Okay, I have been looking for a good while for a road bike but I have now decided to take the plunge.

Don’t know a great deal about the genre but I have chosen 3 bikes that I like the look of spec wise. I’ll be riding for leisure and fitness to start with, possibly a few events when I stop falling off.

Any thoughts on the below

http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-r-road-bike-2013-60087.html

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXRT58ALUTIA/planet-x-rt-58-alloy-shimano-tiagra-road-bike

http://www.probikekit.co.uk/bikes/gt-gtr-series-2-2014-bike-black/10968378.html

Any pointers or additional recommendations appreciated

Come on, stop watching the TDF and tell me I’ve selected 3 crap bikes 😀

You’ve selected 2 off the peg Taiwan specials which have all the right spec headlines and good components for the price but the frames are an unknown and a much more expensive bike from a name that is trying to rebuild it’s repuatation (and failing by the look of the discount).

Unless you can ride them or read a wide section of reliable reveiws I’d be dubious about all of them. I’ve not ridden any of them.

What he said.

Does no one go to a normal shop and get advice or test ride bikes or is it better to ask strangers online?

You won’t get lighter than that planet X for the money. Wins on the looks front too.

When I’m sitting on a computer at work it’s generally more accepted by my superiors to use a website than **** off and visiting the bike shop that is 50 miles away, so yes, on this occasion the option of being able to ask a community of bikers a question about bikes is very convenient.

Christ, to put your mind at ease I was planning a trip to Sheffield on Saturday to visit a few shops and hopefully get a look at one of the 3 bikes above.

If anyone has any experiences of any of the above 3 bikes and would like to share that experience then I would be greatly appreciative, If I have got the wrong end of the stick and should not be asking questions about bikes on this politics forum then I apologise unreservedly.

I agree tinribz, I can’t say I actually like the look of the Merlin bike, but it seemed fairly well dressed componentry wise for the cash.

Planet X certainly looks nice.

Well said scandal42…

The art of resisting the temptation to post on threads when one has nothing positive to add is clearly a dying art!

I had only ridden one road bike, once only, in twenty years, before i decided to get a retro road bike… people will tell you, oh it’s not got a modern geometry and all that cobblers, and parts are hard to find if you want to keep it retro, ignore them.

I picked up mine for £225 off ebay

It gets loads of comments and looks and sometimes gets randomly accosted like at the weekend by the armed forces,…go scour ebay and be less boring instead.

Did i mention it’s a great ride too?

Of the 3 the Planet X would shade it for me.8.8 kg is pretty good for that price.The GT is let down by some really low rent wheels.
A friend has the Malt and thinks its a great bike and does one or 2 events on it.You’re not going to get outstanding frames at this money so i’d look at the specs so that you’re less tempted to start upgrading parts straightaway.

Only a fool buys a bike based purely on the independent impartial advice an LBS would give, amazing how often their recommendation just happens to be sat on the shop floor, who’d have thought?

CTM some of us lbs staff actually give good advice.

But yeah keep on mistrusting people, if it makes you happy.

And some lbs staff are miserable, condescending ****. Not in my lbs fortunately.

Far better to listen to people on the interweb who’ve never ridden any of them and go on looks and spec alone. Yeah, that’s the way!

As above, I do struggle to see how anyone could buy a bike without a test ride.

I would love to use a lbs, I absolutely get the benefits of doing so. Unfortunately for me I dont really have a decent one near me and my budget is pretty low end for a lbs I would imagine.

Having said this, I will nip to my lbs on Friday cynic-al and have a look at what is on offer.

In the meantime I trust im ok to accept folks advice on here 😉

I’d go with the Planex-X, best spec, best paint, quality wheels.
Just be aware about lack of mudguard mounts on those frames.

I had the GTR S2 delivered yesterday, just about to get a ride in so will give my thoughts on it later this evening if you like.

I am not saying don’t take advice. But give it appropriate weight.

I’ve (cumulatively) spent 10 years in lbs, I’m currently on 1/3 the salary I had in a different profession 3 years ago.

Good lbs stay in business because customers come back.

They’re not all bad, and there won’t be any left if everyone just shops at CRC/PX et al.

Matt – you’re not out riding tonight either then! Bummer.
I bought a roadie a few months ago – wholeheartedly recommended 🙂
Can’t speak for the other 2 but a guy I work with bought the black/white PX last week – he was like a kid at Christmas when it arrived – bloody lovely looking bike in the flesh, nice kit – he says it’s a beaut to ride and loves it. His came with FSA Gossamer cranks, not the ones in the vid on the site. Lot of bike for 600 snoots. The fit is a very personal obviously so get your arse up T’Rotherham on Sat and give one a go. FWIW the Merlin is a bit ‘egh!’ to look at – these things count y’know! 😉

Seen as your budget goes up to £600 I’d also be looking at another bike from merlin :
http://www.merlincycles.com/sensa-trentino-sl-ltd-edition-68373.html
Cracking vfm if they’ve got it in your size.

Planet X all the way in my opinion.

I’d go with the Planex-X, best spec, best paint, quality wheels.
Just be aware about lack of mudguard mounts on those frames.

Is there an alternative to fixed guards? Something similar to a mucky nutz etc?

