Bike advice!

[pb71]

Hi, I'm a complete newbie to road biking, and i want to buy my first road bike. I will be using the bike for a 6 mile each way commute, and sunday rides, 20-30 miles! I,m 5ft 10 and weigh in at 14.5 stones. My budget is £700. I've been out on a couple of test rides and narrowed my search down to two options!

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/118090.html

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/sportster-s40-27-2010-road-bike-ec020706

Both these bikes are a very comfortable ride! But being a complete novice i'm not really that savvy on the spec of each bike. I am swaying towards the scott speedster! So finally any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,
Paul

 

[GilesM]

Paul, not much help, but they would both be perfectly good, both would be perfect for the type of riding you have described, I would go for the Scott, but that's just because I think it looks a bit better.

Whichever one you get, have fun

 

[2Loose]

Seem much the same spec wise to me, although the Scott has less spokes per wheel which would (normally) make them less sturdy for commuting on. I like the yellow though

 

[Sam Kennedy]

The Scott Sportster has Tiagra rear mech, which is better than the Giant. The Scott also has carbon forks, the Giant only has some sort of composite alloy thing.

The Scott also looks sexier than the giant!

 

[pb71]

Got to agree with regards to the scott looking better, thats why i'm swaying towards that one. I was thinking that they both must have similiar spec quality, due to being in the same price range.

2Loose, as i said i'm new to road bikes,so could the less spokes issue cause a problem?

 

[Banjo]

If you could stretch your budget to 850 Tredz have Special Edition Scott Speedster S30 with Ultegra groupset .

 

[BigSteev]

The Scott also has carbon forks, the Giant only has some sort of composite alloy thing.

Both have carbon forks with Alloy steerer tubes.

 

[Norm]

Both have carbon forks with Alloy steerer tubes.

Indeed, I think that the phrase "only has some composite alloy thing" suggests someone doesn't really know what they are talking about.

 

[Sam Kennedy]

Well it doesn't mention Carbon, it mentions "Advanced-Grade Composite with alloy steerer"

I'm Guessing the Advanced-Grade Composite contains carbon then, you learn something new every day

 

[2Loose]

2Loose, as i said i'm new to road bikes,so could the less spokes issue cause a problem?

I can only really point you to Sheldon Brown
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
or Rivendell
http://www.rivbike.com/article/components/rims
for info on this, but I have heard of quite a few broken spoke problems with bikes on this forum.

The Scott only has 20 spokes up front with 24 on the rear which is not a lot compared to the average. Compared to the Giant which look like 32 at both ends. IMHO The Scott's rims look more race oriented, but less robust to me.

 

[Norm]

Well it doesn't mention Carbon, it mentions "Advanced-Grade Composite with alloy steerer"

I'm Guessing the Advanced-Grade Composite contains carbon then, you learn something new every day

Sometimes, (American spelling aside) Wiki is your friend.

Carbon fiber has many different weave patterns and can be combined with a plastic resin and wound or molded to form composite materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic (also referenced as carbon fiber) to provide a high strength-to-weight ratio material

 

[BigSteev]

http://www2.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/technology/Advanced/37/