Cycle 2 Work – was going MTB, but now feeling road replacement instead!!

Narrowed it down to 3… I think.

Giant Defy 0 – http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy.0/19187/77293/

Boardman Team Carbon – http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-road-team-carbon-bike-2014#tab1

Cannondale Synapse Alloy 105 Disc – http://www.cyclesuk.com/10587262/products/cannondale-synapse-alloy-105-disc-2015-black.aspx (can’t get official website to work)

Any takes on these 3…. tis only internet research at the moment, I intend to test ride all 3!

Test ride 🙂 (Though may be tricky with the boardman.)

I think we’re averaging about one “what 1000 quid road bike?” thread a day at the moment. Well worth a bit of googling (with “site:singletrackworld.com”) as there’s loads of advice and opinions already been given.

Of those three, the giant.

However, I’d go with one of these: http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-bikes/dolan-l-etape-carbon-road-bike-campag-veloce.html

And spend the spare £200 on upgrading the wheels.

I’ve done 2k miles on mine and it’s been great – but the standard wheels died on a Paris – Geneva ride last year. Broke 3 spokes and had a tacco’d rear rolling up to lake geneva. All other ‘upgrades’ have been purely nice to have’s.

Not sure I’ll get that on the halfords bike to work!

Whyte’s are worth a look.

For got to say – I got mine on the Halfords bike to work scheme….
The advantage of going Dolan is you can swap and choose bits in the check out, so you can change stem length, crank length, new wheels, tyres etc.

And you can pay with the Halfords voucher and get it sent to your local store. More info here:
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/cycle-to-work-schemes/

Just watch the sizing – I’m 5’10”, 34″ inside leg, and went with a large (52cm) after speaking to them, found it too stretched and now run with a 80mm stem (short for road bikes) which is just fine. Should have gone with the 48cm ‘medium’ with a 110mm stem.

I was in your possition about 9 months ago (£1k C2W voucher) and went for the Giant Defy.
Mines a Defy 1, but it was their £1k offering last season.
I love it, I think I’ll be upgrading the wheels this year (100KG rider – have given them a battering) but other than that – the bike has been faultless.
I rode it from London to Llanberis last September – only issue I had was knocking the tension out of the back wheel after about 30 miles of cobbled towpaths.

Pauls cycles have the Defy carbon on sale for 700 odd at the moment, it is Tiagra but still looks good value. If you can get it on your C2W scheme obviously.

get the dolan !!! you’re supporting an independant bike shop who support racing and up-and-coming riders and it’s a cracking deal

if you need assistance with sizing, best to phone and talk to either terry or his son, they’ve sized more riders than we’ve had hot dinners 🙂

Go for a Merlin Malt-CR? http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-cr-5800-carbon-road-bike-60093.html. It’s in your price range and looks pretty good.

Mind you, so does the Dolan.

Also look at Ribble and Rose for good value.

105 is an excellent groupset and very suited to the £1000 price level.

It’s never easy!!

There’s an absolute cracker on the classifieds at the moment for only £600 *cough cough cough*

Nice Try 🙂

Saw both the Boardman and Giant today – Boardman was very light but the Giant just felt that little bit more polished if that makes sense!

Cannondale at the weekend and then a ride next week maybe!

Giant for me, Ultegra shifting is lovely and the geometry is brilliant.

Boardman’s an OK frame but I think in this case the better kit on the Defy trumps it (and you know it’s gonna be a really nice alu frame anyway).

Thats what I am leaning towards to be fair.

Prefer the colour of the Defy 1 last year (Red and Black) but chances of me finding one of them in stock in a store that takes Halfords Bike to Work scheme is slim!

Not as keen on the colours of the Defy 0 2015 – but nothing thats going to be a deal breaker – going to try and ride it next week to assess.

Now its the decision of M/L or L !!

Personally I would be thinking of future proofing and going for a frame with disc mounts at the very least. We know it’s the future. Drivetrain is sort of irrelevant – you will probably replace most of it in a year. Shifters are pricey though.

It’s a road bike. The transmission will probably last five years easily (apart from chain and cassette).

There was thread recently with a fair bit of defy sizing info OP.

Disc brakes don’t really bother me on this one – will probably replace on a new cycle to work before they are too mainstream!

As for parts wearing out….. I either don’t ride enough or don’t ride hard enough because the transmission will be closer to 5 years than 1 year so will make a difference to me!

As for sizing – cheers chakaping – will Google!

I was in a very similar position although I have a Genesis Day One for commuting so this purchase was more about a ‘not nice weather’ weekend and evening ride with a bit of commuting….sometimes.
I went for the Defy 1 2015 in medium. I’m a touch under 5’9 and with the stock 100mm stem, short and shallow bars it’s perfect.
I considered the Defy 0 but the chainset on the 1 is better than the 0, I could barely tell any difference between new 105 and Ultegra, they’re not full group sets on either bike anyway and the brake calipers on both are woeful!
I bought some new 105 calipers and a very bright front light with the £100 I saved with the Defy 1 over the Defy 0.
My genesis is 52cm, Colnago cross bike is 52cm, my cannonade SuperSix is 54 (I had to change the stem from 110mm to 100mm) and my Cannondale Flash is Medium if any of those size comparisons help?
It will be a very long time if ever that I’ll be buying a dedicated road bike with disc brakes.