably take that and go ahead and buy the Scandium for the difference.

To show just how outta place this bike would be with me - I currently cycle a triple and do need that granny ring on some of the steepest climbs though I guess if I didn't have it I'd learn to do without sooner or later. Just how big a difference would it be between that and a compact?

So S-S-S-Somebody Stop Me!

blorg

Carbon is not fragile, that is a myth. It has a different failure mode to metals, that is all. If anything scandium aluminium alloys, generally being found in ultra-lightweight tubing, might be more fragile.

The Kiron is in any case a half-carbon, half-aluminium frame - the head tube, seat stays and chain stays are carbon.

It gets good reviews but I would also consider full carbon, like the Planet X.

If you do get it and are coming from a triple that you have to use, get a compact rather than a standard chainset. There is no shame in this, especially if you like to ride hills.

Found this Easton PDF on their Scandium Aluminium alloy tubesets.

short circuit

Hi Frank ... you've come to the wrong place if you want to resist temptation. I believe that cyclists as a group have very low threshold to temptation .. So the rest of the post is going to be around what to buy ... and not why not to buy.

I was in the exact same situation as you ... had a Lemond Etape with a mix of sora/tiagra spec. I am assuming that the scr2 is pretty much the same. Though I only had a double. It is fine machine for the job and helped me do a 30mile round trip commute, some weekend spins etc .. pretty much what you are doing now.

After getting some advice from the fellow boardsies .. I got a Focus variado expert 2007 from planetx. The simple reason being it had a significantly better groupset (ultegra) and ended up costing much cheaper than new. So buying 2nd hand might be the way to go ... I am sure someone here will have something nice to sell if you give the size you want. If you want a 58cm and make a nice offer ... even Blorg could be tempted to part with his Cayo now that the latest Blorg mobile has arrived.

Initially I thought I would sell off the lemond .. and its something I am still considering ... but seeing how messy the bike gets during the winter .. I might just keep it as a winter bike ... the sora/tiagra components are cheap .. lastly nearly as long .. and not too worried about the weight etc.

I went for my first ride on the variado today morning .. and it was a revelation ... much stiffer than the Lemond .. Previously when I heard people say one bike is stiffer than the other .. I never thought I would push the bike hard enough to notice a difference .. but it is immediately noticeable. Also .. Lance lied when he said its not about the bike ... on the same stretch of road with very little wind today, I was able to improve on my average speed by atleast 3/4kmph ... so you will immediately notice a difference going for a lighter, stiffer bike.

So go for it ... if you can find a 2nd hand bike ... it will be cheaper .. and will also allow you to hang on to the scr 2 for the bad days. Only thing is .. if you are going to use the bike to work scheme to buy .. then 2nd hand is out.

Oh yes ... a compact might be better .. the variado has a compact ... but has a 11-23 cassette .... :eek: ... I know what my next purchase is going to be ... a 12 - 27 .. .. before I head to sally gap.

CheGuedara

You're pretty much spot on regarding the frame - scandium is a bit like the Rolls Royce of aluminium and Easton who make it (and all the finishing kit) are one of the reference names in Alu. Thus you get a light frame getting close to carbon weight. Plus the carbon rear end & fork will give a more direct and comfortable ride.

About the gearing - if you run compact and a 12-25/27 you should nearly have the same range of ratios as would be offered by a triple.

Selling the old bike for €450 sounds reasonable; the general rule of thumb is ~60% of initial cost as maximum then factoring in age and wear to come to a fair price. So you're about right there. That way you're investment is €550, very good for what you'll be getting!

And justification - you're going to take in a few sportives? Then you're improving and your bike's just improving with you. The important thing is getting out there and enjoying the bike and the road - once you do that the bike's aready paying for itself back.

I'm like the anti-Eddie Hobbs; *in a Cork accent* 'What I'd say to you now Frank is, I recommend you stay in go out and save spend your money for a rainy day on a shiny new bike'

The planet-x is really worth serious consideration though - same money, Dura Ace grouppo and full carbon frame...

Ryder

Will be getting a new bike in the new year for the etape. The Focus and Kiron seem like good value but do people think that spending the extra money on like a Pinarello or Cervelo would get you a better designed frame? Am leaning towards the fP3.

FrankGrimes

Cheers for the info lads...and the encouragement to empty the pockets!

Yeh the Cycle to Work Scheme did cross my mind but to be honest I can't see many companies going for it and I'd guess those that do might work with only a single supplier - can't really see someone in our payroll department going online to order from Wiggle/PlanetX so I'm taking a 'believe it when I see it' approach.

Blorg, if you're selling the Focus I'd be interested to see the price and spec...and what shocking amount of miles you've probably run up on it though to be honest there is the temptation to go for a brand spanking new bike. Going to collect my bike now, but pretty sure it's a 58cm.

