New bike advice

antomorro-sei

Hey, been reading this forum a lot the last 12 months or so, as I've gotten back into cycling. Gone from 0km's last summer to doing a few sportives and the Ring of Kerry this year back in July. I had a B'twin Triban 500 that I bought off Decathlon which served me well for the year.

Over the last few weeks/months I've been relocating to Australia. So now that I've finally settled here and sold my B'twin back in Ireland, I want to get a new bike.

I've been looking in local bike shops over here and I have reduced it to the following options. Just wondering if you guys have any advice to help me decide, or are there any alternative options for my price point? I was hoping to spend €1500ish and get something decent.

• Focus Cayo 2017 - 105 with disc brakes - €1245
• Focus Cayo 2019 - Tiagra with disc brakes - 1245
• Bianchi Intenso 2019 - Ultegra with Rim brakes - €1990
• Focus Parlane 2019 - Ultegra with Hydraulic disc brakes - €1870
• Time (second hand / carbon) - Campagnolo Record - €1550
• Reid Vantage Endurance 3.0 2019 - Ultegra with hydraulic disc - €995

Personally, I do kinda want to go for something new. I tested the Focus Cayo with 105 and the Parlane with Ultegra, and I definitely preferred the Parlane.

I'm due to go for a spin on the Bianchi on Friday, but I'm wondering if not having disc brakes would make any difference to me at all? I've never had disc brakes so not sure if I should be aiming for them at all.

Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers :cool:

CantGetNoSleep

Well done on RoK!

I've never ridden any of the bikes you mention but - I've recently switched from rim brake to hydraulic disc on my three bikes (winter, summer, commuter) and tbh - I don't see the big deal. They are better in the rain certainly, but I ride relatively infrequently when it's lashing. If I was going about it again, I'd still change the commuter but the Ultegra rim brakes on my previous good bike were fantastic in good weather (i.e. 95% of the time I rode it), lighter, and more simple to maintain. Yeah they are not trendy or what the bike companies are pushing but if I had ignored that, I'd get an identical or even better riding experience. Just look at a pro race to see how slow they are to change to disc brakes so why do we need them?

In terms of other considerations - I'd look at wheelset (one of the easiest upgrades that can make a huge difference, but something you can keep in mind on overall budget), and geometry. Without looking them up they seem a relaxed endurance type geometry but something to keep in mind (and gearing)

antomorro-sei

Thanks for the reply, and yeah, really enjoyed the RoK actually. Hoping to get going at a few events over here in the next few weeks/months.

Yeah, they are all the relaxed endurance geometry. I'd definitely be going at more a leisurely pace than out and out racing setups.

I think over here in Perth, I'll be riding in good weather the vast majority of the time anyway, so guessing the rim brakes will do fine.

I'll be riding the Bianchi in the morning. It is a little out of my budget, especially regarding upgrading the wheelset, but it's also the coolest of the bunch in my opinion. What kind of budget would you need for a good noticeable upgrade for the wheels?

Cionn

I had a Focus Cayo with rim brakes, really good bike and I progressed very quickly on it, but it required new wheels to really get the most out of it (I also changed the seatpost and the saddle). Its not that relaxed a geometry and is very stiff (almost too stiff).
I would imagine that in Perth you won't be cycling in the rain that much, I would suggest that the difference between rim and disc brakes is largely mitigated given you weather/climate.

I went from a 105 groupset to an Ultegra and don't notice much difference. I did buy a bike with shimano 105 (5800) hydraulic disc brakes and sent it back, the shifting was not anywhere near as smooth as the rim brake bike I had before.


Best of luck and make the decision sooner rather than later so you get back on the road.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Unless you live near the Blue Mountains in Australia then your going to be cycling pretty much on the flat everywhere else and with their largely dry climate you have no real need for disc brakes so on the basis of that alone I'd go for the Bianchi (so long as its Celeste!!)

antomorro-sei

Cheers guys.

So I went for the Bianchi. Dead excited to get going on it! :cool: