What made you choose your current bike ?

michael196

how did you decide upon ur current bike ?

From the range of current models and manufacturers, what was the

deciding factor for you ?

did your local shop permit you to test ride a few models ?


what primarily influences your decsion to choose one over another ?


Do winning bikes in the big tours influence your decision ?


For me , a 2 week holiday on a Scott, made my mind up, returning off holiday to purchase the bike in Ireland.

Joxer_S

It was on sale and I recognised the brand, I knew jack all about bikes when I bought mine, bar constant pestering a friend to ask if shimano tigers were any good or not. Then I test rode two (Specialized and Trek) with similar components/price and just felt better on the Trek.

Beasty

Loads of people on Boards saying how good the Focus Cayo was in terms of spec and value for money (hasn't stopped me spending another fortune replacing and upgrading parts though ....)

ednwireland

michael196 wrote: »

how did you decide upon ur current bike ?

From the range of current models and manufacturers, what was the

deciding factor for you ?

did your local shop permit you to test ride a few models ?


what primarily influences your decsion to choose one over another ?


Do winning bikes in the big tours influence your decision ?


For me , a 2 week holiday on a Scott, made my mind up, returning off holiday to purchase the bike in Ireland.

focus cayo bought in 09 hit the right price point for me at the time

planet x kaffenback built up after i broke my old commuter wanted something that would take racks wider tyres etc nothing else fitted the bill went to the local shop and a cyclo x frame would have ended up costng me an extra 300euro which i wasnt prepared to spend. i'll even get used to the light brown colour

Ryaner

To be honest I probably got bitten by Cervelos marketing and beyond the pelaton videos. Decided they were great bikes and choose the S2 over the S3 based on its color.

Saying all that I haven't been disappointed with it.

snubbleste

She told me she wanted me, badly.

smacl

Knew nothing about bikes, and just liked the look the yoke I bought, a Kelly's Neos CRX hybrid with flat bars, knobbly tires, front suspension, and just about everything else disparaged on this forum. Chose it over others in the LBS as it looked stable, comfortable and easy to ride, which it was and still is. Changed the tires, pedals and saddle since, but still love the bike. Probably go for a tourer / audax set-up with drops next time out.

Do winning bikes in the big tours influence your decision ?

Never watched one, so no.

Lemag

Had read good reviews of it and the frameset was heavily discounted during the TDF.

Captain Havoc

The other boardsies made me buy them. Couple of good bargains were in the adverts section, sure I couldn't laeve'm there. Another person posted a cheap bike in the images of beauty, it was shinny and I wanted one so I bought it.

Cookie_Monster

Boards recommendations

unionman

Beasty wrote: »

Loads of people on Boards saying how good the Focus Cayo was in terms of spec and value for money (hasn't stopped me spending another fortune replacing and upgrading parts though ....)

What Beasty said +1 but haven't yet made any serious upgrades apart from changing pedals from SPD SLs (the work of the devil) to SPDs.

Three years on am still very happy with the bike, but it has taken me all of that time to find the right saddle position. I should have just gone for a fitting early on.:rolleyes:

I might upgrade the wheels next year, and am researching a change of handlebars. Whatever budget I manage to pull together this year will be spent on shoes and other clothing.

karlmyson

Lemag wrote: »

Had read good reviews of it and the frameset was heavily discounted during the TDF.

Agonised about it for a few years Like Lemag I pounced on my Canyon during TdF 2010 and snagged a nice reduction. Almost a no-brainer for the money at the time. I suspect Lemag's on a Canyon too?

Previously my main steed was a full Ultegra 2004 Cannondale R1000, one of the best alu bikes around at the time, and still quite a bit better than many entry level carbon bikes. I wanted to ensure that whatever I bought would be a worthwhile upgrade and I haven't been disappointed in my black Ultimate CF SLX 8.0. Great spec, value and looks super too. I wouldn't swap it for anything (well maybe one of the new team replica Aeroad Canyons) ...

pprendeville

Joxer_S wrote: »

It was on sale and I recognised the brand, I knew jack all about bikes when I bought mine, bar constant pestering a friend to ask if shimano tigers were any good or not. Then I test rode two (Specialized and Trek) with similar components/price and just felt better on the Trek.

I've a friend asking me the same thing about groupsets at the mo. While I'm no expert I'm saying definitely saying stay away from the Shimano Tigers.:pac:

studiorat

I felt sorry for it.

Hail 2 Da Thief

I went with what I thought was the best value for the money.

Do winning bikes in the big tours influence your decision ?

