why are they generally crap up to and including £2k?
I'm after my first proper road bike (and yes I feel I've "served my apprenticeship" after spending all last year on my steel CdF) and want something carbon with Ultegra and decent-ish wheels.
I've been looking for 2012 bargains but possibly have missed the boat on that. Found one in my size with full Ultegra (including wheels) at just under £1700 which is about what I want to spend, just wondering what else is out there to consider?
Had a look at the Canyon website, Ultimate CF 9.0 at £1819 has Ultegra with Kysrium Elite which would be perfectly acceptable and could be an option, not 100% keen on buying it without getting a leg over first though (I appreciate they let you send it back if not OK but it seems like a lot of effort to potentially do that 2 or 3 times!). My CdF is 54cm, could possibly do with something a touch larger though, 55 or 56.
Are you asking about bikes or wheels? There are some excellent bikes at well below £2000.
Get one of the Giant TCR's with 105 at Pauls then spend the remaining 500 quid on some proper hand built wheels at Strada.
Giant TCR and Canyon would be at the top of my list, if I were you (and if you are asking about bikes, not wheels)
Both really! I know if I buy a bike with rubbish wheels I'll be upgrading them in a week so I guess I'm looking for [i]either[/i] a decent bike with decent wheels under £2k [b]or[/b] a decent bike well under £2k and then a deal on some nice wheels.Are you asking about bikes or wheels?
Looks quite decent for the money, but was after Ultegra - mainly for the brakes (but seems like best groupset balancing weight/durability/price).Get one of the Giant TCR's with 105 at Pauls
Definitely seems like best value (even when not discounted), just unsure about sizing.Canyon would be at the top of my list,
It will feel so much faster than your current bike you may not be concerned about it when you ride.
It will feel so much faster than your current bike you may not be concerned about it when you ride.
This. I recently sold my CdF and bought a Caad8. The wheels are probably crap but right now they're more than enough. I might look for "better" ones in the summer and save these for the winter. Then again I might not.
I suppose so. Have reasonable wheels (Open Pro) on it even though the frame is heavy hence would not feel right not having something a bit better on a proper road bike.
Was just a bit surprised to find almost every new bike has what looks like under-specced wheels. Do they expect everyone to go out and buy some decent wheels immediately, or are they just trying to save money without compromising a "big ticket" item like rear mech or shifters?
What about one of these - http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/cannondale-super-six-105.html
I have got one of the Apex versions recently and its a great bike.
Not bad, but again a budget wheelset - so by the time I've bought that & decent wheels I could get a Canyon (with Ultegra) for the same money. Hmmm, I think I can see where this is going to end...
At under £2k you may want to treat carbon frames with caution. Problem with carbon is there are no international standards in terms of type of carbon and manufacturing process. A lot of the cheaper carbon frames are more resin and less carbon, if that makes sense. At your budget I'd go for a top alu frame. The Cannondale CAAD10 is superb. You can pick up a 105 specced version for £1,150 right now, flog the wheels for a ton and spend the £1,000 difference on top wheels and some bits of Ultegra gear where they'll make the most difference
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b65s6p4321&rs=gb&vid=15926
Was just a bit surprised to find almost every new bike has what looks like under-specced wheels. Do they expect everyone to go out and buy some decent wheels immediately, or are they just trying to save money without compromising a "big ticket" item like rear mech or shifters?
I asusmed it was to do with how easy they were to upgrade, wheels are expensive, and make a difference, but only 1 item so easy to swap.
That and serious racers, or even just serious roadies in general, will have nice or specific wheels for races or sportives, etc. So to them a new set of cheep training wheels makes perfect sense, as that's what they'll wear out.
It's a common and easy way to reduce costs, even on £4k+ road bikes a lot come with pretty low-end wheels. Given a lot of people riding high-end bikes will want (and be able to afford) a decent set of wheels of their choice, and there's such a huge range it's pointless for bike manufacturers to add in say a £1k set of bling carbon 50mm clinchers - only a fraction of the potential customers might want that particular style and the others are loathe to pay the extra for something they don't want.
As someone above said, coming from a CdF a £2k carbon bike even with relatively low end wheels like Mavic Equipes is going to feel much more responsive so I wouldn't stress about them. If your riding it over winter then just stick with what the new bike comes with for now and get a nice set for summer (referring to any period of dry/warm weather, assuming it makes a return in 2013).
I bought a Planet X RT57, sold the stock wheels and kitted it with some Dura Ace C24 from Planet X - 2k with SRAM Force and Dura Ace wheels, its a superb bike.
I know what you mean. I've given up with wanting the ultimate bike for pennies so happy with [url= http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/bikes/road-bikes/sensa-bikes/sensa-romagna-special-2013.html ]THIS[/url]when I can afford it. Granted not what you want but it's a step up from my steel road bike and I can afford to change the wheels at a later date.
Bear in mind the stock wheels are also often specced with OEM tyres (thicker sidewalls, steel beads) and tubes, so good gains for cheap there too.
