1st road bike - how much money to spend/ how good should it be?

Monkey61

Hi folks,

I am hoping that you can give me some much needed advice about buying my first road bike.

I currently cycle to work (15 mile round trip on a Charge Plug) and I love being on the bike, so I am pretty confident that I am going to really enjoy longer cycles. I am doing at least one triathlon in 2016 and would love to get into longer distance cycling at the weekends as well as having the option to commute to work on the new bike and bring it away on holidays.

I have narrowed down my options to 4 bikes but don't know what to choose. My difficulty is that I don't know a) how good it should be and b) how much I should spend. In an ideal world, I want something that will last me a good few years and that I can update the components on if necessary rather than the whole bike.

My budget is under £1000 (I'm in the UK) but I feel like the top end of that is quite expensive and annoyingly my current work doesn't do a cycle to work scheme so I can't make any savings there.

To note, I haven't test ridden anything yet as I want to narrow my options down a bit first. Also, because it is my first road bike and I am so used to the bike I currently have, I am not entirely sure that I will really know the difference between one and another within 5 minutes or know which is better. I'd also add that I am female and 5' 5" but I am not keen on the idea of a female specific bike, purely because most that I have seen (Giant Avail range for instance), I find really horrible to look at.

So at the moment I am looking at the following:

Giant Defy 2 2015 - Tiagra, but can get a good price currently (approx £500) so would be a good budget option.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Defy-2-2015-Road-Bike_73909.htm?sku=231990&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=AdwordsProductAds&utm_campaign=Adwords&gclid=CMXjuJeWg8oCFSX4wgodAlsLuQ#

Giant Defy 1 Disc 2016 -105, would much prefer 105 as an option and just really like the look of this bike. I have had a go on my friends Defy 0 and really liked it, so something closer to that would appeal to me.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Defy-1-Disc-2016-Road-Bike_84149.htm

Cannondale Synapse Disc 105 - this seems similar to the Defy above and I also really like how it looks. Through a work discount, I could get £100 off the price of this from a local bike shop.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cannondale-Synapse-Disc-105-5-2016-Road-Bike_83225.htm

Planet X RT-58 Alloy SRAM Rival - I have read so much in this forum about Planet X bikes and this seems to be really good value compared to everything else. How would it compare to the others in terms of what I want to use it for?

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXRT58ALRIV22/planet-x-rt-58-alloy-sram-rival-11-road-bike

If the Planet X is a better or as good as the others, would it be silly to spend an extra £300 just because I really like how the Defy 1 and the Cannondale look?

Thanks a million for help!

Subcomandante Marcos

For that price (£1000) if you shop around you should get a carbon bike with 105/Apex level spec.

iwillhtfu

Out of the ones you have listed I'd go with the Cannondale.

You mention that you'd like to keep the frame and upgrade parts as you go however none of the bikes on your list have a carbon frame and you will lust after it one day.

The cannondale is a good all rounder with 5800 and disc brakes. You won't need to upgrade anything for a while.

You mention triathlon. Is this where you're aiming or more of a passing interest? If you are interested in triathlon you could always get a cheaper bike now and invest in a tri specific bike further down the road. I did my first triathlon on a hybrid with 32mm tyres.

Have you looked at Cube bikes they usually give good bang for your buck and you'd probably get one with 5800 & carbon frame for the top end of your budget.

Good luck either way

AstraMonti

how much money to spend/ how good should it be?

It doesn't really matter.. if you get hooked in... within the first 6-12 months you 'll own 2 bikes and within the first 2 years you ll be averaging 3 to 4.

From your list above I 'd go for the Cannondale.

kierank01

Giant's liv brand is female specific, might be worth a look.

I would suggest not going for a carbon frame on the your first bike, you can learn/trash an alloy around a bit more than a carbon without worrying.

~1000 will get you a perfectly capable bike, it doesn't entirely matter what manufacturer you go for.