Clearly not considering I bought a Boardman.

jmdsk

Focus Cayo, seemed to be the best value for money at the time.

TinyExplosions

Colour

SomeFool

Serendipity

Biopace

The Sanderson is good old fashioned steel, rare and has a much longer top tube than many mountain bikes, great for my dodgy back.

The Dolan Hercules SE was cheap(second hand) and superbly comfortable and had an interesting component mix, (Campagnolo Record mixed with Dura Ace and Ultegra), not really 'in' to road bikes but its great for the odd sportive and hammering the miles out.

Lemag

karlmyson wrote: »

Like Lemag I pounced on my Canyon during TdF 2010 and snagged a nice reduction. Almost a no-brainer for the money at the time. I suspect Lemag's on a Canyon too?

Yep. I got the CF Evo frameset with 40% off. As you probably recall, the discounts on the framesets varied from day to day during the tour as they were dependent on the performance of Omega-Pharma Lotto. There were a couple of days where the discount was actually 50%. I sold a saddle to a guy who had bought the CF Evo alike myself. It was as a replacement for a madone 6.9 after an unfortunate seatpost over tightening mishap. It was early days for him with the Canyon but he claimed to find it to be a far superior bike.

karlmyson wrote: »

Ultimate CF SLX 8.0. Great spec, value and looks super too. I wouldn't swap it for anything (well maybe one of the new team replica Aeroad Canyons) ...

Very nice. IIRC, the discounts on the full bikes were fixed. If you don't mind me asking, what discount did you get on yours?

karlmyson

Lemag wrote: »

Very nice. IIRC, the discounts on the full bikes were fixed. If you don't mind me asking, what discount did you get on yours?

Yes, a fixed discount. I got €400 off the bike list price of €2,999. Mine came with the Citec Aero 3000 wheelset too - I note the 2011 model is somewhat dumbed down to Kysrium Elites (altho that's still a fine wheelset). What did you build the CF Evo up with?

petethedrummer

A lack of flexibility.

Lemag

karlmyson wrote: »

What did you build the CF Evo up with?

It's a bit of a weird one. The brakes are TRP r920. The shifters, RD and FD are microSHIFT Arsis. Super light but also quite troublesome and seeing as I bought them from Taiwan.. I've just ordered Sram Red shifters and FD and a Sram Force RD. A compact carbon FSA chainset, the bars are Ritchey Superlogic Carbon II, the wheels are Ksyrium SL running on Conti GP4000 tyres and I swapped out the skewers for KCNC titanium ones. Recon 10 speed cassette. Comes in at about 6.3kg. Have I left anything out?

Ardennes1944

Lemag wrote: »

It's a bit of a weird one. The brakes are TRP r920. The shifters, RD and FD are microSHIFT Arsis. Super light but also quite troublesome and seeing as I bought them from Taiwan.. I've just ordered Sram Red shifters and FD and a Sram Force RD. A compact carbon FSA chainset, the bars are Ritchey Superlogic Carbon II, the wheels are Ksyrium SL running on Conti GP4000 tyres and I swapped out the skewers for KCNC titanium ones. Recon 10 speed cassette. Comes in at about 6.3kg. Have I left anything out?

I chose mine because it was a bit of a bargain and I think it's beautiful:)

And Lemag's Canyon is sweet! I tried for a swap but the selfish bastard declined

The tax man

Titanium frame,complete Dura Ace groupset including pedals and wheels and Zipp finishing kit for a great price. Great exchange rate at the time to boot.:D

stas

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Colour

+1. Mine was yellow, black and white - like a bee screaming to birds: "danger, go away!"

I personally think it is an OK reason for the first bike

TinyExplosions

stas wrote: »

+1. Mine was yellow, black and white - like a bee screaming to birds: "danger, go away!"

I personally think it is an OK reason for the first bike

Actually, now I think about it, it was boardsies who decided on the colour for me.... yer all bastards!

Plastik

It was my first road bike so it came down to

1. Price - only went entry level as didn't know whether I was going to 'take' to cycling;
2. Spec - choice was between full alu frame with slightly better components or alu/carbon fork with slightly lesser spec components, I went alu/carbon;
3. Colour !

Jawgap

Research and a Ti fetish......

Idleater

I was trying to think of the reasons for me choosing the Orca, and while I'd like to think it had something to do with the ethos of the Orbea corporate entity, the tendency towards "environmentally friendly" production, I think it pretty much comes down to me liking something different - something that not everyone else has.

Yes it cost more than a similar spec bike from a number of different brands, but I got it cheaper in my LBS than any online or international dealer prices that I saw when researching which was good enough for me.

daragh_

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Actually, now I think about it, it was boardsies who decided on the colour for me.... yer all bastards!

