crunch time

littleknown

right then, its crunch time. decided im going to buy a bike this weekend.
one of the following . I will not bug you any more as i know this can get beyond tedious but i really do appreciate your input as most of you know a hell of a lot more than i do about road bikes,

finalised list is one of the following,


trek 1.7
www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/road/1_series/17e/

trek 1.9
www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/road/1_series/19e/

bianchi

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bianchi/nirone-7-105-compact-2009-road-bike-ec016936

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bianchi/1885-aluminium-carbon-veloce-2009-road-bike-ec016935

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bianchi/nirone-7-105-2009-road-bike-ec016951

specialized

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/allez-elite-2009-road-bike-ec016880

colgnago
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/colnago/primavera-105-2009-road-bike-ec017300

xz

The Colnago Primavera

Lumen

Colnago Primavera, Bianchi 1885.

Judged purely on looks.

TinyExplosions

Get a Planet X -full carbon for the same sorta money as those Aluminium jobbies, and mostly an ultegra groupset!

Colmhayden76

If your going to buy from Evans did you notice the small print for the spesh
Please Note that Specialized Bikes cannot be purchased for international delivery and can only be delivered to an address within the UK.

Looks like they have gone the same way as Trek have.

Personally I'd go with either the trek or Spesh as if it goes pair shaped there are enough Irish dealers to look after it. Correct me if I'm wrong but is it not evryones favorite dublin bike shop that have the exclusive for the Bianchi's anyway?
I have seen a review for the Colnago on Bike radar and they wern't to hot on it saying that you are paying for a name and that reduces the spec .

Hungrycol

The Giant (TCR I think?) got a big thumbs up in this months Cycling Plus.

lukester

If you're considering Specialized, Worldwide Cycles have a price promise against anything in the UK, think they'll even better the price. And they do nationwide delivery, fully assembled.

I've nothing whatsoever to do with them, just like their style.

blorg

At least one Irish Specialized dealer, Worldwide Cycles in Clonmel, will match UK prices.

For that sort of money I too would be looking at carbon.

littleknown

carbon bike for that money? only ones ive seen are BH which look muck, boardman which doesnt deliver to where i live and planet x which im not sold on, are there any others?

Lumen

littleknown wrote: »

carbon bike for that money? only ones ive seen are BH which look muck, boardman which doesnt deliver to where i live and planet x which im not sold on, are there any others?

Ribble. Website doesn't work in Firefox. Possible availability/lead time issues, and delivery is expensive.

scottreynolds

Hungrycol wrote: »

The Giant (TCR I think?) got a big thumbs up in this months Cycling Plus.

thumbs up --- It was actually best bike of 2009

littleknown

anyone have a copy of the review cant find it?

RobAMerc

I think that Hollingsworth are doing the Trek 1.7 for 1100 yoyo.
Worth a phone call maybe as they'll probably discount further for cash.

Colmhayden76

Isn't there another thread going on at the moment about a carbon fibre Focus bike from wiggle .I know a couple of lads with them and they absolutly love them,

littleknown

Colmhayden76 wrote: »

Isn't there another thread going on at the moment about a carbon fibre Focus bike from wiggle .I know a couple of lads with them and they absolutly love them,

just had a look at the focus http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/focus-wigglecayo09-zoom.jpg

looks pretty decent but i know nothing about them, how does it look in the flesh, i have seen a few cube racers that look good on a website but not so great in reality,

Colmhayden76

We have 3 lads in our club with them. Henboy who is an occasional visitor here rides this years model so pop him a pm and ask.

blorg

I rode a Cayo last year, it is a great bike. Much better value for money than those bikes from Trek or Specialized (Trek 1000 was my first road bike, subsequently got a Trek 5000 carbon and currently have two Specializeds, am in no way biased against the brands, great bikes but for the money?)

I would also consider Planet X, Boardman or Ribble though. There is a lot of brand snobbery in the cycling world.

littleknown

blorg wrote: »

I rode a Cayo last year, it is a great bike. Much better value for money than those bikes from Trek or Specialized (Trek 1000 was my first road bike, subsequently got a Trek 5000 carbon and currently have two Specializeds, am in no way biased against the brands, great bikes but for the money?)

I would also consider Planet X, Boardman or Ribble though. There is a lot of brand snobbery in the cycling world.

thanks Blorg, something like this one maybe...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Cayo_105_2009/5360037591/

I think its between this and the trek 1.9 now,
are carbon frames that much better? or is it just a fashion thing?

what about the looks department 1.9 or focus?

Smithzer

http://www.slanecycles.com/productdetail.aspx?id=790&subid=416&catid=80
Its last years model but if not bad, I was going to get one but went for the more expensive Addict R4 instead.

littleknown

thanks smitzer, a nice looking bike too, ill have a look into it,

coming back to the trek 1.9 v the focus , are the components etc not much better on the trek?

is the carbon frame worth going for at all costs? i have only used carbon handlebars before and to be honest never noticed the difference other than the price!

blorg

I would go for a carbon frame with 105 over aluminum with Ultegra certainly. Difficult to compare between brands but I have had Trek aluminium and Trek carbon, same geometry, and the difference was phenomenal- the aluminum was certainly very very stiff, so if you were racing this would be fine, but the carbon was a hell of a lot more comfortable.

littleknown

blorg wrote: »

I would go for a carbon frame with 105 over aluminum with Ultegra certainly. Difficult to compare between brands but I have had Trek aluminium and Trek carbon, same geometry, and the difference was phenomenal- the aluminum was certainly very very stiff, so if you were racing this would be fine, but the carbon was a hell of a lot more comfortable.

now a trek carbon is a different story, lovely bikes.if only i had a bit more cash but im at my limit as it is,to be honest i had old steel and 7005 tubing for years and they were fine, thought the carbon thing was just going to be a passing fad a bit like titanium but it seems here for a while at least,

damn its hard to decide!

blorg

Carbon is good stuff, go for it. Carbon is hardly a passing fad, every pro and for that matter am racer for the last half decade or more has been on carbon. (I ride titanium myself purely out of perversity )

Smithzer

Thing is as soon as you get into the whole thing you'll prob want a carbon bike. I was in the same boat as you a couple of months ago and my mate convinced me to go carbon, You'll not regret it.

littleknown

had pretty much settled on the focus until i talked with a boardsie who had one with an issue in the finish and after researching a bit this seemed to be a common issue, something that looks like water trapped under the coating, i reckon it should be perfect when you get a new bike so may have to rethink the cayo...

if anyone has pictures closeup of their own focus bikes would really appreciate if you could post them or send them on to me..

thanks