Hi all.

I’m new to cycling and will be buying a road bike in the next month. I’ll be commuting 26 miles (round trip) from Essex to London so would like to know if any of you have any recomendations. My budget is £1200.

By researching I’ve found what I think are good bikes for the price, what are your thoughts?

Specialized Roubaix SL4 Disc 2014 Road Bike
Specialized Tarmac SL4 2014 Road Bike
Planet X Pro Carbon Shimano Ultegra 6800

Thanks to all in advance for your advice.

Welcome to cycling!
Your trouble is, that there isn’t really any roadies on this forum…
😉

Welcome along 🙂

Try all three and buy the one you like 🙂 Be aware that a road bike may not feel comfortable straight away, particularly if you’re new to cycling.

Another alternative would be to buy something cheap secondhand to get an idea of how it feels and then spend more once you’re clearer on what you want.

Welcome aboard!

Your trouble is, that there isn’t really any roadies people who ride bikes on this forum FTFY 😉

Welcome mate! Condider a flat bar road bike, as you’re new to cycling. Much comfier, not really any slower unless you plan on using the lower part of the drop bars often, which you probably won’t.

More importantly, enjoy it. It won’t be long before you work out who tals shite on here, which is most of us! 😀

If you’re commuting, two are wrong, I’m afraid.

Go for something on the comfier end of the spectrum for commuting. The Roubaix is a little comfier, but falls down on not having mudguard or rack fittings. If you’re using it to commute over that sort of distance, and all year round, get some full length mudguards on there, and put your kit in panniers.

Welcome to STW. I don’t know anything about road bikes but I’m willing to put up a long post and make a recommendation because that how it works around here ! Buy the one you like the look of the best.

You could get a nice Kinesis T2 with full guards and still have change from your budget.

Flashy is right. If it’s principally a commuter, you want rack for panniers and mudguards. And arguably disc brakes. Plenty of road/cyclocross based bikes at that price point, spoilt for choice.

In true STW fashion, I’m going to ignore your budget and say get on of these

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/emonda-slr-10-2015-road-bike-ec068219

Oh and Hi.

All 3 bikes will do the job but for commuting you may want to look at more comfortable bikes with the option to take mudguards.

The Roubaix may well do the job but the Tarmac and the Pro Carbon don’t have guard mounts are are at the racier end of the spectrum. There are hundreds of suitable bikes out there, often called “winter” or “sportive” bikes.

As you mentioned Planet-X, the Kaffenback or the London Road would be suitable, as would the Giant Defy which consistency gets good reviews.

Also, contrary to what is written above, I would definitely get drop-bars, you have more positions available for your hands and they can be a huge benefit when it gets windy.

Flashy is right.

For info, this doesn’t happen very often.

Get the tarmac, strava your commute and smash it everyday!!

as this is a STW ‘which commuter’ thread, i feel duty-bound to suggest a Pinnacle Arkrose.

(with mudguards and sensible tyres)

I know Flashy, I’ve marked my calender to record it.

Apart from when you mention Thunder, obviously.

And Fwiw, I use a Pinnacle Arkrose, with guards, a rack and sensible tyres.

New to cycling…budget £1,200

You’ve come to the right place 😀

New to cycling…budget £1,200

You’ve come to the right place

An ex-boss, and good friend of mine came to me with the same “new to cycling” question the other day, wanted to be sure that buying a DA Di2 Roubaix rather than Ultegra Di2 was the right thing to do, and were carbon wheels really worth it, oh, and what’s this tubeless all about?

Nice situation to be in! 😀

If you buy a Specialized, expect to get between 10% and 12.5% discount from the dealer or the equivalent in accessories.

Roubaix is a fantastically comfortable bike and the SL4 is superbly stiff yet comfortable. Tarmac has a racier position and handling but isn’t really any faster as Roubaix is fast for an endurance bike. Go for 105 equipment as it’s the best value for money. Save up and buy some decent wheels next year, Ksyriums compliment the SL4s very nicely. As soon as you buy the bike swop the cheapo tyres for something decent like Veloflex open Corsas, £52 a pair from Ribble or some Michelin Pro 4s, often around £22 each.

Nobody doing the ‘you’ve got earn the right to own a proper bike by buying a dropping to pieces maintenance nightmare second hand pile of shit and hating evrey frigging minute and spending a small frigging fortune trying to get it to work properly before you’re one of us’ line?
Is disappoint.

