Spec me a beginner setup please.

My Specialized Allez has been a very good introduction into the road cycling/tri world... Bought in 2013 I think, now has 105 groupset with Ultegra brakes, front mech and wheels, conti GP4000s tyres and carbon seatpost... I'm thinking of selling it now that I'm looking at buying a tri specific setup ;)

Shimano SPD-SL shoes have been fine, nothing fancy there. the only thing I would suggest buying decent branded stuff is bib shorts... Cheap jerseys are fine.
 
UTmaniac said:
What happened to the £1000 budget? ;)
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Soon coming to the realisation that I might not get what I want in that budget lol :p

NoNameNoNumber said:
My Specialized Allez has been a very good introduction into the road cycling/tri world... Bought in 2013 I think, now has 105 groupset with Ultegra brakes, front mech and wheels, conti GP4000s tyres and carbon seatpost... I'm thinking of selling it now that I'm looking at buying a tri specific setup ;)

Shimano SPD-SL shoes have been fine, nothing fancy there. the only thing I would suggest buying decent branded stuff is bib shorts... Cheap jerseys are fine.
Click to expand...

Pm me pics if you like. What's the frame size?
 
I've chatted at length with a work mate who is well into his Road and cyclo-cross and he thinks for the budget if considering this bike is excellent value. His point was the gearset is a compromise to Ultegra and that some people don't like how positive the gear changes are on the SRAM (but he likes that personally). However, the bike offers carbon frame, hydraulic brakes and decent wheels.


Thoughts?
 
The chainset 46t-36t seems a compromise for the road. I'd have thought 50t-34 would be better. Then a long derailleur and 11-36 cassette, that should handle big hills nicely whilst still being geared low enough for fast road riding.

TBF that's nothing that can't be changed later for £100 or so.
 
Re cycling prescription sunglasses... There are lots of options. Rxsport.co.uk is a good starting point, but there are others - I got a pair of Dixon cycling glasses, wraparound style with a prescription insert.

Oakley have recently introduced new technology which allows you to have higher power lenses in certain styles (including prism prescriptions), which is good news for me. I've just ordered a pair of flak jacket 2.0 glasses through rxsport. Not cheap, but none of my glasses are cheap, so.....
 
If you were looking at PX, you missed a pretty good deal on a prototype Pickenflick flat bar for £1k ~2 weeks ago, I forgot about this thread and so did not post in it.

Halfords have been doing a 20% discount promo, which makes http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-cx-team-bike pretty good for £800 before you use British Cyling discount or cashback.
 
I've heard that RX inserts are pretty awkward and annoying, although I haven't tried them myself. Just use some sporty prescription sunglasses from selectspecs personally.

You haven't really said much about what you'd be using the bike for, but cross/adventure bikes can be a good comprimise of trail comfort and road speed. I wouldn't spend more than £1000 until you have the experience to know what you actually want/need though. If you can find something with at least Tiagra 4700 and TRP Spyre breaks that'd be a solid starting point though. Eg;

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-substance-105-2016/

Steel will be a bit heavier but more comfortable than aluminium. Or something like a Whyte Dorset, CAADX, Giant Revolt 1, Kona Jake etc.
 
I went for the boardman cx from Halfords. Opted out of them building it though and have dropped it off at a bike shop down the road. I'd rather pay a little extra and have them look at it for me.
 
Not all Halfords stores do a bad job of assembly and PDI, one thing to bare in mind is that you will almost certainly have problems if you need to get anything fixed during the warranty period, as Halfords have the easy get-out clause of saying their engineers did not put the bike together.

But a cracking buy, enjoy!

Have you dismissed these pedals? http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/pedals-pegs/boardman-mtb-pro-pedal
 
I bought the shimano Pedals I linked above in the end.

Understood on the warranty but I believe I'm covered in either respect (with boardman at least). I even discussed the point with halfords. They also said that despite me building it myself, I still get a free 6 week service with them. So if there are any issues arise, I'd raise it with them then. I think bottom line I concluded I'd rather take it away in a box to be built by someone I know for sure is competent, rather than run the risk of having to undo someone's incompetence.
 
First trip out today and impressions are generally good. It was comfortable and I managed some good speed. Nipping through a field was handy (Road closed) and the gear changes weren't as bad as I expected.

The gear shifter (long swipe jobby) took a little getting used to. I'm still not sold on the mechanics of it, but I'm sure I'll like it in time.

VqVo2Njb


I got matching Jersey, helmet and gloves too... How cute :p

I need some other bits of gear now; toolkit, saddle bag, bottle, etc. Thanks for your advice.
 
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