€1,000 All in for a Road Bike including Accessories

eddiem74

FISMA wrote: »

Eddie,
If I were you I would contact the company and ask them if they have a crash replacement scheme and if so how much. I know Cannondale has a nice buy back scheme.

What kind of riding or you going to do? Road riding will need a lot of essentials: clipless pedals/shoes, shorts, gloves, ...

However, if you are just going to commute, the bare essentials would be: a spare tube, levers, patch kit, pump, and saddle bag.

Road riding, did it for a few years as a teenager, only done one race, came third, then came distractions (girls, part time work, full time work, travel, etc...) and years later I am now looking to get back going after continuously talking about it for years.

pgd-pgd

I'd spend the €1000 on the bike.Clothes ,helmets lights locks pumps can be picked up on E bay , Done deal and Gumtree very very cheap.
You probably get a decent road bike with a full Shimano groupset for that price.( I wouldnt be looking at bikes with shimano Sora for that price anyway).

Also the Frame size you would get now would probably be a size smaller than you used to ride. i.e. if you rode a 56cm bike you would probably need a 54cm bike and have a longer seatpost . This is due to the changed geometry of bikes and it may give you better road handling.(I'd research this if I was you before you pick your frame size,
(See link)
http://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/frame-sizer/road-bike/size-sheet?utf8=%E2%9C%93&u=in&r=man&h=1790.7&i=800.1&b=Calculate

Also http://www.tenn-outdoors.co.uk/ is great for cycling clothes cheap and fast delivery.

Heres a decent bike in eurocycles also,
http://www.eurocycles.ie/Road_Bikes/Road_Bikes_Under_€1000/Focus_Variado_Triple/3366_p.aspx

Best of Luck,
Paul.

Neverlandland

I bought in eurocycles, and got the 1,000 voucher. eurocycles do an offer where you get 15% (of the bike price) worth of accessories for free. So if you were to pick up a z100 or f95, you would get around 350 quid of accessories which would cover you for everything you would need! If you dont spend it all, you could get a credit note. Go to the longmile road one though!

eddiem74

pgd-pgd wrote: »

I'd spend the €1000 on the bike.Clothes ,helmets lights locks pumps can be picked up on E bay , Done deal and Gumtree very very cheap.
You probably get a decent road bike with a full Shimano groupset for that price.( I wouldnt be looking at bikes with shimano Sora for that price anyway).

Also the Frame size you would get now would probably be a size smaller than you used to ride. i.e. if you rode a 56cm bike you would probably need a 54cm bike and have a longer seatpost . This is due to the changed geometry of bikes and it may give you better road handling.(I'd research this if I was you before you pick your frame size,
(See link)
http://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/frame-sizer/road-bike/size-sheet?utf8=%E2%9C%93&u=in&r=man&h=1790.7&i=800.1&b=Calculate

Also http://www.tenn-outdoors.co.uk/ is great for cycling clothes cheap and fast delivery.

Heres a decent bike in eurocycles also,
http://www.eurocycles.ie/Road_Bikes/Road_Bikes_Under_€1000/Focus_Variado_Triple/3366_p.aspx

Best of Luck,
Paul.

Thanks for the reply, I do unfortunately need to try and get some accessories/equipment in that budget, funding will be tight here on out. A Focus, Noooooooo, not another consideration, my list is already long enough...:eek:

Neverlandland wrote: »

I bought in eurocycles, and got the 1,000 voucher. eurocycles do an offer where you get 15% (of the bike price) worth of accessories for free. So if you were to pick up a z100 or f95, you would get around 350 quid of accessories which would cover you for everything you would need! If you dont spend it all, you could get a credit note. Go to the longmile road one though!

Thanks, good to know !

eddiem74

Ok, so a little update. Today I went and had a look at two Bikes:

1. Felt F85
2. 2010 Bianchi C2C via Nirone (Tiagra)

Felt F85

I was surpised the Felt was a White (primarily) and Orange colour and not red as I had seen online. I was told it was a new colour. Anyone know? Although I was only looking I felt a little let down in terms of Sales push, not sure the guy I got was that experienced? Although I know many here have suggested this as a good bike, I am left with mix feelings after the visit.

Bianchi

Its blue as in this picture, compact though not triple as shown.



I really liked the look of the bike (don't shoot me) although I know the spec might not be quite up to the Felt. I was also offered a good total deal including bike, and pretty much all accesories/equipment I wanted which I felt good about. They only thing that came up was they did not have a 55 size with Tiagra in stock, however they had a 55 with Sora (or maybe it was 2300? can't recall) which they were doing a swap out on for another customer who didn't want Tiagra, and said they could therefore build that back with the Tiagra for me as the frame, etc... was the same. I assume the bike would still be the same, right?

eddiem74

As if things were not confusing enough I was just browsing over the "allowed" partners in my company scheme and at the very end of the list which was sorted by county (I had assumed alphabetically) was online retailers with Planet X and Ribble listed.......:eek:

Decisions, decisions.....

petethedrummer

Planet-X, Ribble, and Canyon etc represent the best value deals. But you can't try for size or have LBS back up.

Anything you buy in a local shop will be roughly the same spec as something else at a similar price. Boardmans in Halfords will be better value than a regular LBS but some Halfords branches are useless. Eurocycles (I think) are cheaper than a LBS for Felts, but like Halfords some of their branches are rubbish.

You can spend ages agonising trying to save a few quid here and there. Sometimes its right to just go with the bike you like the look of. Even if there's a slightly better value but uglier bike.

eddiem74

I just wanted to make a final post to close of this thread. Thanks to all who have read or chipped in with their advice and opinions.

After much research and eventually time looking in shops I have decided to go with the Trek 1.5. I like the look/colour, felt really nice to ride even without any major tweaking from the display stand.

http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/road/sport/2_and_1_series/1_5



I recognise there is possibly better value out there online or possibly even in-store, however you need to start somewhere and I have now. Just need to wait on my company to approve my BTW application and then get the bike.

Thanks again !