What £4k road bike?

As its been said £4000 can get you a very nice bike but it’s not really enough for a “dream bike”

my pegoretti cost around that. i wouldn’t swap it for anything (apart from another pegoretti)

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike’

Well that was an interesting trip to the LBS – he’s only gone and bought a Cervelo R5!
Dura Ace Di2, Rotor, Hed wheels RRP £6699….he got it for £4500, so a bit over budget.
It’s blinking lovely though….

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike’

Exactly. Unless you come from a working class background.

Or you accept that so did the Cervelo. And that unless you fall at the extreme outside the normal distribution then custom is just an expensive way of buying an average bike, the only difference is you (possibly) met the bloke who’s name is on the down tube.

TBH, it doesn’t really matter where it came from. I’d really quite like an aluminium Canyon with deep section carbon rims, it just appeals to me. Probably because it’s just on the upper limit of what I could afford/justify.

Depends on what you dream about. Personally crashing a Peg in a 2/3 race would be a nightmare. So I ride my dream race bike 😉 .

I’d really quite like an aluminium Canyon with deep section carbon rims, it just appeals to me

So would I. Or even one of these older ones.

my pegoretti cost around that. i wouldn’t swap it for anything (apart from another pegoretti)

I’m sure there lovely, if it’s your dream bike it’s great you’ve got one.

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike’

This is why I love STW 😀 One of the most successful world pro tour bikes in recent years. Ridden by some of the greatest riders of this generation, can’t possibly be anyone’s “dream bike”. 😆 😆
Why not because its not steel welded up by some Italian !!

a canyon popped out of a mould in taiwan is never going to be a ‘dream bike’

a cervelo popped out of a mould in china is never going to be a ‘dream bike’

taiwan = quality carbon fibre manufacturing

china = cheaper carbon fibre manufacturing

when I managed the workshop for a leading road retailer in the UK, I was shocked at the warranty return rate on Cervelo, having never worked on the brand before

great design, cheaper manufacturing, high retail prices.

as long as the OP’s associate is happy with his new Cervelo, that is all that matters, just advise him to hang onto his receipt 😉

i guess if you aspire to the low hanging fruit then you would be satisfied with a mondeo.
(everyone likes a car analogy)

This is why I love STW One of the most successful world pro tour bikes in recent years. Ridden by some of the greatest riders of this generation, can’t possibly be anyone’s “dream bike”.

They’re easily obtainable (providing you don’t expect it to be delivered on time) though; accessible to all and sundry. Anyone can buy one. A really mediocre dream.

A few years ago Cervelo did have a reputation for popping bb’s. The newer frames don’t do this.
I’d assume this is the sort of warranty issues you saw.

I can only say good things about my S3. Far nicer than the titanium litespeed crap I had previously. And the giant TCR.

They’re easily obtainable (providing you don’t expect it to be delivered on time) though; accessible to all and sundry. Anyone can buy one. A really mediocre dream.

Hadn’t it been decided that £4000 didn’t really buy you a “dream” these days, just possibly a great bike.

i guess if you aspire to the low hanging fruit then you would be satisfied with a mondeo

Whilst some on here do seem to genuinely aspire to a mid range bike with 105 and some trusty aluminium wheels, for most I’d extend your analogy further and suggest that it’s more like a Ford GT40, or an Audi R8. Yes, they’re mainstream brands, and you could buy a Pagani instead, but they’re wholly comparable if you ignore the badge.

Nothing about a £10k Trek makes it less of a bike than an equivalent Baum (for example). Indeed the Trek will be lighter, stiffer, more aero and thus faster. To many that makes it ‘better’. For others it’s purely exclusivity and thus the Baum ‘wins’. For them I recommend Chinese carbon. Even Baum have a colour palette you must adhere to. I could have my Deng Fu whatever Pantone colour combination I wanted 😀

This thread has had be looking at all sorts of things.

I think i’m in love with this, no price tag though.

I love my Canyon but it cost £1800. If I had £4000 to spend it’d be a Colnago Master in art deco with Campag Record and Eurus wheels. If I had another £2k, it’d be a C60. Another £2k on top of that I’d get some Boras.
I’d still be as crap on an £8k bike as a £1.8k bike, though. And the £8k bike would weigh more.

It’s amazing that £4K doesn’t buy you anything ‘special’ (i.e. clearly not expensive enough to be a status symbol). I took the njee approach that if you’re not going to get ‘special’, you may as well get good – and that means specialized, giant, trek etc.

So, I bought a pretty much NOS 2010 giant TCR advanced SL ISP frame, a force groupo with Red crankset, some pacenti SL23 wheels and it cost me £1100 all in. That’s for a pro level frame. It’s an unbelievably good bicycle. I used to have a cervelo S2 with Reynolds 48mm wheels, and the TCR is lighter and comfier. I won’t say faster as the engine appears to be showing some wear…

Exactly. Unless you come from a working class background

? 😯 ❓

council house upbringing/free school meals/ gap year shovelling crap on chicken farm/ pegoretti owner.
i guess theres always an outlier in the sample group. 🙄

Dream bikes are a funny thing. I bought my dream bike last year, a Colnago C60 with Dura Di2 and Ksyrium SLR Exalith. I have the advantage of having friends in the trade and it still cost circa £5k.

I wanted a bike I could keep for 10 years and not get bored of it or have it age greatly. Scott, Trek, Giant, Spesh or whatever just didn’t do it for me as I feel they date to readily and I’d get bored of them. Also the handbuilt by an Italian man in Italy had a certain something about it, even if it’s heavier than some of the opposition.

However, some would still argue the dream bike status as it ONLY had aluminium wheels and didn’t have Super Record EPS.

It’s MY dream bike however and I wanted to use it a lot come rain or shine, flat or mountains, so didn’t go for carbon wheels or Italian electronics. In an ideal world a build with Super Record and Bora’s would have probably looked nicer but they just didn’t work for me.

I am in a privileged position that my very generous sponsor loans me a race bike (S-Works Tarmac SL5) so I don’t have to worry about smashing the Colnago up in race crash.

The Colnago is without doubt the best riding bike I’ve even been on and I’ve had and ridden a few pretty damn nice race bikes in my life. so I’m happy with my purchase even if the bank manager isn’t! I does seem crazy that £4000 is mid pack these days though.