Which road bike, €1,500-€2,500?

rab!dmonkey

So, I finally have a little bit of cash to spare and I'm looking at getting a road bike for training and racing. I plan to spend between €1,500 and €2,000, but I could go up to €2,500 for something special. This budget is just for the bike itself; I have some more set aside for accessories. I'd like to get the best possible frameset (alu or carbon, I don't mind) I can with at least 105-tier components. I'm not particularly fussed about the wheelset as I'll probably end up swapping it out for some Planet-X deep rims.

The only other requirements are that the bike descends accurately and sprints decently.

Any suggestions?

chester3455

Bianchi sempre
105 equiped
about 8.5kg with the wheels it comes with very stiff frame for sprinting.

ht9zni1gs28crp

.....

Lemag

€2549 with Ultrgra Di2 and Ksyrium Elite.

2 Wheels Good

Wilier Izoard with Ultegra €2300 from JeJames so should be similar in Ireland. You'd get it with 105 for about €1800. Lovely bike.

Brad768

Lemag wrote: »

€2549 with Ultrgra Di2 and Ksyrium Elite.

I have a Rose PRO-SL 2000 RS and reccomend it highly, they are built fantastically for the price. Have no doubt that that would ride amazingly

chickenfarmer

Picked up a trek Madone 4.5 recently in the bike shop in Limerick. RRP is €2599. He had a special offer on it tho for €2150. Ultrega - 105 mix.

fat bloke

It'd be canyon all the way for me anyway. The Aeroad CF just sneaks in at 2599, or the CF with campag chorus 11 speed.

Or - bloody 'ell, their Ultimate AL with Di2 has 500 quid off at the moment - down to 1999 !!!

TinyExplosions

Dengfu Fm066 with Carbon wheels and SRAM force gets in at under 2500 and 7kg

rab!dmonkey

Thanks for the replies guys, lots of interesting options there: time to make a spreadsheet!

In the meantime, has anyone any experience or opinions on how the various frames ride? As much as I'd love an aero bike, I'll probably stay away from the Aeroad. The reviews say the stiffness and handling leave a bit to be desired, so it's not really 'special' enough to take the top of my budget, much less go €100 over.

theSHU

rab!dmonkey wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys, lots of interesting options there: time to make a spreadsheet!

In the meantime, has anyone any experience or opinions on how the various frames ride? As much as I'd love an aero bike, I'll probably stay away from the Aeroad. The reviews say the stiffness and handling leave a bit to be desired, so it's not really 'special' enough to take the top of my budget, much less go €100 over.

If you want a comfortable ride and something special go with a bamboo bike:

rab!dmonkey

The Rose Xeon CW-4400 is looking most appealing at the moment.

• Aero frame
• Sram Force 22 (or Ultegra, for €50 more)
• Semi-aero rims as standard
• Claimed weight: 6.7 kg! (7.9 kg as built by harringtonp)

I'm leaning towards the Sram gruppo, as I consider the brake reach adjust an essential feature. There's a big discrepancy between the claimed weight and the boardsie's build - Rose say it's just the wheels, but they haven't told me what spec gives that weight. To find an 11 speed gruppo at this price is astounding, though it does mean giving up a degree of part-sharing with my 10 speed MTBs. Other than that, the only major point against the bike is the complete lack of reviews online. I've seen the rest of their bikes get rave reviews, but so do most of Canyon's bikes, and the Aeroad was found lacking.

Second on the shortlist is the Rose Xeon CRS-4400. It's the same price as the CW-4400, but it comes with nicer wheels. The trade-off is that it's not an aero frame.

The choice of components is a little daunting too - so many bars and saddles to choose from and I haven't really got a clue what would suit me. Whether to get deep rims or every-day wheels with the bike is another conundrum. Decisions, decisions...

slap/dash

for what its worth, i bought the rose xeon rs 3000 back in march. cant fault the bike. very well put together, great service. the geometry is on the aggressive side, so it may suit your desire for aero. i did plump for heavier handbuilt wheels, but its far and away the best ride ive tried, including carbon in my limited experience. with the vast array of choice, that is really the only downside imo, because confusing, but check back here, more choice is a nice place to be!

slap/dash

oh and be aware that the xeon crs and rs have slightly different geometry, with the crs running just a tad larger. quite short head tube in general though

slap/dash

oh, and one more thing, if you can wait out this season, this years bikes will be minus around 10-15% or more come winter