I've seen your bike and it is awesome.

I got my PX because of advice from here mostly.
Sadly the pink ones were all gone.

mcmoustache

I was looking to pick up a crappy second-hand bike one day and checked out a second-hand/repair shop on Dorset St. Amongst all the crappy noname, steel-framed bikes was a Trek 7210.

It stood out like a sore thumb - chunky aluminium frame and hybrid tyres. I knew of the Trek brand so I thought I might get a good deal on it. I asked for a price and the assistant said €180. I paid on the spot and rode away on it.

Since then I've had to fix the brakes, clean the years of crud from the chain and cassette, as well as some other noob-level modifications. The pie-plate is still there, though.

I've had it for nearly a year now and it runs really smoothley. I haven't had a puncture yet in Dublin and it hasn't been damaged or stolen.

I still have a few things I need to do to the bike - the back tyre is getting a bit bald and the pie-plate needs removing. I might just switch the front and back tyres for the moment. I also want to add a mounting for my garmin.

I know it's just a cheap old bike but I spend a lot of time on it and it's a pleasure to ride and I haven't been let down.

AstraMonti

Because I wanted a cheap carbon frame to move all the stuff from the previous frame. But that didn't happen, I created an expensive bike. It looks hot though and I love it, so I am really happy It's always a great motivation to look at a hot bike.. "i need to ride you, now!"

ROK ON

AstraMonti wrote: »

... "i need to ride you, now!"

Most women that I know think exactly the same about me.

trad

Short answer Adverts.ie.

I was looking for something to shorten my work commute (walking 3 km each way from the Dart) so I bought a Carrera II off adverts in new condition. Have been using it daily since, now have a Boardman Team Hybrid on order through the BTW scheme. Plan is to cycle the 20km to work and take it on the Dart home (don't finish 'till 22.30).

Karma

michael196 wrote: »

how did you decide upon ur current bike ?

previous owners economical choice of lock :rolleyes:

position and feel. so I have some steel frame bikes- a cinelli lugged ribble racer, slx tubing(bought on boards) the alu and carbon frames are long gone
a surly steamroller and some alu mtbs(a on-one 456 would be nice )
down to 4 bikes, i think...no 5, i'll check

christeb

Opportunistic - heard about the Canyon tour deal on here. The day I got in they were offering -50% on frames so I went for it. Built the bike up from bits sourced here and there over a few months and I've been reaping the rewards since

instinct

My MTB was lucky find on buyandsell. New never used and half the price so I grabbed it with both hands.

Then recently I asked on boards about commuters and got suggested a Giant Rapid. Again, got another super deal and I'm commuting 25k on the Rapid. What a sweet ride

Trek for mub plugging
and Rapid for traffic busting

Then, as I still have BTWS to use, I plan to upgrade the MTB in the future. Prob gonna ask advise on here and mad forums and make an informed purchase.

Lemag

Lemag wrote: »

I got the CF Evo frameset with 40% off... There were a couple of days where the discount was actually 50%

christeb wrote: »

Opportunistic - heard about the Canyon tour deal on here. The day I got in they were offering -50% on frames so I went for it.

:mad::D

Vélo

I bought mine becaue I thought it was feckin gorgeous. A nice steel frame bike with an Ultegra groupset.

fasty

My housemate at the time had a Specialized Sirrus and I had a go of it, liked it and bought a newer model for myself.

I've had it for 2 years now and I still love the cycle to work every day.

Sr. Assumpta

Vélo wrote: »

I bought mine becaue I thought it was feckin gorgeous. A nice steel frame bike with an Ultegra groupset.

And what made you choose your dog?

on_the_nickel

Idleater wrote: »

I was trying to think of the reasons for me choosing the Orca, and while I'd like to think it had something to do with the ethos of the Orbea corporate entity, the tendency towards "environmentally friendly" production, I think it pretty much comes down to me liking something different - something that not everyone else has.

Yes it cost more than a similar spec bike from a number of different brands, but I got it cheaper in my LBS than any online or international dealer prices that I saw when researching which was good enough for me.

I was trying to think of the reasons for me choosing the Onix, and while I'd like to think it had something to do with the ethos of the Orbea corporate entity, the tendency towards "environmentally friendly" production, I think it pretty much comes down to me liking something different - something that not everyone else has.

And I chose thje Onix cos I'm not as flush as Idleater.

3DataModem

Needed foldy for dart. Needed to be solid and take 250 lbs of me.

Therefore: Brompton