I need a serious road bike

[Mothyman]

MothyMan...

The contenders: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/bike-of-the-year-the-contenders-20989

The top seven: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/revealed-our-top-road-bike-of-the-year-21018

thanks Wigsie

 

[grafter]

Not unless you live on the slopes of Mount Kilamanjaro. 12-25 would be tops. 12-23 would give you something to think about. 12-21 would give you honey-smooth gear changes and an arse made of welded steel.

good point. my thinking the 12-27 would keep up cadence on the big hills. i getting a compact so i won't need 12-27 anyway unless the hills are really big right, so a 12-25 be better plus the smoother gear changes thanks. i think i play it alittle safe. a 12-23 12-21 would go against me, i lose cadence on the hills and that 25 is there if i need it. a good compromise.

but according to this quote from this recent article a 11/25 sounds even better still!

“what will this compact crank do for my top end speed when I go down hills?” If maintaining a 36-38mph pace you can still use the compact. Yes the 50 is smaller and you do lose some top end speed by going to the compact but by going with a different cassette, you can have the best of both worlds. By blending an 11/23 and 12/25 cassette to make an 11/25, you can have your cake and eat it too. Because when you run the compact with the 50/34 chainrings and an 11/25 cassette you have gearing that is still easier than standard 53/39 and 12/27 gearing. With the top end the 50/11 combo is actually a BIGGER gear than the 53/12 combo. With that you now can spin easier than before up the hills and still being able to push the gear while rolling at 38+mph. Sure it takes some doing but as said before it can be well worth it!

 

[grafter]

If you're going up to £1600 you could get Ribble Build (Scuro HCR Carbon Road Frame + Deda forks + Ultegra everything + Mavic Aksium wheels + Easton Bars) - 59cm should be OK for you

good suggestion. i hearing they are some 6'3 riders on 58cm that they prefer/suit so maybe! that frame is £750. the Giant TCR Advanced frame is £1000. i could spend the difference on better wheels and still have a good frame. i was looking at the Fulcrum 3 wheels and these that is around my budget. will handbuilts get me better wheels for that amount?

The Ribble was also very highly praised but had some high spec componentry (11 speed) so was expensive.

you can always upgrade the groupset to Ultegra .

serious money. if the ribble would fit, a idea is choose same spec but another quality gearset such as Campag Centaur 10spd Ultra-Torque a drop of £300.

theres a problem the 50/34 compact crankset is not available with the Ultegra but it is with the Campag Contour(equal if not better) and the Shimano 105.

with the same spec garilla suggested with Aksium wheels plus the better Campag gearset it come to £1500. that be a much better gearset than on the Giant. with the Shimano gearset it come to £1464. the Ribble in the review has Pro Elite rims, some type of aero wheel, does it gives you much advantage? what about instead of spending for a pair keep the front and get a much better/stiffer rear wheel, something like a Mavic Cosmic Carbone bad idea?

 

[grafter]

it is hard to overstate the benefits of a decent set.

The basics are that if you want comfort then 36 spoke wheels are the way to go. Performance generally requires a sub 30 spoke count so many go down the 32 spoke handbuilt route using say Mavic CXP22 or 33's as a compromise.

i am slowly gathering, what i want is racing/training performance with the strength and durability that i can use all the time with alittle comfort. is that possible? i go no lower than 32 then, that be a good compromise and maintain some strength i think. will those Mavic CXP22, 33 rims be heavy? thanks for filling me in. it would appear on a bike of £1000-£1500 the wheels will cost approx £75-125. i think most i pay for wheels now or in future would be no more than 400ish.

My Ksyrium SLs are very comfortable. I do not think spoke count is that important in comfort. I accept that if your are lugging panniers, you need more spokes, but my wheels have done many thousands, rarely need truing and are good enough for me.

that sounds a real nice pair from reading but out of my price league. right i'm convinced, buy some superior wheels and it's a whole new world right ? it just be a question of when. i might just settle on the lesser wheels i get with bike and upgrade when i ready as the bike itself be fun, enough as it first time with todays technology in 15 years.

which is best aluminium or steel spokes?

should i use clinchers or tubeless? i all for tubeless aslong as they are safe 99% of the time. i have this little fear when i replace they might roll off at high speed. if modern clinchers today are nearly as good then i prefer to use them otherwise i would use tubeless for the performance.

 

[jimboalee]

I had this same problem in 1975. I wanted a 'balls out' race bike and I had been keeping my eye on what was about.

For comparison sake, a Yamaha FS1E sixteener special 50cc moped/motorbike was £265 'on the road' and a gallon of 4star was 29p.

Bernard Thevenet won the Tour on a Peugeot, so I plumped for one of those.

It cost £380. More than my Yamaha FS1E did a year later (£295).

A Yammie 50cc sporty scooter today? £2000 ?

A decent roadbike today? £2700....

 

[grafter]

I think you're misunderstanding custom bike prices. Yes, if you bought the parts it would possibly cost more than buying an off-the -peg full bike, but the companies that specifically build custom bikes get these parts at trade prices, so they are buying them cheaper than you could. Yes, they stick their profit margins on top, but they often have less overheads than the bigger chains and can often put together a better specced bike for a price as good, if not better than a standard offering from the usual bike stores.

