First road bike £500 - £1000

Do you have a large cycling shop near you? A Rutland Cycling branch? Even an Evans shop really...

I would be looking for a mid-range aluminium endurance/sportive bike with a carbon fork and sora/tiagra gears to begin with. The endurance tag means the riding position won't be too racy (= low, hunched over/stretched out) and should be comfortable as you get into riding. Indeed, many people take the view that unless you're racing, you don't need a racing bike!

Evans will have a good range to suit, you'll get anything from an own-brand Pinnacle to a perfectly decent lower end Bianchi inside £1000. Buy on what feels nice to ride (not just sit on), and what looks nice. If you like looking at it and feel good on it, you'll ride it more.

Don't forget to leave some money over for kit...!
 
eXist said:
were doing Giant Defy 0s at £795 whilst the few we have left last, not many bikes better as a first road bike than that. Ultegra shifters and rear mech aswell.
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Great buy! Paid more than that for my Defy 1...

Egon said:
I've got my eye on this Cannondale which seems to get reviewed well and ticks the box for disc brakes.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/synapse-alloy-105-disc-2015-road-bike-ec071021
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Vonhelmet said:
Planet X London Road is the only bike I know of with hydraulics for under £1k.
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booyaka said:
Cannondale 2015 CAAD8 105


£764!!! Bargain
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The Synapse, CAAD8 and London Road are all fantastic bikes for the price range.

Nazca said:
If you need a XS or S (dependent on local stock) check out the B'Twin Alur 700

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/alur-700-road-bike-id_8290145.html

Only £499.99 - bargain :)
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Good bike but branded as '105' when only part of the groupset is (brakes, & deraileurs, cassette & chain is Tiagra, cranks and BB are BTWIN). It's 2013 105 too so 10 speed (not 11) with the older (4600? with the windows) shifters not the newer ones.

grudas said:
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/road-...enza-3-0-ultegra-carbon-road-bike-2015-p12460

EPIC price for what it is.
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Awesome price!
 
So, I'm back from my hols and ready to buy.

I've abandoned the need for disc brakes on my road bike as cost was proving too high, so at the minute I've got my eye on the Giant Defy 0 which can be had for £750 from various online retailers. Sounds an amazing price... surely not much better can be had for that money?

How does that compare to the Cannondale 2015 CAAD8 105 which can also be had for the same money.

Edit: Nazca linked to the ALUR 700 ROAD BIKE for £499, that seems pretty well specced too.

My heart is on the Giant Defy 0, but at £250 cheaper would the Alur be a better buy?

The problem I have is that I don't have a decathlon or large bike shop near me that stocks these 3 different bikes, so I can't go try them out. I can try out the cannondale but that's about it.
 
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No local bike shops (LBS)? They usually specialise in a brand (Giant/Cannondale etc) but at least that way you would get to try the bikes you're looking at - just be honest with them about you shopping around different brands rather than 'seeing what they've got'. You may find they offer you a deal you can't turn down! ;)

The Btwin ALUR is a good budget option but not in the same league as the others (IMO).

There really isn't much to choose between the Cannondale CAAD8 and Giant Defy 0 frame wise (Carbon forks, alu frame) as mentioned high end alu like these two is generally better than cheaper carbon in the same price bracket. Groupset, the CAAD8 is full 105 (with FSA cranks/BB), the Defy 0 has a mixture of Ultegra and 105 with a Shimano cranks/BB, so is slightly better.

Both have wheelsets I would say are worth upgrading but not something you need to do right away (and probably not until you have problems or need to drop some weight).

On paper the Giant is slightly better - you would have less to upgrade to make it 'full Ultegra' and it has a better crankset. Yet without riding on either you would really find it hard to make a choice. Be aware that I ride Giant and I may be slightly biased! ;)
 
OK, so if I rule out the ALUR, I just need to find a LBS that stocks the Giant then. I can test the Cannondale out from a shop in the town centre.... on a dry day, it's been bloody raining all day up here today!
 
lol yeah just buy that, one of the best alu frames made. Guy in work has just built up the black frame version of it and it's awesome.
 
Yeah the colour did put me off. I've been reading up on the different bike components and groupsets. I notice the defy 0 is a mix of 105 and Ultegra, but I also noticed the CAAD10 uses 105 5800 which is highly regarded when compared to the 5700.

My question is, does the defy 0 use Ultegra 6800 or 6700 and 105 5800 or 5700? I admit, I don't enough to know whether this question is even valid! :o
 
Egon said:
Yeah the colour did put me off. I've been reading up on the different bike components and groupsets. I notice the defy 0 is a mix of 105 and Ultegra, but I also noticed the CAAD10 uses 105 5800 which is highly regarded when compared to the 5700.

My question is, does the defy 0 use Ultegra 6800 or 6700 and 105 5800 or 5700? I admit, I don't enough to know whether this question is even valid! :o
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It's a Defy 0 2015 so being the 2015 version of Ultegra is 6800 and the 2015 version of 105 is 5800 ;)

The 'trickle down effect' of Shimano's groupset technology basically equals current 105 (5800) to 'last years' Ultegra (6700) with an extra gear. So Ultegra this year (6800) has parts of Dura Ace technology (pro level) from 2014.

The 11-speed/10-speed difference between 5700 and 5800 will be something we only see this season as 6800 doesn't have 12 gears (so 5900 will still be 11 speed).

It works the other way too, for example buying a 2015 bike with Sora ('1 up from bottom' Claris) is using technology from 3-4 year ago Ultegra... So not really that 'bad' or budget! ;)
 
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