So looks like going with a compact Planetx or Kiron Scandium won't see me far wrong if I do go ahead. Which Planetx would you guys recommend - I find that site baffling, do you have to build it yourself or does it arrive in same way as Wiggle bikes?

Might stick up an ad for my Giant SCR 2.0 soon and see how it gets on - won't sell if I don't get a decent price. Main concern with hanging on to it is the lack of storage space so if I don't sell there'll be no upgrading!

emty

Hey,
I have the planet x super-light pro-carbon(I think thats what it is called).Not a full Dura-ace,but good enough value I thought(999 pounds).I've changed the wheels,tires,saddle and stem but apart from that its fine:P.Tbh all you might really need to change is the tires and saddle.I love the bike,it suits my ability and is nice to ride.I couldn't really ask for much more.Mine came 95% assembled btw.

FrankGrimes

Cheers for that emty. I am leaning towards taking the plunge and going for that Planetx Superlight Carbon Pro. They have a new version of that coming out next week but the price is not shown. Any of these bikes are defo above what my current ability warrants but hopefully I grow into it.

As it is, the current SL Pro-Carbon seems to be down to the last few and works out at £1028 built. Assuming the new one will be at an increased price, I might just go with the current one now to avoid missing it.

This would be jumping the gun in that I'd have to sell my Giant SCR 2.0 later and could possibly miss out on the Cycle to Work Scheme benefits, though it does look a deal that's too good to miss. I also doubt the Cycle To Work Scheme my employer will setup will cater for this end of the market (and unlikely to avail of online prices).

Good news for me is the Planetx comes with a 50-34 compact and though it has a 12-25 cassette advice I've seen on here is that I could always change that to 11-25 if I need more at the top end or less at the bottom end.

Emty - what was up with the tires - was it personal preference or are they just muck?

blorg

Note the new version has some substantially upgraded componentry (carbon bars, crankset and seatpost for example) so the price might well be a fair higher.

The "C18" Planet X offer comes with Schwalbe Stelvio tyres which get generally quite good reviews. My own Focus came with these tyres and while they were plenty grippy I had two blowouts not long after getting the bike. This can just be bad luck. Personally I would not tend to worry about the tyres on it, use them to start with and replace only if necessary. I went for Schwalbe Ultremos as a replacement and have been very happy on these over 10,000km or so (on second pair now.)

FrankGrimes

So in the absence of anybody stepping up to stop me I've gone ahead and ordered the SL Carbon Pro from Planetx for £1028 plus £40 delivery

Today being the best (from a narrow consumer perspective, fully aware of the difficutly it poses from a macroeconomics point of view) euro-sterling exchange rate ever did help sway me!

I decided that I probably won't regret it as even if the Cycle To Work scheme comes in I'd be unlikely to find a bike of this spec for anywhere near €1050 given that this deal is at the end of its days and its unlikely that my employer would deal with a UK online retailer due to the hassle.

Out of interest, whaddya reckon is the price for a similar spec bike in bricks&mortar in Ireland (always like to know just how much of a bargain I've got!)?

Thanks for the advice....really looking forward to getting my mitts on it and testing it out.

blorg

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Out of interest, whaddya reckon is the price for a similar spec bike in bricks&mortar in Ireland (always like to know just how much of a bargain I've got!)?

Well done, I don't think you would regret it. I would estimate you would be looking generally around the €2,000+ mark for similar here - something like this Lapierre or this Giant maybe.

TinyExplosions

I'd say there wouldn't be much change from 2k at the very least

TinyExplosions

blorg wrote: »

Well done, I don't think you would regret it. I would estimate you would be looking generally around the €2,000+ mark for similar here - something like this Lapierre or this Giant maybe.

Both of those are Ultegra though :eek:

short circuit

Someone will probably come up with a better example .. but from the Giant range at cycle superstore

TCR Advanced 3 - Carbon frame but only 105 components is 2000 euro
TCR Advanced 2 - Carbon frame with Ultegra - 2450 euro

Obviously 2009 models ... you could probably pick up 2008 models for a 2 - 400 euro cheaper somewhere.

So good deal .. all in all .... enjoy..

blorg

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Both of those are Ultegra though :eek:

The Planet X is a Dura-Ace/funny stuff mix, I would say it is comparable to a fuller Ultegra group (indeed when Planet X were letting you configure the full Ultegra option was a few hundred quid more than the "Dura Ace build".)

FrankGrimes

Sweet. I know it's hard to compare like for like given the unusual mix of components on the PlanetX but it's pretty clear you could spend the best part of an extra grand on it if buying here so I'm happy it's an excellent value purchase.

Looking forward to finding out what it's like to ride an excellent bike and if it does make a difference....though no doubt I'll be holding the bike back from showing it's potential for a while yet....