hi guys just got into road riding this year [due to the bad weather conditions on our local trails ] i am now looking for a higher end road bike, i am looking at the cannondale super six or possibly evo,the look 576,possibly pinarello rohk or fp quattro , scott cr1 im no pro but like a good ride out any thoughts and experiences thanks .

Cannondale super six evo is a quality bike. so is the look. to be honest, you need a test ride at that price point…

what does your favourite local friendly bike shop sell?

im in the south west so plenty of localish shops, hargroves are our nearest,

thanks warton will be testing over xmas . your on the same wave

The kind of budget you’re looking at, I’d say its hard to buy a bad bike. Maybe one that’s not suited to you as much as another, but plenty of very nice bikes out there.

Decide on your priorities and test a few out.

If you fancy a quick drive and want a look at the Pinarello’s you mention, and a couple of Bianchi’s, then come up to Worcester, we’ve got a Rokh, a couple of Quattro’s and some Due’s in stock, as well as Bianchi Sempre’s and even an Oltre!

Ride them all if you can, and decide from that. The Rokh is more relaxed than (say) the Evo.

mboy the infinito looks fab

I’ve got a standard Super Six with Ultegra and love it. But test as many as you can and see which one you like.

Got a 2012 Infinito in stock, what size would you be? It’s in the sale too obviously… 😉

mboy im 6ft so 56 to 58 inside leg 32 😀

Sempre Ultegra here. Nice and stable, comfortable and can be low for racing. As the marketing says, is seems to fit an all day ride and casual racing brief. Doesn’t look as racy as the Dales / pinarello though.

i still love my mountaining biking more

I recommend Giant, seem to get more for your money compared to the other big brands, very well regarded too. The Ribble Scuro RS could well be a great deal, quality frame. Then there’s Sensa bikes sold by Merlin, not heard much about them but look good.

mudshark – Member

The Ribble Scuro RS could well be a great deal, quality frame. Then there’s Sensa bikes sold by Merlin, not heard much about them but look good.

He’s got Cannondale, Look and Pinarello’s on his list, why are you suggesting Ribbles and Merlins FFS!

Deary me.

What mboy said. Hard to buy a bad bike. When I was shopping for a good road bike, I chose the prettiest.

Like others said, try and get some test rides done. I rode a CR1 the other day. Not a particularly high end model but was impressed with the handling and had a particularly comfortable front end.

Mark Walker

If you’re genuinely interested, I’ll have a look see what size the Infinito we’ve got in stock is tomorrow. Have a feeling its a 57 so might be your size. My email is in my profile if you want to get in touch. Definitely got a 2012 FP Quattro in stock in your size though, with a hefty discount on it!!!

He’s got Cannondale, Look and Pinarello’s on his list, why are you suggesting Ribbles and Merlins FFS!

Well I thought he might like some other ideas seeing as he’s a newbie’n’all.

thanks mudshark all info greatly recei :lol:ved

Ive got a ribble R872 built with campag chorus and shamal wheels. Really nice bike and weighs in at a touch over 16lbs. Ignore the bike snobs. Its a fantastic frame. So good, that de Rosa sell the same one as the R838 but for much much more

I tried a giant defy and loved it

I’d agree with having a ride first

Just building up a Bianchi Sempre Pro in naked Carbon, Campag Athena 11spd, in a 57cm right now… Your size! 😉

I hate you Mboy for posting that pic. I want that internal routing. Chance of a frame swap before Mark notices? 😉 😀

Mboy what’s your shop? Epic?

If the standard supersix isn’t too ghetto its massively reduced in various shops and groupsets. Also check out Canyon outlet, top of range Ultimate CF, full dura ace, pimp mavic wheels £2.4K.

porlus – Member
Ive got a ribble R872 built with campag chorus and shamal wheels. Really nice bike and weighs in at a touch over 16lbs. Ignore the bike snobs. Its a fantastic frame. So good, that de Rosa sell the same one as the R838 but for much much more

Ribbles are awesome value at around the £1000 mark.

If you’re spending north of £2000 on one though….. you’re just hanging expesnive wheels and groupset on a bottom of the range carbon frame with cheap finishing kit.

Fairly pointless when compared to the bikes above.

Thought you would be along soon with a comment. Same frame on the de Rosa is a great bike. Same frame on ribble not worth spending over a grand on.