Matt – you’re not out riding tonight either then! Bummer.
I bought a roadie a few months ago – wholeheartedly recommended
Can’t speak for the other 2 but a guy I work with bought the black/white PX last week – he was like a kid at Christmas when it arrived – bloody lovely looking bike in the flesh, nice kit – he says it’s a beaut to ride and loves it. His came with FSA Gossamer cranks, not the ones in the vid on the site. Lot of bike for 600 snoots. The fit is a very personal obviously so get your arse up T’Rotherham on Sat and give one a go. FWIW the Merlin is a bit ‘egh!’ to look at – these things count y’know

Sorry bud, totally missed this post.

Yes, I must admit the Planet X bike looks very nice, glad to hear it looks good in the flesh. At this moment in time It’s front runner depending on what any other shops can offer.

Look forward to a road ride some time 😀 (Danny wouldn’t endorse it)

Is there an alternative to fixed guards? Something similar to a mucky nutz etc?

SKS raceblades fit into the QR levers (but don’t extend to the BB so keep your arse dry but spray onto you ankles). The crud ones are a bit pants in comparison.

As for which is best, I’ve not got a scooby. I suspect the P-X will still be worth something to someone in a few years if you want to upgrade. All bikes feel/handle slightly differently, and then that can be masisbley influenced by the choice of wheels, tyres, bars, tape, hood position etc. If it’s your first road bike then you won’t have a clue what you want so unless you’re going to try 10’s of bikes, and carry round a controll set of wheels and tyres, it’ll tell you nothing.

However I would get one from a shop so you can be advised on size, preferably a shop with lots of sizes on the floor so you don’t end up being recomended what’s in stock.

And having said that, I bought my first road bike off ebay unseen 10 years ago and still have it, only original component though is the frame and fork!

All them look like nice and rather bargainous bikes. Ignore all the negative waves and bad vibes on here and buy one. As long as it’s approximately the right size it’ll be fine. Yes, I know this is heresy and no, I don’t care.

The PlanetX one has a 3 week build queue at the moment (I was working, not browsing their site, honest guv). So that’s 3 weeks before they start building + build time + delivery + time to resolve any issues. So even if it looks the best on paper I’d avoid it purely because you want to ride it now, not some unknown time in the future.

I’d be tempted to go for the GT purely because it’s listed as “in stock”. Never used that shop though so don’t blame me if they’re crooks 🙂

Oh, and when you get it we’ll have to get the mountain bike crew together for some proper road pain

As above, I do struggle to see how anyone could buy a bike without a test ride.

I bought five (two road and three mtb) without any problems. Understanding geometry and having a frame of reference helps.

But…

Good lbs stay in business because customers come back.

is also true. I’ve seen some dreadful fits from some shops. Ask for recommendations.

Of the three, I’d go for the Merlin. Geometry looks Giant Defy. Tiagra is an excellent groupset. Change the tyres to something better (Schwalbe Durano S, Ultremo or Ones in 25c) and it will feel £500 more expensive.

I bought a bike from PBK. They are based in Kendal and send their flat pack bikes to Askew Cycles to build them up. Mine was really well bolted together and the bar tape work was a thing of beauty.

Of the three, I’d go for the Merlin. Geometry looks Giant Defy. Tiagra is an excellent groupset. Change the tyres to something better (Schwalbe Durano S, Ultremo or Ones in 25c) and it will feel £500 more expensive.

This. Or just buy a Defy that fits your budget.

In the meantime I trust im ok to accept folks advice on here

Of course. But you seem to be more willing to accept the advice of people who tell you to buy the PX than the advice of the people who tell you to try before you buy.

FWIW when I was buying my road bike the feel of them was very different and the one I bought felt a lot better. Internet research was important and allowed me to narrow down my search to quality bikes with good reveiws but without riding this smaller sample I may have bought a bike that didn’t feel as good.

It’s also true that this feel was probably just down to the tyres, seat, bars and tape. However if all else is equal then it makes sense to chose a bike with good contact points. Afterall it would cost over £100 to replace them so thats 20% of your budget.

Planet X for me 😀

Planet-X looks good spec-wise. Not sure about the geometry though.

I went through the same process and ended up with a 2014 Specialized Allez Elite purely down to the fit of the bike (but I got a result in a new LBS having a 15% discount opening weekend at the same time as Specialized drop the £100 from the RRP).

Components are easy to change. But, having bought the wrong size road bike in the past, fit of the frame (height and reach) are everything. Although these can be tweaked with saddle/stem, it’s not going to fix the wrong size bike (and that’s an expensive mistake).

As long as the bike fits I doubt there will be much difference between any bike in that price bracket. I’d be looking at weight and wheels as a differentiater, so out of that 3 go with the Planeyt X. Might not be great, but I don’t hear much bad said about them.

Alternatively if you can build a bike yourself I’d be tempted to go with this….

frame

This Group Set

these wheels

And then scour ribble, planet x and chain reaction cycles for the rest, which I reckon you could get for anything between 50 and 100 quid..

Road chariots………..this is what I thought

though this is possibly more off road chariot 😀

Personally I think you are only a few hundred away from a decent bike.

500ish on a new bike isn’t going to be great, especially if you find you really like road riding and are stuck with a pig to sell on.

I bought a really decent 25yr old road bike- knocked out a few rides to make sure I liked it then bought a 1k PlanetX and sold the old road bike or the same money that I’d paid for it.

Beware of ordering from the likes of Ribble or Planetx- they are in their peak period and long delay to build/despatch. WHY DOESNT PLANETX say this on their site?

Tbf Planet X stipulate that there is a 21 day build period at the moment.

Can you buy unassembled and build it yourself or do they insist on building themselves?

I asked this- no you cant.

Ironically STILL had to set the gears up properly upon receipt.