Off the shelf frames from Taiwan are pedigree now?
China dear boy, China… Only the best stuff comes out of Taiwan! 😉
+1 for the Planet X Pro Carbon
I know many a person who has bought one of these and regretted it. The phrase “good carbon ain’t cheap and cheap carbon ain’t good” has never applied more to another frame I’d say! These days there are exceptions emerging to prove that old mantra out of date, but the Planet X (which hasn’t been updated since its inception in the days when that mantra was very accurate) certainly isn’t one of them…
Just about all the ally frames mentioned so far in this thread would make a fine first road bike, geometry and fit allowing.
If you’re after a first road bike & want a decent selection of gears then there’s no reason not to buy a triple
There’s 3 reasons not to buy a triple… Agreed it’s mostly personal preference at the time of purchase, but for the same reasons I couldn’t recommend someone buy a 26″ wheeled MTB any more there are valid reasons…
Firstly, they’ve all but disappeared from the market except on some very low end machines now. I know you can still buy triple groupsets off the shelf if you’re speccing your own bike, but most people aren’t until well into the many thousands of £’s category.
Secondly, you can get the range of gears with a double these days. A medium cage rear road mech allows for a 32T top cog when used with a double (but confusingly only a max of 30T when it’s used with a Triple) which gives a very near 1:1 bottom ratio. Yes, a Triple will have that 1:1 bottom ratio if you use the max 30T cog permitted, but there’s little or no perceivable difference between 34:32 and 30:30 when pedalling. You also save a little weight with a compact double over a triple, not a massive amount but in the order of 200g or so depending on the groupset.
Thirdly, and this may or may not bother you, but… Like anything perceived as unpopular, triples are much harder to sell these days… Both new and 2nd hand… If you’re after a bargain you’re likely to keep for a very long time, and you’re not at all bothered by the downsides of a triple, then buying a bike such as the Cube linked to above could make sense. If it’s a toe in the water to try road riding, before potentially spending more money in 12 months time if you like it, then buy a compact double for certain as it will be much easier to sell on, but also your next bike would come with one anyway…