60th birthday present, what bike??

buzzingnoise

Hi guys,

My dads 60th is fast approaching and my brother and I are planning on upgrading his bike as a surprise present.
Normally this type of thread is from younger guys looking for advice on either a virgin purchase or an upgrade. I felt this warranted its own thread due to his advancing age.
He has been riding for about 5 years now and would on average do about 150 miles a week, taking in about 5 short sportives a year and maybe two longer ones(180km+). His current machine is a 2003 trek 1000 with a standard double set up, 12-27 cassette on shimano sora/Tiagra. He weighs about 95kg. We are looking to spend something in the region of 1500euro total.

Taking his age into account, i've narrowed it down to two comfort issues
1. triple v double
2. carbon v aluminium.

We will be doing this through the bike2work scheme too.

So far we have looked at

1.Planet X Sl pro carbon but its not a triple.
2.Ridley Compact 1007A but its aluminium.
3.Ridley Icarus but is alu.
4.Pinarello fp1 but is alu.
5.Giant alliance, he doesnt like Giants(!)
6. focus cayo 105 compact
7. focus cayo triple but cant find one.

So does anyone have any advice or recommendations?
Thanking you in advance.
buzz

papac

Probably not much wrong with any of those bikes.

Any way of sneakily finding out if he has a particular fancy.??

Is he unhappy with his current standard double?? Does he want a triple particularly-Some people hate the sight of a triple.??

Sorry if I am giving more questions than answers but I think what he would want should be the guide.

He's a substantial size- Might be worth spending a bit less on the bike and getting him a good set of durable handbuilt wheels to go with it.-just a thought.

buzzingnoise

papac wrote: »

Probably not much wrong with any of those bikes.

Any way of sneakily finding out if he has a particular fancy.??

Is he unhappy with his current standard double?? Does he want a triple particularly-Some people hate the sight of a triple.??

Sorry if I am giving more questions than answers but I think what he would want should be the guide.

He's a substantial size- Might be worth spending a bit less on the bike and getting him a good set of durable handbuilt wheels to go with it.-just a thought.

He has mentioned that he would like a carbon frame and calls 60 "the year of the triple". he is currently on a set of mavic askyiums which are pretty bullet proof. I know for sure he doesnt like boardman bikes.
the trek has been playing up for a few months now and thats what i've picked up.

abcdggs

I wold suggest the focus cayo with a compact would be perfect. The triple will only really offer maybe one or two ratios extra over the double. It's carbon, looks great and anyone i've heard talking about it has loved it.

Lumen

buzzingnoise wrote: »

focus cayo triple but cant find one

Here

buzzingnoise

Lumen wrote: »

Here

thanks lumen, do wiggle do irish bike2work scheme?

blorg

A compact may well be enough, it is a big difference from 53-39. I have owned both the Focus Cayo (Ultegra SL triple) and Planet X (Ultegra 6700 compact) and personally I prefer the Planet X. It's a lot lighter.

Another consideration though may be the geometry. The Planet X is quite a racy geometry and the Cayo if a touch behind it is certainly not relaxed in the sense of the likes of a Specialized Roubaix. From a comfort point of view a more relaxed geometry with wider tyres could be as good in aluminium... I would certainly go 700x25c minimum and consider 28s. But it is difficult to tell as I don't know what your father's flexibility is like.

blorg

buzzingnoise wrote: »

thanks lumen, do wiggle do irish bike2work scheme?

They do, yes. They are also on the civil service approved supplier list for the scheme. If you are going through an intermediary company that takes a cut though they may not be an option.