Looking for a new road bike with a budget of £1500. Im after something carbon, decent wheels and groupo, fairly comfortable geometry (i.e. not too racy). More that happy with a 2013, or 2012 bike for a bargain. looking at something in a medium or large.

Currently ride a boardman comp as my first road bike so after a nice step up from that.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/

for reduced giants and cannondales.

comfy carbon cannondale under budget

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5237/CANNONDALE-SYNAPSE-CARBON-105-2013

leaves £200 for new wheels (6800 Ultegra wheels are about £240).

find an extra £189 and get a 2.5K Giant

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p4903/GIANT-TCR-ADVANCED-1-2013

Well we’ve had every other price point.

this is good value for £1200

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT6800/planet-x-pro-carbon-shimano-ultegra-6800-road-bike

but it was even better value for 5 of the last 6 months when it was a grand, which would sour my ownership experience (rational or not).

What size do you need? A lot of pauls stuff is only available in certain sizes, theres a caad10 ultegra in a 54 for example at 1350 which is a bargain, or a caad10 105 for 1190 in more sizes. If you dont know what size you need then no ammount of bargain hunting is worthwhile over just paying RRP in a good bikeshop for one that’s fitted to you.

Only other issue is 10s is ‘old’ now. That may or may not bother you. But the 11s groupsets are nicer all round, not just n+1 gears.

Bit more than your budget, but an amazing spec – http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-xeon-team-cgf-3000-2014/aid:679216

Otherwise Focus have some pretty well specced bikes at that price point – Focus Izalco Ergoride 3.0 or Focus Cayo Evo 3.0

http://www.focus-bikes.com/gb/en/bikes/2014/road/izalco-ergoride/izalco-ergoride-30.html

http://www.focus-bikes.com/gb/en/bikes/2014/road/cayo-evo/cayo-evo-30.html

theres a caad10 ultegra in a 54 for example at 1350 which is a bargain, or a caad10 105

OP specified carbon which is why I highlighted the Synapse which they have in every size but 61.

Only other issue is 10s is ‘old’ now. That may or may not bother you. But the 11s groupsets are nicer all round, not just n+1 gears.

this is a bigger issue for future proofing, as some 10spd wheels cant adapt to 11spd (eg Shimano’s own FFS 🙄 ) so youre locking in to an old tech that will (eventually) lose support (or at least higher-quality options, 10spd will no doubt trickle down to be sora/tiagra only).

I got a synapse from Pauls. First road bike for 15 years. Was looking for same things as OP. Can recommend it. Good ride and decent kit. Mine was £1400 with 105. Fast delivery too…

Well we’ve had every other price point.

😆

To the OP… You say you’re a medium or a large. To be fair, I’d decide first (and sit on a few different bikes to work out exactly what size you are) then work out some bikes you like the look of before blowing £1500 on a bike that doesn’t fit, but was a “bargain” cos it was last years model for 30% off.

£1500, even at RRP, gets you quite a lot of road bike. Throw some last years bargains into the mix and there’s plenty of worthwhile options. I’d decide now whether you want a more upright (read “sportive” geometry) or head down kind of position, and start narrowing down based on brand preferences and whether you want Shimano/SRAM/Campag on your new bike. Whilst carbon is king, don’t rule out ally, it still has it’s place and there’s many good ally bikes out there that will offer better kit and wheels than similarly priced carbon bikes. That said, don’t rule out Tiagra even, a Tiagra specced carbon bike at £1200ish with a decent wheel upgrade is often a better bet than the £1500 105 specced version, and Tiagra probably shifts better if anything.

11spd may be here to stay, but 10spd isn’t going anywhere fast. 10spd spares are still available and will be for some time, even at Dura Ace level, let alone Ultegra and the soon to be upgraded 105. Depending on your viewpoint you’ll either think 11spd is the best thing since sliced bread, or it’s a superfluous extra gear to get people to part with more money. Personally, I don’t see why it’s needed, it has neither given us extra gear range on the cassettes, nor significantly closed down ratio gaps in the middle. Ultegra 6800 shifters work better than 6700’s do for sure, but that has nothing to do with them being 11spd. 10 spd is still as relevant now as it has been since the day it came out.

Philby, those Rose CGFs are nice. Had mine a couple months now (3500 model with campy Athena and Zonda wheels) comfy and light.

Cheers for advice. I say a medium or large as Ive currently got a large boardman. I was at PLanet x recently looking at a bike there….when I tried the large it was too big and the medium fitted much better. I guess I am on the cust between different sizes and some brands will size their medium / large slightly differently.
The Synapse looks good and good value. The Giant TCR is also nice looking but I think it will be a bit more ‘racy’ and Im less inclined to go for something like that…keener on all day comfort.
I like the look of rose bikes and canyon, however at least with buying a Cannondale or giant online I can probably try one out in a store nearby to get a feel, unlike those.

Cheers for advice. I say a medium or large as Ive currently got a large boardman. I was at PLanet x recently looking at a bike there….when I tried the large it was too big and the medium fitted much better. I guess I am on the cust between different sizes and some brands will size their medium / large slightly differently.
The Synapse looks good and good value. The Giant TCR is also nice looking but I think it will be a bit more ‘racy’ and Im less inclined to go for something like that…keener on all day comfort.
I like the look of rose bikes and canyon, however at least with buying a Cannondale or giant online I can probably try one out in a store nearby to get a feel, unlike those.

I presently have two road bikes a medium and a large, the bars seat and pedals are in the same place on both.

Cheers for advice. I say a medium or large as Ive currently got a large boardman. I was at PLanet x recently looking at a bike there….when I tried the large it was too big and the medium fitted much better

Check the seatube angles, for every degree slacker than the steepest one, subtract 1cm form the stated top tube length as it’s not really there as you’ll set your saddle up relative to the BB in the same place regardless.

e.g. a 56cm frame with a 72deg seat angle will actualy fit the same as a 54cm frame with a 74deg seat angle.

That and some bars put the hoods much closer to the rider than others. So unless you really want the stock bars it’s worth measuring to see where your prefered bars would be.

I was at PLanet x recently looking at a bike there

You’ve got £1500 to spend on a road bike, you were at Planet X and you DIDN’T buy one!!! That shows superhuman levels of restraint 😯

I had my mind set on their titanium bike….but it was only in large which was surprisingly big! and now they have stopped selling them. Looked at the RT58 when I was there and sat on a medium. Felt and looked very nice, but at the time I was still in the mind set of the other bike id come to look at.

willier GTR 105.

Canyon

In true stw fashion what I have just bought, a Specialized roubaix sl4 disc. Group set is sora 9 speed but wide ratio but upgrading to 105 anyway. Love mine.