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?

Kimi · 19 Sep 2012 at 15:45

I would probably go for the Boardman only out of personal preference for Shimano

Either way, you wont be disappointed

R0B75 · 19 Sep 2012 at 15:53

The Boardman has better wheels and finishing kit. Other than that, there's not a lot in it. Will come down to which you think looks best. Personally the Planet X in black/red just about wins on looks but the Boardman is nice too.

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?

R0B75 · 19 Sep 2012 at 16:11

Seat post, saddle, stem, handlebar etc. For example, the Boardman has a carbon seat post, the PX does not. Its still a close call, because both are excellent bikes and any bits you don't like can be upgraded. The bonus with the Planet X is that you can pick the parts you want on it. It might be a worth a trip to their showroom for a fitting so you get the right stem size, handlebar width etc. You can't choose anything with the boardman, it comes as is.

PermaChanged · 19 Sep 2012 at 21:32

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-boardman-team-carbon-12-45675

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-planet-x-rt-57-12-45936 This one has SRAM Red however which is a far superior groupset to SRAM Rival.

I own the Boardman Team Carbon so am probably biased, by going on the countless positive reviews for it it's clearly a good choice.

There aren't as many reviews around for the RT-57 although the ones that are rate it highly also.

Russinating · 19 Sep 2012 at 21:50

I love my Boardman so that's my vote

ShiWarrior · 19 Sep 2012 at 21:58

thanks guys, keep them comming

touch · 19 Sep 2012 at 22:30

Kimi said:
Either way, you wont be disappointed

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

Russinating · 19 Sep 2012 at 22:32

If I'm being honest, and it's a small point, but the Boardman is more stealable. It's sold in Halfords (90% of the reason) and Chris himself is becoming more of a publicly recognisable broadcaster (10% of the reason).

I get quite a lot of random chavs and drunks going "nice bike mate" or whatever when I cycle past or stop because they recognise the brand. I doubt you'd get that with a Planet X. It doesn't bother me because my bike is indoors both at home and work but it may be a small point to consider if you're planning on locking it up outside on a daily basis, especially when you start sticking the £35 bottle cages on and what not.

uniQ · 19 Sep 2012 at 22:46

^ lolwut

kiteloopy · 19 Sep 2012 at 23:14

Id go Planet-X.

Dont know why, just prefer them to boardmans. Haven't tried either but see plenty of both on the roads.

Lopéz · 20 Sep 2012 at 01:54

touch said:
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.

Don't forget us microSHIFT people!

Russinating said:
I get quite a lot of random chavs and drunks going "nice bike mate" or whatever when I cycle past or stop because they recognise the brand. I doubt you'd get that with a Planet X.

I sort of know what you are getting at here. At work there is regularly a Planet X and a Boardman parked up in the bike rack. The Planet X looks less "attractive" to the casual eye, before I started getting back into cycling I wouldn't have given it a second glance whereas the Boardman caught my attention (plus I recognised the Boardman name)

burtie · 20 Sep 2012 at 09:57

Get the planet x in Matt Black with Red with black bar tape :cool:

Kimi · 20 Sep 2012 at 09:59

Ive decided , id go for the Boardman mate, had mine over a year now and its never missed a beat

willems · 20 Sep 2012 at 10:42

planetx

sram
not common

physichull · 20 Sep 2012 at 10:56

For around the same sort of price, I am thinking of getting a 2013 Giant Defy 1, they always get pretty decent reviews. Does anyone here have any experience with the Giant Defy series?

Russinating · 20 Sep 2012 at 11:13

uniQ said:
^ lolwut

Yes? Can I help?

#Chri5# · 20 Sep 2012 at 11:29

As an existing Planet X owner I'm biased, though I'm not a fan of the colours on the RT-57.

touch · 20 Sep 2012 at 12:36

Lopéz said:
Don't forget us microSHIFT people!

I wasnt trying to list every type of shifter

Of the 2 options in the OP, 1 has SRAM and 1 has Shimano.