I know there’s been loads of threads recently, but I’m adding my own!

I’m looking at upgrading my current cobbled together planet X bike and might be able to make a C2W purchase soon.

I’m looking at some sort of carbon endurance bike around the £2000 mark, the most obvious to me being the Ribble Endurance SL disc (I can get to the showroom easily when they reopen amongst other reasons.)

From what I’ve seen, there’s a lot of bikes around this price with very similar specs.

£1800 gets you 105 spec, £2100 gets ultegra.

Is that jump really worth it?

I’ve read reviews that say 105 is pretty much identical, but then other reviews that say buy ultegra instead of Di2, but then why not buy 105 instead of Di2 and save even more cash if it’s that good!?

My current spec is non groupset Shimano, some Sora and acera and trp spyres, so anything is an upgrade!!

I would pay the extra for Ultegra, it’s just that little bit lighter and nicer.

Though my experience is limited to the previous generations of both groupsets.

I’d save the money and use it for all the inevitable wee things that you want to tweak to make it perfect for you e.g. new tyres, saddle, pedals etc.

Personally that’s why I struggle to see past Rose bikes, you’ll get a brilliant bike for the money anyway but you can tweak finishing kit, crank lengths, gear ratios, tyre choice etc.

Edit: e.g. https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/rose-reveal-four-disc-105-2685174

I noticed new R7000 generation 105 feels pretty much as good as older 6800 generation Ultegra, e.g. light and crisp. You’ll certainly not regret either choice I’m sure.

Ultegra maybe be a little lighter and a little crisper but I would struggle to see how it will improve the riding experience.

I’d personally go for the best frame, everything else is upgradable as it wears out.

Pretty much all bikes below mega-£ come with crap £100 wheelsets.

I’d be inclined to go for the 105, then spend the rest of the cash on some better wheels. I got the Prime carbons from CRC, they make a huge difference to the ride over the Mavic Aksiums which came with the bike.

The Ribble comes with mavic aksium as standard which I believe are pretty heavy.

Save money on groupset, sell brand new aksiums and upgrade wheels with the proceeds!?

The Rose looks lovely, but I definitely want to try this one before I buy, make sure I get the right fit.

Ribble and Giant stores are near enough to me, then the likes of Evans and Wheelbase at Staveley is an option. (Or Biketreks Ings if I win the lotto in the meantime!)

I’m looking at the same frame.
If it came down to that budget I’d have the integrated stem/bar over ultegra, new 105 is very good. No wires.. 😍

I’d have to have di2 on a new bike though, I’m saving the pennies and hoping for the di2 bike with the level 5 integrated bar and basic wheels that I can put a set of dtswiss erc1400’s on next year when we can ride properly again.

It does look a very good bike and I like how much component choice you get with crank/stem/bar lengths etc even down to the drivetrain.

You would probably be perfectly content with 105, but I’d be sorely tempted by the £400 extra spend for Ultegra, especially as C2W is just “imaginary money”…

Having ridden a rental bike with an current Ultegra disc group on holiday, and another with 105 (and having a horrible old mixture of 105/Ultegra 10 speed on my own bike at home), Ultegra just felt a little “crisper” and required less effort from my delicate little digits when shifting, the brakes were very good also, at least that was my perception. It’s a nice bunch of parts to use.

The other way to look at it of course is if you were to buy the 105 spec version and subsequently find yourself after a couple of years mulling over a full/partial drivetrain upgrade to Ultegra it would probably cost you more than £400 so buying a bike with it already fitted is in some ways better VFM.

Of course there is the R872 Disc – Ultegra Carbon Frame and Fork, same Aksium wheels and an Ultegra disc group for the same price as the Endurance SL disc 105 which somewhat muddies the waters…

Wheelbase still have some of the Dura Ace Synapses for £2.5k.

Actual differences between ultegra and 105, slightly lighter but you won’t notice, slightly crisper changes which you will notice and servowave levers so brakes bit less likely to rub and feel a bit nicer. Whether it’s worth the extra is up to you, bear in mind that ultegra shifters and brakes are about £400 by themselves.

