Help me decide which road bike

ShiWarrior · 19 Sep 2012 at 15:29

Mods, can you turn into a poll please? end sunday evening? Thanks

Ok, looks like im down to two bikes now..

First up the Planet X RT-57 with Rival groupset

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXRT57RIV/
comming in at £1000

Or

next up, we have a boardman Team Carbon, using the 105 groupset
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777787_langId_-1_categoryId_165710?shouldCachePage=true&msg=

Comming in at £1111.50 (14.5 % off)

cant decide, so help me choose the better bike please, are there notable differences?

ShiWarrior · 19 Sep 2012 at 15:59

what do you mean by finnishing Kit? the paint job?

Are the wheels a lot better than the Planet X ones or only marginal?

ShiWarrior · 19 Sep 2012 at 21:58

thanks guys, keep them comming

ShiWarrior · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:35

thanks for your input people

on reading the reviews at bike radar, the boardman bike seems more suited to me over the Planet X.

From what I can gather, the Planet X is more towards sprints and the Boardman is more about stability and longer rides.

So based on that i'd say boardman, or have I got my facts incorrect ?

ShiWarrior · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:49

physichull said:
Out of interest, have you considered the Giant Defy 1?

a week or two ago, yes when i was looking second hand, any good?

ShiWarrior · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:22

The Giant Defy 1 is Alu not Carbon, s o would it best to get a different Giant? like the Advanced one?

ShiWarrior · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:50

physichull said:
I'm not sure, thats why I asked you, but all the reviews I've come across do nothing but rave about them.

Maybe somebody more enlightened than myself can answer this one. The Defy 1 is the top of my budget, so to go to a more advanced model may be out of the question, but like I said, I'm sure others can advise better than I can.

yeah, hope so, for you , your budget is £1K ?
what about the boardman alu ?

ShiWarrior · 21 Sep 2012 at 15:53

touch said:
This.

Both are great bikes. If this is your first road bike (IIRC, you only have a MTB?) you probably wouldnt notice any difference between them anyway. You also wont have any preference over shifting style (shimano vs SRAM) because road shifters are completely different from MTB shifters so you'll have to get used to something new whichever choice you make anyway.

Buy whichever one you think looks nicer but dont stress about the decision too much. You cant make a bad choice, so go on, buy one

edit: for what it's worth, i would choose the PlanetX, based purely on looks

Yah, comming from MTB !

I started riding to college on an MTB, then when i started work, i bought a new MTB and used that for years, then i had an accident (i was knocked down by a car) so I then didnt have a bike for many years, last year i bought a brand new MTB (see sig) so started riding again (Cross Country) but still use a car to work. Now I want to do some Road enduarance, sprinting etc (dam Olympics,TDF and Le Vuelta) got me hooked on road racing

as ive never ridden a road bike before, i dont really know what is best for me, although I did have a racer (Vintage style) for a short while untill i tried to change gear and the chain caught up in the wheel and flew me off down the road.

ShiWarrior · 22 Sep 2012 at 15:27

Halfords are much closer than the Planet X store, im in south Oxfordshire so miles away

ShiWarrior · 22 Sep 2012 at 15:37

bah the boardman team carbon (in XL) is STILL out of stock
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_777787_langId_-1_categoryId_165710

cant get it anywhere!

ShiWarrior · 22 Sep 2012 at 16:36

Firestar_3x said:
They had 8 in stock 2 weeks ago, serious issues keeping up with sales, have you been to a local branch so they can hunt one down for you?

I ended up with a Large, great bike.

none local a week ago, i tired to order and collect bt it said not avalible, couldnt even pay for it to be delivered, so i assumed it would be including from another store, but the wen site says can not order as its out of stock

ShiWarrior · 22 Sep 2012 at 22:07

got my british cycling membership through, says i get 12 percent off at wiggle and 10 percent off at Halfords and evans cycles, any decent bikes at those?

ShiWarrior · 22 Sep 2012 at 22:19

Russinating said:
Hope you went through Quidco for the British Cycling membership!

yep

ShiWarrior · 23 Sep 2012 at 17:53

anyway, back on topic

Just going through the Evans website (they are local to me like Halfords)
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/evaporite-three-2012-road-bike-ec032173#answers

That looks like a good alternative, but with not much more i could get a boardman PRO carbon, but unfortuantly it isnt compact gearing

ShiWarrior · 23 Sep 2012 at 18:53

R0B75 said:
The XL in that is discontinued.

I was looking at the Large, becuase the XL is 60cm not 58cm like the other bikes

ShiWarrior · 24 Sep 2012 at 18:43

well, im popping into Evans on wednesday, going to look at the Trek Domane 4.3 and the Madone 3.1/3.5 etc

ShiWarrior · 24 Sep 2012 at 22:04

willems said:
ooo love the madones one of the guys i ride with had his out. lovely

i love the paint job on those, just a shame that the Damone isnt as nice looking lol

ShiWarrior · 25 Sep 2012 at 22:17

Well, i deffinatly wont be getting the boardman bike now..

unless i wait till February

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_777787_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#tab4

i posted up the question

oh well, i kinda prefer the Trek anyway lol

ShiWarrior · 26 Sep 2012 at 15:07

Firestar_3x said:
I know the location of a built but not ridden XL.

you do ?

well I was in Evans for about an hour chatting to one guy there, and they didn't have much in stock in my size, but I tried a Trek Domane 5.2 I think it was, in a 58cm but was too small, I then tried another bike (cant remember the name) in a 60cm and it was a good fit

So we had a look on there system and most of the ones he recommended was out of stock until the new year

There was one Domane that I could potentially get though, but it has only a Tiagra group set, is that a bad thing?

I said to him I'm after more comfort rather than racing, and he said most if not all brands do different versions, one for racing and one for more comfort
trek for example I'm looking at a Domane as its built for comfort in mind and doesn't have the aggressive front end

We were looking at Scott, Fuji, Spesialised etc

then I popped into Halfords (waste of time) then went onto my local independent specialist shop, and they only do Bianchi and Felt, looked at a Bianchi (was £2200) in a 59cm and it was perfect fit and he said if I was to go for a Felt to go for the Z model for what I wanted in a bike.

Also he said make sure you test ride before buying any bike, to 100% make sure its the right size for me and comfortable
He also said that different manufactures have different sizing , so one bike at 60cm could be the same in another brand at 58cm for example

So what's your take on this? I not sure what to get its all confusing!

coming from a MTB I probably would be happy what ever I get though!

ShiWarrior · 26 Sep 2012 at 15:12

Firestar_3x said:
Yes, i ordered one in but went for the Large instead, it's in the Halfords Congleton store, and it's currently locked up on display.

I'm sure if you really wanted it Halfords would ship the bike to your local store, they did for me without taking a deposit, i just told them i was a serious buyer.

thats interesting, a display model