Hello, been a lurker for a while and I know a few of you ride road so I wonder if you can help me?

I’m after my first road bike after many years to get some winter miles in the legs and have seen the Planet X bikes both Carbon Nanolight with Sram Force for £1299 and the Ti pro with Sram Force for £1499

Anyone got experience of any of the above two, good points/bad points, is the Ti more comfortable than the Nano and worth the extra £200? Also is Sram Force any good?

Tia 🙂

Can’t comment on SRAM Force – I’m a Shimano man myself, but IMHO, the carbon is a far better bike. A couple of friends ride them and they’re excellent for the money.

Ti (again, in my opinion) is a very expensive and outdated raw material that has a bit of a cult following due to its cost and its supposed “mystical” ride qualities.

You don’t see many pros riding them though…

Also worth looking at ribble, canyon, and boardman.

Sram Force is ace.

You don’t see many pros riding them though…

yer mans not a pro though.

might want different things?

Ti is supposedly more forgiving over long distances. depends whether you want an out and out race bike (carbon) or more of a sportive style bike.

Ti is supposedly more forgiving over long distances.

It’s more forgiving than most steels, or aluminium… But it’s not more forgiving than carbon.

Having ridden road bikes made from all materials, I’d never have anything other than carbon now. It can have the same forgiving qualities of a ti frame, but a level of stiffness that ti can never have (without beefing it up to the extent that it forgoes its forgiving qualities).

That’s why the pros use them. 😉

Shibboleth speaks the truth, I have previously owned both a Planet X Ti Sportive and Genesis Equilibrium (steel) and now have a carbon bike which is comfier over long distances despite having an unforgiving integrated seatmast 😯

Not a lot in them, they are all at the lower end of what’s available. Can’t see the point of Ti and a Nanolight is much lighter.
Had a SL Pro for a few years and it was good, not poor or bad just good.

I’d have a fiddle with groupsets if you can, don’t base your decision on looks just coz SRAMs come with funky hoods.
Shimano is eveywhere, new Campag is ace, never met anyone who hand on their heart would say SRAMs better.
Even popping into a shop and wrapping your mitts around the hoods might tell you something.

I can’t pretend I haven’t seen broken steel or ti bikes, but I see a hell of a lot of broken carbon ones. If you’re a pro, this isn’t a problem. If you’re not, it might be. While my ti road bike is neither the stiffest nor lightest, I’m pretty sure that if I drop it I won’t need a new one.

You don’t see many pros riding them though…

The pros don’t choose what they ride, do they?
Personally I’d go for the Nano, but I’m more than happy with my carbon mtb.

Thanks for the replies. Aiming to use it for fast paced training rides, being comfortable would be an advantage.

Noticed they do an Athena build for £1500

My comment is more along the lines of your comment of getting winter miles in. I have a P-X SL Carbon and for most of my road riding it’s more than good enough for me. However I bought it thinking I’d only use it in summer but due to changes in my riding I use it all year round. Personally I’d look at something that will take full mudguards. I have Crud Road Racers and for what they are they are good, but I now believe a bike with clearance and fittings is the way to go for a year round bike. I think Tifosi have a new carbon Audax bike of the type I have discussed. Doubt it will be as cheap as a P-X but worth looking at. Plus Forme have a couple of ally bikes with guards.

Just something to consider, especially if you stick to minor back roads which tend to be cacked up and the more space between tyres and gurads the better (and good too if you can get 25mm or even 28mm).

It’s more forgiving than most steels, or aluminium… But it’s not more forgiving than carbon.

All I can say is: Thats bollox!

Theres far to many differing factors, you cant just say one is comfier than the other. My Planet X carbon SL was pretty comfy, my new carbon bike is rigid as ****!

I’m no expert, but I bought the Nanolight Force on Saturday and I’m really pleased with it after a couple of rides. I bought my first (fairly basic) road bike last year and it’s in a different league. My old bike will take mudguards/rack etc so this one is just for fun on nice days and it looks like it will do a fantastic job.

I’ve never used SRAM before (had Sora before) and it’s probably not quite as slick as I expected although I think the indexing needs a bit of work so that might just be a temporary issue. But it’s just so much faster and lighter than my old bike that I’m still grinning like a loon when I look at it!

My Nanolight is about 4 rides old, already finding it far more comfy than the Focus Cayo it replaced.

I doubt you’d be disappointed with a Nanolight.

Have you ever looked at Argon 18? It just so happens I have a large one for sale! Its a Krypton with Campag Veloce and Fulcrum 7 wheels. Let me know if interested and I’ll send details. Looking for around the £1000 mark.

Sorry chris I’m a short arse I need a small.

Sounds like it’s going to be a Nano just got to make my mind up on groupset.

davidtaylforth – Member
All I can say is: Thats bollox!

Theres far to many differing factors, you cant just say one is comfier than the other. My Planet X carbon SL was pretty comfy, my new carbon bike is rigid as ****!

Wasn’t he asking about a Planet X? Sure, some carbon frames are built deliberately stiff to suit sprinters, crit racers etc, but if you’re not one of those, it sounds like a bad frame choice!

The beauty of carbon in that it can be stiff but remain comfortable.

Shimano is eveywhere, new Campag is ace, never met anyone who hand on their heart would say SRAMs better.

I prefer sram to shimano (mechs and levers, brakes are much of a muchness))(rival v 105 and ultegra)

I picked up a planet x ti sportive last year looking to replace my 04 workhorse alu principia. I already had a parlee for racing and best. As the year rolled on the planet x got the least miles, it just didn’t have the zip of the principia and in rides of up to 4 hours I didn’t find the extra comfort it offered made a difference to me. Compared to the z4 it just felt like a lump. So I ended up selling it on. I don’t think it was a bad bike, it was light enough, stiff enough and comfy enough; but didn’t really shine in those departments either. It just didn’t offer my riding much at all. There are probably better ti bikes out there, but you asked for personal experience. But to be fair if this is going to be your first road bike, I can’t see you being unhappy with either.