I swapped wheels, tyres and tubes from a £1500 RRP road bike and saved 1.4lbs, only half of that from the wheels (RS80's), the rest from rubber.
Yep, those wheels would be perfect. Looks like they've sold them all though!I bought a Planet X RT57, sold the stock wheels and kitted it with some Dura Ace C24 from Planet X - 2k with SRAM Force and Dura Ace wheels, its a superb bike.
Not sure what you mean.
Mavic akasium are pretty much all the wheels most people need. They are relatively light and very strong.
Ksyrium are a tad lighter but twice the price.
In reality the most important things about wheels are the things most people don't bother with, they should be strong and be ridged. Weight really is a bt of a red herring, as 2 or 3 hundred grams means very little.
Aero is slightly different but in reality you have to be averaging 18mph + to really get much benefit.
My advice is buy the bike you like, with a decent package and ride it. If the wheels cause you problems thn change them.. If money is no object then buy zipp, otherwise cheaper mavic or fulcrum wheels will do the job.
It's worth considering the type of riding you'll be doing - I say this because if you stump for the canyon, you'll be left with nice wheels that (thanks to mavic making them totally unserviceable), might be totally inappropriate for a commute in all weathers or for winter training when the trails are in a total state etc. etc.
I can recommend checking out Dolan bikes ... I bought an Ares SL, with Ksyrium elite wheels ( I chose SRAM Force over ultegra .... Cheaper, lighter and IMO looks better but each to their own )
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road-bikes/Carbon/Shimano%20Op
It's worth considering the type of riding you'll be doing
Good point. I want a bike to ride realistically 2-3 times a month (when it's dry) on 40-60 mile loops which I will want to do as hard/fast as humanly possible. Not worried about training/commuting/comfort/etc, I have other bikes for those things, am pretty fit and not flabby so want a fast road bike to smash out fast times with my buddies. Possibly thinking of some foreign road hols as well. Probably do some duathlons/tris this year too.
They look nice. Not exactly the bargain I was looking for though!I can recommend checking out Dolan bikes ... I bought an Ares SL, with Ksyrium elite wheels ( I chose SRAM Force over ultegra .... Cheaper, lighter and IMO looks better but each to their own )
Superb - go bling then with the Canyon or similar highest possible spec! If you can't bring yourself to mail order, just get the one that looks the nicest and worry about the spec later 😉
Quite. Good point also about the Mavic factory wheels. Handbuilt option (like Strada mentioned above) with some light, strong rims on Hope Pro III or similar sounding good now.
Canyons come with nice wheels as everyone else said.
I'd always expect to upgrade the wheels and haggle when buying a new road bike.
It is pretty shocking the wheels you get on a 2-3k eg Shimano 500s which I dont think are great value at 70 from Ribble and are alright for commuting wheels on the station bike and not much else.
They look nice. Not exactly the bargain I was looking for though!
Mythos (carbon), ultegra, elite wheels - £1750 ish
cool, thanks, was looking at Ares before
2012 Cannondale Supersix 105 from various sources for £1350 (105 virtually identical to Ultegra).
Keep Aksiums as winter wheels or ebay them, then stick [url= http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/WPSHUL6700/shimano_ultegra_6700_tubeless_wheelset ]these cheap Ultegra wheels on[/url].
I want a bike to ride realistically 2-3 times a month (when it's dry) on 40-60 mile loops
Youre after a lot of bike for not much use, the Supersix will be more than good enough.
54 CdF has a 545mm ETT, on a 74 deg seat angle (according to specsheet)
compare that to:
542mm on a 54 Canyon CF 9.0, with a 74.5 deg SA, or
554mm on a 56 Canyon CF 9.0, with a 74.0 deg SA
given you want it a bit longer than the CdF then the 56 is the obvious choice.
In Giants then the closest is:
TCR Advanced or Composite - 555mm on a medium, with a 73.0 deg SA
Nice find, thanks. They'd do nicely. Are Shimano hubs easier to service than Mavic ones?then stick these cheap Ultegra wheels on.
Cheers reggie, that's great info, thanks!
"TCR Advanced or Composite - 555mm on a medium, with a 73.0 deg SA"
Don't forget impact of SA: Comparing that to his 74 degree SA current bike means the TT is effectively reduced to 545mm (i.e. the saddle would need to be roughly 10mm further forward to compensate for the different SA). Assuming same saddle position/crank length etc.
Keep Aksiums as winter wheels or ebay them, then stick these cheap Ultegra wheels on.
Yes cause that makes sense. 🙄
Go tubeless too.
What doesn't make sense? Replace a 2kg wheelset with a 1600ish gram wheelset that allows you to run tubeless if you wish? RRP of ultegra about twice that of aksiums, are you saying its not an upgrade? Aksiums fetch best part of 100 quid on eBay so worth selling to offset cost of ultegras. Whatever your point is consider it missed.