Servowave on the hydraulic levers? Does that mean better pad clearance?

That’s cool, didn’t know they used it on road levers.

Why do you want an Endurance bike just out of interest?

105 or Ultegra wont be the difference between what you go do on the bike. It wont help you ride, further, noticeably faster or keep up with a group. Nicer wheels may though. For me Ultegra over 105 is mostly form over function. I could be corrected over braking though, not used hydro discs on the road.

105 or Ultegra wont be the difference between what you go do on the bike. It wont help you ride, further, noticeably faster or keep up with a group.

Maybe not, but light bikes are more fun, and that’s why most of us ride yeah?

I’m barely any quicker on my summer bike than my winter bike, but it feels a damn sight faster which encourages silly behaviour on climbs and sprints. It’s why I’ve not gone too far down the aero route, I’d probably be quicker but at the expense of a lively, fun bike.

I’ve started using my road bike in earnest recently – a now 8 ish year old Scott CR1 Pro – its rides light and crispy – Ultegra with Mavic Ksyrium Elite – not disk but tbh the brakes are way plenty enough – better than cable disk on my SS CX – anyways one to maybe consider.

https://www.peakcyclesport.com/m1b0s6p374/SCOTT-CR1-Pro-2011

Why do you want an Endurance bike just out of interest?

Because I’m a marketers dream. I’d like something billed as an all-rounder with comfort on big days out being important. A bike good for big days out in the lakes, dales, bowland where enjoying the day is more important than bashing Strava, but can also be used for shorter local rides for exercise where knocking on a bit is more important. Occasional sportive too but not competing.

servowave levers so brakes bit less likely to rub and feel a bit nicer

Now that’s interesting, I would like the brakes to feel add good add possible, but I didn’t know what the real world difference would be.

Gonna read up on the R872 a bit more. Is it just the same bike but a cheaper carbon? I probably wouldn’t notice!!

Maybe not, but light bikes are more fun, and that’s why most of us ride yeah?

The difference would be more noticeable and bigger by having 105 and spending the saving on wheels.

In the usual recommend what you have style, take a look at Scott Addict Disc 20. Its 105 group, but the frameset is superb, comes with decent wheels that are tubeless ready and some of the best finishing kit ive seen on a bike. Carbon seatpost, lovely stem, good bars. Its the first ive ever bought where I didn’t want to change anything (apart from the saddle, I still changed the saddle).

The difference would be more noticeable and bigger by having 105 and spending the saving on wheels.

Ah yes, good point.

I’ve got no experience with the 105 but I’ve got ultegra and it’s really nice to use.
Also my mate bought a Ribble and they have been faultless in terms of customer service and keeping him happy. He had an issue with his bike that I thought they would have said isn’t covered by warranty and they replaced it with a newer model frame all free of charge.

I’ve got latest 105 on a bike and it’s slowly getting upgraded to ultegra, well front and rear mech done already, got some hope rx4 calipers on the way and deciding between ultegra or grx shifters. Doubt I’ll change the crank though and chains and cassette usually depend on what bargains are around when they need replacing.

The difference would be more noticeable and bigger by having 105 and spending the saving on wheels.

With a finite pot of money, yep.

But I’d buy the Ultegra bike and upgrade the wheels as well when funds become available.

I’ve got 105 on one of my bikes, it’s not as nice as the Ultegra Di2 on the other bike but it’s fine. Changes smoothly, and the non-disc brakes are great. (Not really tried them in the wet, must be said!)

Get the 105 and upgrade the wheels.

