Best road bike for ~€1000

commited

Hi folks,

You're probably all sick of threads like this but I'm a bit lost in the options. I previously had a Trek 1000 60cm (Tiagra) which I thought was OK but not the most comfortable bike in the world. I sold it when I moved overseas and I'm currently bikeless. I'm hoping to take advantage of the bike to work scheme and get myself a decent road bike to try and get fit. I've only been looking at Shimano based bikes, no idea if any of the other brands are decent but happy to take advice here.

Currently, the options that seem the most attractive:
Cube Peleton Race ~€999
Giant Defy 1 ~€1099
CUBE Peloton SL ~€1149

I'm open to going over the €1000 BTW limit but ideally I'd like to try and stick around that, and upgrade the bike as necessary as I go (most likely starting with wheels). Bike will be used for occasional 8 mile cycle to work and for weekend rides.

I still have all the bike gear etc (including 2 new Continental Grand Prix 4 Season tyres), might just need to buy new peddles.

All help/advice appreciated.

pconn062

Would add the Boardman Road Comp to your list, you can get one for €650 at the moment (although unfortunately only in Halfords). Recently bough one myself and I'm very happy with it, it's worth a lot more than I paid for it in terms of quality. Just another option, especially for the amount of cycling you have lined up for it.

http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-road-comp-bike

triggermortis

+1 on the Boardman at that price! I think if you have an AXA insurance you can get another 10% off at Halfords (other threads about that on here already)

I would go for the Boardman and if the bug bites, upgrade the whole bike later on. I have a Boardman Road Comp and the paint finish on mine is terrible and starting to flake off now. Also have a Cube that is a similar age, has had more abuse (daily use in ALL weathers) and still looks like new (when I clean it).

xebec

Lots of Cube fans here and both those models are great value for money at that price.

teatreeshamble

Still looking & deciding myself. Decathlon now have an Irish site so the Triban bikes could be bought on back to work.
Shimano - €825

decathlon.ie/all-sports/cycle/bikes/road-bikes/c-90997-triban-540-road-bike-black-grey-orange.html

commited

Thanks lads, some great comments here. Boardman road comp seems to get reviewed very highly, but for the extra €170 (effective), I feel that the Cube is a better bet.

Considering I want to use the Bike to Work scheme and the maximum is €1000, it effectively incentivises maximising the bike now rather than upgrading later.

Thanks for the Decathlon link, the 540 looks like a good spec and great value. The Ultra 700 looks great though, considering the small uplift in €€:
http://www.decathlon.ie/all-sports/cycle/bikes/road-bikes/c-91023-ultra-700-alur-road-bike-grey-green.html

Any other suggestions? Looks like I'm between the Cube Race and the B'twin Ultra 700

Subcomandante Marcos

teatreeshamble wrote: »

Still looking & deciding myself. Decathlon now have an Irish site so the Triban bikes could be bought on back to work.
Shimano - €825

decathlon.ie/all-sports/cycle/bikes/road-bikes/c-90997-triban-540-road-bike-black-grey-orange.html

When did this beautiful thing happen?

I've been waiting for a Decathlon store in Ireland for bloody yeeeeaaaars.

Hurrah!

BobCobb

This Canyon bike looks lovely, and has good specs - 105 and Mavic Aksiums for 1000e.
I don't know anything about them, just saw them while looking online at road bikes.
They're only for sale online though afaik so you might not be able to try it out for size before buying.

https://www.canyon.com/en/road/endurace/endurace-al-6-0.html

ribblecycles.co.uk allow you to choose a frame and swap around the components, which is good fun, and worth a look. Again though, only available online I think.

triggermortis

If you consider the Canyon and buying online, then you also HAVE to look at Rose bikes as well. Another German company and you can spec the bike yourself to the Nth degree. They also get great reviews for customer service so that's where my new bike is coming from

wilhelm roentgen

Merlin do some great deals, even with the crappy exchange rate at the moment.

http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-roc-105-road-bike-84200.html

wilhelm roentgen

Try also the following German bike shops

Bunnyhop.de
Link Rad Quadrat
Fahrrad Kaiser

All doing great deals on Focus/Cannondale/Cube

All great to deal with, I got an incredible deal on a Focus Izalco earlier this year from Fahrrad.

Agent Smyth

Have a look at Hollingsworth in Kilmacud, they have lots of bikes in that price range and our always willing to do a deal.

http://www.mycycle.ie/Saracen-Tenet-03-Road-Bike-2015-p/saracentenet3.htm

Cyclewizard

I would seriously look at canyon for value and quality of their stuff

octyvrs

triggermortis wrote: »

+1 on the Boardman at that price! I think if you have an AXA insurance you can get another 10% off at Halfords (other threads about that on here already)

I would go for the Boardman and if the bug bites, upgrade the whole bike later on. I have a Boardman Road Comp and the paint finish on mine is terrible and starting to flake off now. Also have a Cube that is a similar age, has had more abuse (daily use in ALL weathers) and still looks like new (when I clean it).

Just picked up a road comp for the princely sum of€495 as last week extra 15% Boardman then had 10% discount voucher code,
So happy out!...

eclipsechaser

octyvrs wrote: »

Just picked up a road comp for the princely sum of€495 as last week extra 15% Boardman then had 10% discount voucher code,
So happy out!...

Are any of those codes still around?

commited

Thanks folks, some fantastic info here.
I think I've narrowed down to either the Cube Peleton Race (bricks and mortor purchase) and the Canyon AL6.0 if I can order online.

My only concern re the Canyon is that it's described as quite "stiff" and therefore not comfortable??

oakley2097

As this thread keeps being started woudl it be possible to have a sticky at the top with a recommended best road bike at each price ?

at least at the btw price and under for people who wander in ????

dubmick

pconn062 wrote: »

Would add the Boardman Road Comp to your list, you can get one for €650 at the moment (although unfortunately only in Halfords). Recently bough one myself and I'm very happy with it, it's worth a lot more than I paid for it in terms of quality. Just another option, especially for the amount of cycling you have lined up for it.

http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-road-comp-bike

Was looking at that bike myself. New to this forum so not sure why you say 'unfortunately' only in Halford's?

Subcomandante Marcos

dubmick wrote: »

Was looking at that bike myself. New to this forum so not sure why you say 'unfortunately' only in Halford's?

Not everyone lives near a Halfords and *some* halfords stores don't have the best bike mechanics in the world so the quality of the job they do putting them together can vary. Some people have reported having to bring bikes to proper local bike stores to get gearing properly tunes or stop breaks from squealing or whatnot.

commited

Well had a read of the work terms etc and looks like I'm down to just Cube Peleton Race, so no Canyon for me.

brocbrocach

commited wrote: »

Well had a read of the work terms etc and looks like I'm down to just Cube Peleton Race, so no Canyon for me.

It's no cause for mourning. They're a savage savage bike and you'll get all the benefits of servicing, a "fitting" and possibly a few bits n pieces thrown in or reduced with the shop as well.

traprunner

commited wrote: »

Well had a read of the work terms etc and looks like I'm down to just Cube Peleton Race, so no Canyon for me.

They are hard to come by these days. I tried getting one myself recently but couldn't find it. I had to settle for the Peloton SL

commited

traprunner wrote: »

They are hard to come by these days. I tried getting one myself recently but couldn't find it. I had to settle for the Peloton SL

Looks like I may have to do the same after shopping around!

mickey1985

Did you buy the Peloton SL in the end?