£6k bike advice

Shadowness

Shadowness

Shadowness

Soldato
Joined
17 Sep 2006
Posts
4,226
Location
Gloucestershire
Howdy chaps,

I've not been on here for a while, but I was after a bit of advice on some bikes, and various components I might spec.

Unfortunately my pride and joy Boardman was stolen at the weekend (while we were in the house to add insult to injury!), but luckily the insurance is covering it.
I've got to deal with wheelies.co.uk, so for a start, if anyone has any experience with these guys that would be great!
I've sent photos and the specs of my bike to them, so I'm waiting to hear back with a valuation, which I've calculated to be around the £6k mark, I'm hoping they reach the same value!

Although they don't stock Boardman bikes, I was told that Halfords have recently taken over the company, and they own Boardman, so the guy on the phone was quite optimistic about getting a frame, and then specing the same parts to make the same bike. But if I fancy a change, my options seen to be:

Specialized Venge ViAS:

95791_2_Zoom.jpg


Pros
Nothing but rave reviews
Dura Ace

Cons
No electronic shifting
Not quite sure on the effectiveness of the rim brakes



Specialized Venge ViAS Disc:

Specialized-Venge-ViAS-Pro-Disc-UDi2-700c-2017-Road-Bike-96757-Zoom.jpg


Pros
Based on same bike above
Ultegra Di2
Disc brakes
Can swap wheels/parts with my winter bike with discs
Shimano, so can buy stages power meter and use on other bike too
Looks epic!

Cons
Disc brakes (I have the same discs on my winter bike with no complaints)
Don't think disc brakes are really needed on 'summer' bike


Felt AR1:

Felt-AR1-eTap-2017-Road-Bike-94574-Zoom.jpg


Pros
Already has eTap
Zipp wheels

Cons
I know nothing about Felts
Seen better looking bikes (being fussy here!)


Ideally, I'd like the rim brake Venge with eTap. Whether they would allow me to take all the Shimano bits off and replace with SRAM I have no idea.....

Or anything else I cant think of. I'm sure they can get hold of other bits, so I'm open to suggestions. But has anyone ridden/heard anything about these bikes?
 
Amps said:
Out of interest what is the bike being used for?
Click to expand...

It would be my 'summer' bike, so to speak. My Boardman was a very stiff aero bike, so I'm not too bothered about having a compliant comfortable bike.

booyaka said:
Surely at that price range Di2 is a must.
Click to expand...

or even better.....eTap ;) But I take your point, although Dura Ace mechanical is hardly something to pass on.

Shamrock said:
Canyon? Probably the best value specs around.

The Bianchi is lovely though!
Click to expand...

Indeed that is a stunner! I'm not sure if Wheelies can get hold of those, as I'm in their hands really.
For the above reason, I'm guessing Canyons are out of the question.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I've read mixed reviews of the braking on the rim brake ViAS so I'd have to ride one to see. I think there's a Specialized store in Brum somewhere you can test one at the moment.

eTap is incredible, I had that on the bike before it was nicked so I am confident with that.

Aeroad is an awesome bike, but as I said, I cant get that from Wheelies. Unless I take the cash settlement which is 20% less I think.

I'll have a look into the Bianchi more.

And as for why have a 6k bike.......why buy a Porsche, or Lambo? A car is a car at the end of the day.

Does anyone have any experience with the Scott Foil too?
 
Thanks.

I must admit I'm not too sure about the looks of the Venge. I've yet to see one in the flesh, definitely not a very common bike.

The Bianchi looks intriguing. I didn't know it had the CV anti-vibration technology in it. Useful for our roads!!
 
Thanks again, I've still not ruled out the Venge. I need to sea one first though.

I've had the call from wheelies, amazingly they valued my bike at £6900.45! So that's the figure I've got to play with.

There's really no restriction on what I can do with that. I can get an 'off the shelf' bike, or spec a frame and all the parts myself for a custom build.

I can even get a 5k bike and spend the rest on accessories. Or even get two bikes! I was pretty amazed actually.

And the icing on the cake is that I can even get a more expensive bike, say 8k, and pay the difference, and even get 20% that difference!

I keep thinking there must be a catch somewhere but so far I'm impressed with them.

So what's your thoughts now? ;)
 
lol

I must admit the S-works tarmac eTap is looking quite tempting, not an aero bike I know, but looks pretty tasty.

I'm hopefully heading to a Specialised concept store tomorrow if they have one of those and a venue in, just to see how they compare.

OR.....go back to what I had originally, with a slightly higher spec.....a Boardman

334-BI_AIR_Sig_Drive.jpg


Enve wheels and finishing kit, DA Di2, great looking frame, what's not to like?!
 
Last edited:
Well I was recently made aware that Wheelies has been bought by Halfords, who of course own Boardman. So although there's nothing in palce yet, they said they will eventually be able to get them.

I'm off to a Specialized concept store tomorrow to have a look at the S-Works Tarmac, and Venge. The Venge is still quite tempting at the moment.
 
Tesco. Honestly couldn't be more impressed at the moment.

My visit to the concept store was quite interesting actually. Firstly, the S-Works Tarmac looks stunning, definitely still tempted by that.

The big thing is that the Venge has so many variables required to get you set up correctly on it. They strongly advised against just buying one online, as they are required to do a full fit when they sell one in the store.

Decisions decisions!
 
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