I quite like the look of https://www.cube.eu/en/2019/bikes/road/road-cyclocross/cross-race/cube-cross-race-sl-rednorange-2019/ and the reach/stack numbers aren’t that far off my Attain (387/599mm vs 388/610mm for the “58cm frame”)

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/1600/products/cube-cross-race-sl-cyclocross-bike-2019-redorange.aspx £1199.20 for 56cm

So few bike bargains to be had due to lockdown and cyclomania, three years ago almost to the day my Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016 was an absolute steal compared to current prices.

https://www.merlincycles.com/felt-vr40-disc-road-bike-2018-146239.html is a bargain for ~£750 if you fit a small 51cm frame.

I’d prioritise frame first on a purchase and then workout how you get the most decent wheels. I bought a Cannondale Caad12 105 disc which should have come with awful wheels but I part ex’d them with the lbs I got the bike from for some MASON x Hunt 4Seasons road wheels. It saves a fair amount of weight / look nicer and have better quality everything. Maybe your lbs could do some similar kind of deal if you get a bike from them?

I have had r505 shifters with a combination of rs785 caliper front / rs505 rear (Cannondale in their genius for silly standards kept a post mount fork from the caad10 and matched it with a flat mount frame) and they feel pretty nice as brakes go. They’re powerful and reliable so far over 2 years of mostly commuting in horrible weather but also some longer rides.

The brakes don’t rub in bad weather when you get grit and road grime in them – I’m not sure how higher up brakes in the range would improve on them other than lighter weight. My plan is once the seals go in the calipers to upgrade them to Hope RX4’s.

I have just swapped out the r505’s and 105 for r785 Di2 levers and Di2 derailleurs etc – not properly tested it yet to see if that has changed the braking. The r785 lever looks a lot different to the r505 ones.

your not going to beat rose or canyon for value for money to certain extent. having said that I recently bought a cube (simply because I couldn’t get the bike I wantd from rose or canyon in the timescales I had), its light and better spec for what I bought – bought thru evans after trying for size. ribble are expensive and heavy for what you get (actually look and what spec you get it will be very very markedly different from the images you are shown), Planet X will always beat Ribble on vfm.

Ribble have smartened up their act on the bike specs (e.g. showing higher models) and their site is more like a normal bike brand now, but then so are their prices.

I’d probably favour them over PX myself, but Boardman are also quite competitive and you can often find bargains from LBS-distributed mainstream brands cheaper than any of the above anyway.

Well, usually you can – but everyone has bought everything since lockdown started, it seems.

Ultegra hydro also have adjustable reach IIRC for the levers and 105 deffo doesn’t.

105 has adjustable reach, ultegra has bite point adjustment though.

Can you use the GCI bike to work scheme? If so how about this for a couple of hundred more:

Canyon endurace

Also been looking at the Ribble range and wondered what the difference was between the R872 and the endurance. I’m after something that can take mudguards too for the winter filth.

Also been looking at the Ribble range and wondered what the difference was between the R872 and the endurance. I’m after something that can take mudguards too for the winter filth.

There’s some small differences in the geometry figures, but I think the main thing is a higher grade of carbon which would give a theoretically more comfortable ride. I think they both take mudguards.

Can you use the GCI bike to work scheme? If so how about this for a couple of hundred more:

Canyon endurace

Yeah that looks lovely. I don’t actually know what the script is with C2W. I’m NHS and my trust uses vivup. I’m not sure if they allow over the old £1000 limit, I’ve not contacted them yet, so this is a bit pie in the sky at the moment, but I like thinking about bikes a lot!

I’m this month able to cancel the childcare vouchers I currently have deducted from my wages, so I’m thinking that I can hopefully get a bike on the scheme AND still be a few quid better off per month than I am now!

Has anyone done a £2000 bike in C2W and care to share how much it cost per month!?

I suspect NHS won’t use the GCI scheme which unfortunately rules out German direct bikes like Canyon. But their calculator should still give you an idea of the cost to you. Looks like a 2k bike cost about 115 a month for 12 months after taking the tax savings into effect

Looks like a 2k bike cost about 115 a month for 12 months after taking the tax savings into effect

Yeah, that’s a lot less than the childcare vouchers so it’s basically free!! 😆🤑🚴‍♀️🤟😎