Welcome to cycling – Agree with the mudguards. don’t forget to reserve some budget for half decent shorts, jerseys, jacket, shoes, lights etc. you’ll be looking at a a few hundred quid to stay warm and comfy doing 5 days a week.

no ones going to question a 26 mile commute into London for someone who is new to cycling?

no ones going to question a 26 mile commute into London for someone who is new to cycling?

13 miles each way? Not that much of a biggie, is it?

26 mile round trip, 13m each way isn’t too much but it is far enough to be tough.

look for any of the threads started by jacob46 when he was looking for a commuter bike – lots of good advice. Whyte have a range of suitable bikes (I just bought a Suffolk as a winter trainer but it would make a good commuter).

I’d add the Giant Defy range to your list of possibilities.
I’ve got a Giant Defy 1 – no mudguard eyelets but you can get Defy specific guards to fit.

I can also recommend Continental Gatorskins as a good replacement tyre for commuting.

Noone’s going to say “13 miles each way in traffic? Get a 29er with slicks. You’ll gain more from better visibility than you’ll lose from aerodynamics”?

No one?

PS I’m using a Gryphon with 2″ Big Apples for a 20 mile commute. It’s 3 minutes slower than the Planet X Pro Carbon, more sure footed, more puncture proof, disc braked, and probably comfortable.

Roubaix is a fantastically comfortable bike

Unless you want even a vaguely low front end, when the 1200mm head tube is a bit of a pain…

I don’t get the “get flat bars, they’re more comfy” lot, for riding all the road it’s drops all the way.

And welcome. For me, Wilburt had it right – Tarmac. Smash it. Remember that as you don’t pay road tax, you’re not obliged to stop at traffic lights or obey road rules.*

*this is not strictly accurate.

All.
Thanks for the warm welcome, tips & other very useful info.
Impressed with the quick responses too. I’m sure I’ll have a bundle of other questions as time goes on.
Cheers all.

If it’s going to be mainly a commuting bike, I would go with the advice of getting something that can accept proper full mud guards. And potentially stick a rack on the back too, so you aren’t carrying a rucsack.

Scrap all that if it’s only an occasional commute, but if it’s every day I would want to be as dry as possible and get the ‘luggage’ off my back and onto the bike.
Plenty of choice that will do the job though from most of the main manufacturers, plus people like Planet X, Pinnacle, Ribble, Kinesis….

Don’t forget to budget for some decent clothing if you are commuting every day and also some decent lights (and a lock?).

If it’s a sunny day commute and you’re not carrying much stuff then maybe this…

For me, Wilburt had it right – Tarmac. Smash it.

However if you need to use it all weathers, and carry clothes, laptop, lunch, books, etc. then I’d definitely have something with guards and rack mounts. I’d spend the money on something like the Kensis 4S or the Whyte Suffolk. The Suffolk actually looks really good with fatter tyres and sensible gearing for commuting (couple of loaded panniers can make quite a difference.) I’d be taking one for a spin.

When you properly get into it you’ll probably want a nice bike and a commuter/winter bike anyway.

+1 for mud guards and disk brakes.

Pinnacle Arkose looks good.

Drops Vs flats is personal preferance, but I’d rather drops over any distance on road, they’re more comfortable.

13miles isn’t a killer, but it is enough to tire you out if you do it every day. On the other hand it’s more than most on here probably do in ‘training’, so you’ll get fit very quickly. I’d take a day off and get the tube once a week with clothes, towels, etc.

Budget for decent clothes and kit too. DHB from wiggle is hard to go wrong with. But a wardrobe of winter kit is never cheap. Even a basic roubaix tights, jersey, softshell/fleace and a waterproof will be £200+, plus shoes, gloves, helmet. No point having anice bike buit it being too cold/wet to ride it for the sake of decent clothes.

Of course, the proper answer is buy a Decathlon Riverside and spend the rest of the budget on panniers , yoghurt and quinoa.

I’d be very tempted by a kaffenbak or similar if I had your budget. I manage just fine on a triban 3 with race blades (longs) and rack and panniers. I’ve 2 decent base layers, an Altura waterproof set and a couple of decent, comfy, pairs of shorts. Literally all the rest of my kit is Aldi special. All year round commute presents no problem once I changed the fairly dreadful oem tyres and brake pads. Not too cold last winter or this so far but I don’t see me “needing” anything else.