BTwin - go for better frame or components

[vickster]

Ah - so not full Ultegra?

That makes my mind up for me then I think. Btwin it is (turns out the Cube had sold out).

Think I will get the Aluminium with Ultegra and Cosmic Elites. If I decide I want a carbon down the line I can get a planet x frame for £250.

Actually cheaper to do that than build a Planet X with similar spec

No it's got mechanical disc brakes. If you want full Ultegra you need hydraulics

You do realise the btwin models you linked don't have discs...so you're not comparing like with like

Nor does it have the best climbing crankset and cassette combo from the little I understand (50/34 and 11-32 sold as a climbing compact)

 

[Moley1985]

Yeah - whilst disks would be nice I'm ok with rim brakes.

Now just have to decide between the alloy/ultegra/cosmics and the carbon/105/aksiums.

Will probably get the former - and if I ever decide I'm desperate for carbon pick up a frame and transfer over the parts

 

[xzenonuk]

btwin offer a life time warranty on all their bike frames.

i love my btwin bikes so i might be biased but the life time frame warranty is nothing to be sniffed at

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Are you sure that you want an 11 speed groupset for commuting?

I have no idea how fit you are or how fast you will be riding, so my worry would be that the gears that you will be using will be a bit aggressive in terms of chain line, big ring and smaller sprocket or small ring and bigger sprocket.

Whilst broken chains are rare chain/cassette wear increases rapidly as the chain moves off a straight line and 11 speed stuff is quite thin and expensive.

Having had a chain snap, I lost a cassette, rear mech, chain and quite a few spokes. :-(

11 Speed also tends to come with race orientated wheels, can you still ride if a spoke breaks after you hit that pothole, you normally can with a 36 spoke wheel?

I get that 8 speed forces you back to Claris which is cheap, but is it better for your requirement?

Bye

Ian

 

[Alan O]

Bear in mind that this comes from someone who loves steel road bikes, preferably home-built on the cheap, and is never going to buy an aluminium one (and certainly not a carbon one)...

Assuming that the carbon frame is automatically the "better" one is possibly a mistake, as there are plenty of folk in each camp who prefer one over the other - and I've seen many opinions that for a carbon frame to be "better" it's usually significantly more expensive than a comparable aluminium one.

So I'd say the one key question is whether you want a carbon frame or an aluminium one, and only you can decide that.

(As an aside, on the subject of commuting, don't think that cheap steel bikes are no good for a measly 20 miles per day and just 2,000 feet of climbing - they used to ride the TdF on them, remember! There are some superb 531 steel bikes out there to be had for silly low money.)

 

[GuyBoden]

Go to as many bike shops that are nearby. Then ride all the bikes that you like and are in your size.