There you go guys… Quick and dirty pic I’m afraid (it’s a Saturday, we’re busy), but a finished 2013 Sempre Pro with 11spd Athena in a 57 in naked carbon.

Mboy what’s your shop? Epic?

Green Bike Company in Worcester. So about 45 mins away from Epic in the car.

Thought you would be along soon with a comment. Same frame on the de Rosa is a great bike. Same frame on ribble not worth spending over a grand on.

Eh? Where did I say the de rosa was a great bike?

Who said its the same frame? It might look the same from the outset due to them using the same moulds. The de rosa probably has a completely different carbon layup etc.

But thats not the point, you could get a Canyon with e pro tour frame for the same price as the ribble. As I’ve said, not great value.

Ribble Scuro RS is made by Dedacciai, can buy elsewhere for around £2k. It’s very light and made from T800 carbon, so no it’s not done on the cheap.

It says ‘RIBBLE’ on the side which is nearly as bad as ‘PLANET-X’.
They both scream cheap, northern and lacking imagination.

very nice mboy 😀

As others have said, its hard to buy a bad bike over £1500 but you need to do some more research as to what you want.

The Look 576 is a TT/Tri bike? do you mean the 566? the 566 (lke the Scott CR1) has quite relaxed geo and is going to be very comfy on century rides and sportives but it wont feel as fast as the Supersix Evo or the Pianrello Quattro are, you only need to see the difference in the top tube angle to see this.
Supersix: http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/Cannondale_SuperSix_Evo.html
566: http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/Look_566.html
If you did mean the 576, I’d go for the 675 instead, which is pretty much the best of both.

Too much is made of a test rid epersonally, you dont need a test ride if you do a lot of research, especially if the test ride is around the shop carpark or up and down the street three times. I bought a Cervelo RS frame without sitting one, well I sat on a 54cm bike, realised that was too small and knew the 56 would fit even if I did have to try one or two stem lengths. There is enough geo data onlne for all the models to work out what you want and what will fit based on finding a bike in a shop similar to what you want, sitting on it and comapring the geo. Its what I did and some people might think its not fair to sit on a bike you know you arent going to buy but some brands like Cervelo and Ghost are pretty hard to find on the high street…

Given your measurements, I’d be surprised if you are going to be comfy on anything bigger than a 56 though I appreciate that depends on the geo, a more aggressive frame might pitch you a bit further forwards.

Are you totally fixed on Carbon or can i through something like Lynskey into the thought process?!?!

Just to follow up with BristolPablo and comment on my own experience of the Sempre; Yes, if you do your research you can buy a bike that fits and suits, BUT nothng replaces a decent, and I mean decent test ride. If an LBS won’t let you take it out for a couple of hours (albeit with a credit card deposit) go somewhere else.

As Bristol says about the Look, the Sempre (check out the reviews) is also in the “both” category – the reason I bought mine was because I wanted something I could do centuries on, but also sportives and short races*. It was a confident punt, mainly becuase at full price it was out of my price range, but then I got lucky and scored one with a significant discount.

Don’t underestimating a neck-achingly low front end – unless you ride often its going to haunt you, and remember you spend a long time in one position on a road bike so it needs to fit / be comfortable. At my height / inside leg the 57 Sempre fits fine, but if I was ONLY riding slowly I’d buy a higher front end.

*something I was a bit dellusioned about at the time, I realise now thats much harder than entering an MTB event.

you only need to see the difference in the top tube angle to see this

What? Whats that got to do with anything?

iv been reviewing lots of these bike pretty much every thing that has been mentioned,i really want the higher front end for the more relaxed all day ride, but i keep coming back to the super six,i have test rode the scott cr1 . very comfortable ride , will be testing the super six next week looking forward to that ,thanks for every bodies input more the better 🙄

The super Six I found was more of a racer position that I liked the feeling of sitting on the bike. When I test rode a Trek 4.9 that I really wanted it felt like I was sitting in the bike similar to what it felt like sitting on my Demo 8.

I’d also demo a Giant TCR Advanced, or, if you fancy slightly more relaxed geometry (mainly a longer headtube), a Defy. Both are highly rated. But The Cannondales are lovely too. Giant’s tend to have the highest quality frames at the expense of lesser components in this price range.

Try the Pinarello Rokh out if you want a slightly more relaxed geometry, or the Bianchi Infinito perhaps.

Infinito is really nice. Celeste is a great classic colour.