I am not sure of the rules, but there could be an issue with disk brakes being used in a triathlon, best to check with your local governing body

iwillhtfu

kierank01 wrote: »

Giant's liv brand is female specific, might be worth a look.

I don't think op is to keen on fitting a category just finding a bike she likes

Monkey61 wrote: »

I'd also add that I am female and 5' 5" but I am not keen on the idea of a female specific bike, purely because most that I have seen (Giant Avail range for instance), I find really horrible to look at.

kierank01 wrote: »

I would suggest not going for a carbon frame on the your first bike, you can learn/trash an alloy around a bit more than a carbon without worrying.

Hardly going to trash a bike regardless of what it's made of. The ones op mentioned have carbon forks. Carbon is a lot tougher than most are willing to believe.

kierank01 wrote: »

I am not sure of the rules, but there could be an issue with disk brakes being used in a triathlon, best to check with your local governing body

There are no rules I'm aware of regarding disc brakes in the BTF/ITU. You will see folks on disc brake mtb's at some races.

Lumen

Avoid discs at that price point.

The Synapse with rim brakes for 1k would be nice.

kierank01

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I don't think op is to keen on fitting a category just finding a bike she likes

Hardly going to trash a bike regardless of what it's made of. The ones op mentioned have carbon forks. Carbon is a lot tougher than most are willing to believe.

There are no rules I'm aware of regarding disc brakes in the BTF/ITU. You will see folks on disc brake mtb's at some races.

sorry, misread the female specific bike part...

If you remove cost from the equation, the main benefit of carbon is weight saving (maybe frame stiffness, and tuning but not at 1000 price)

If you are in your first year of cycling/triathlon, a kg or 2 will only be the difference of ~10-15 places in a big race. It certainly would be the difference between winning and lousing, but that would not be happening in the first year.

then if you bring the money back into the equation, better to save the money and get an alloy with tiagra/105, standard brakes, and spend the money saved on a good bike fit

T-Maxx

Since you're not availing of the BTW scheme you should definitely consider buying online - the likes of Rose and Canyon springs to mind.

Monkey61

Thanks for all the replies!

To answer the question about triathlons, it is just something I am trying out as I have just been a runner until recently. I am not yet totally mad about the swimming so I have a feeling I might end up doing a lot more cycling than anything else this year!

Is there any reason that disc brakes should be avoided at this price? Is it just that good ones are way more expensive? Would the ones on the Cannondale be "bad" in that they would break a lot/ be difficult to maintain? I have just done a bit of googling, but there seems to be arguments for and against.

Also, any reason the Planet X wouldn't be recommended? I am just curious because I hear so many good things usually.

Thanks again!

Lumen

Monkey61 wrote: »

Is there any reason that disc brakes should be avoided at this price? Is it just that good ones are way more expensive? Would the ones on the Cannondale be "bad" in that they would break a lot/ be difficult to maintain? I have just done a bit of googling, but there seems to be arguments for and against.

Covered in various threads, e.g.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057532361

Cheaper disc brakes are cable-operated and feel a bit rubbish with drop bar levers. The hydraulic ones work better but a fair bit more expensive. Opinions vary. In any case using disc brakes typically adds about a kilo to the bike. Also, disc brakes almost always require longer chainstays which dulls the handling.

I have a Synapse Disc and it's good for all-seasons commuting but I have other bikes with rim brakes that I prefer to ride for fun.

Monkey61 wrote: »

Also, any reason the Planet X wouldn't be recommended? I am just curious because I hear so many good things usually.

They're fine but the £ is quite strong at the moment which makes them worse value than usual for Irish buyers. They often come with good headline specs, but often not complete groupsets (e.g. cheaper brakes and cranks substituted) heavy wheels and cheap tyres. Canyon and Rose provide more consistent componentry (e.g. Mavic Aksium wheels/Conti GP4000S tyres) but you'd probably want to be paying in euros to get the best value - the Canyon £ prices seem a bit steep at the moment.