I'm not saying that's always the case, but it's worth a look.

Just as an example take a look here:

http://www.kinetic-one.co.uk/

i understand. it abit like with computers now, you can't build it cheaper than the big companies. i was thinking how to save abit on the price. do custom builders only build bikes up solely on there own frames? thanks for the explanation and link. the quote on the top model kinetic with there mid range components was approx £1800. respect to small custom builders. i appreciate quality. unfortunately i dont have transport so i cannot travel to loads of decent bike shops, builders. to help narrow down choice from lots of potentials and avoid a possible lemon, i decided to go for outstanding 2009 models in my price range.

 

[Apeman]

Cube cycles

my boss bought a Cube hybrid through Cyclescheme. It is his first bike and is quite tasty. It has hydraulic rim brakes as opposed to disc brakes among its high spec. Has anyone got one of these machines and are they worth the money. Answers on a postcard please!!!

 

[accountantpete]

All I can say,Grafter, is that I use these and they are fantastic. If I need a bit of comfort on a long trip then I simply reduce the tyre pressure.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=CAMPWHFR500

These are campag compatible - there are also Shimano compatible sets available but I suspect you will have to pay a bit more for them.

The only downside is that if you have a prang or bust a spoke it can be difficult and expensive to repair - the LBS won't have a clue!

 

[peanut]

a lad used to turn up at our Sunday club run occasionally on an old shopping bike . It was a Raleigh something or other with 10 gears and a womens frame. The tyres were typical 28c with huge treads and the bike looked like it had been left out in the garden.
The kid used to turn up often the worse for wear having been on the sauce the night before and proceed to amble round the 40 hilly miles over the Quantocks without any apparent effort whilst the rest of us on our shiny new £1000+ bling bikes sweated and cursed up and down every hill.

The moral here is its not the bike or the frame or the wheels its the rider that counts. You'll not go any faster if your frame weighs 350 gms less than the next bloke's bike or your wheels are twice as expensive.

 

[jimboalee]

a lad used to turn up at our Sunday club run occasionally on an old shopping bike . It was a Raleigh something or other with 10 gears and a womens frame. The tyres were typical 28c with huge treads and the bike looked like it had been left out in the garden.
The kid used to turn up often the worse for wear having been on the sauce the night before and proceed to amble round the 40 hilly miles over the Quantocks without any apparent effort whilst the rest of us on our shiny new £1000+ bling bikes sweated and cursed up and down every hill.

The moral here is its not the bike or the frame or the wheels its the rider that counts. You'll not go any faster if your frame weighs 350 gms less than the next bloke's bike or your wheels are twice as expensive.

There is a lot of truth, nay, THE truth spoken here.

The UCI weight limit is 15lb. Up the Alps, the winner is the guy with the strongest legs. - most of the time

The other moral here is:
If you're riding a 15lb Spesh or Scott, be EXPECTED to climb like a pro.

 

[grafter]

they are fantastic. If I need a bit of comfort on a long trip then I simply reduce the tyre pressure.

yes good to hear and good price. i was mentioning them in previous post. fulcrum racing 3's are similar build possibly stronger and maybe repaired easier. maybe you are light rider. i am heavy rider. there is a few comments on zonda that the front isn't stiff enough and suggested to use loctite on the spokes.

@peanut
i hear you but fitness,form combined with a better bike will be even better still surely. a lighter bike will get up the hills easier. i trying to maximize the spec for the cost. i could pay 2x 3x my budget but it wouldnt justify the cost. you got to pay a certain amount for something half decent. i had cheap and nasty bikes in the past and they gave me grief one way or the other. i better bike will keep me focused. i not a salesmen dream quite the opposite. it a big initial purchase but the cost isn't really expensive using bike consistently for 5+ years and the enjoyment you get out of it. best i get bike upto the job more. so it justifed to me.

he wins because after the drink he has a kebab and that's 1500 carbs! lol of course there is the exception and natural athletes. maybe he was adding creatine to his beer.

 

[grafter]

there is a 'how to fit bike' on youtube. it looks a precise guide. what you think?
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAl_5e7bIHk

 

[garrilla]

There's lots of discussion on fitting elsewhere in this forum. Basically there are two sets of variables that are of importance, inside leg/torso length and seat-tube/top tube. You can alter any issue of the seat-tube by altering the saddle height. You can't do this with the top tube. So matching the length of the top tube to your torsoe is probably more important.

But, after all the stuff about fitting, the issue remains, is it comfortable? No measuring system can tell you this in advance.

 

[Sittingduck]

I'd go to an LBS or 2 and sit on 3 or 4 road bikes of different makes. This will surely give a fair indication of what size you might need. Costs nowt

 

[grafter]

matching the length of the top tube to your torsoe is probably more important.

so due to my bigger longer human frame mainly length of torso a longer top tube would play a bigger role, fit me better, give me more comfort and less squashed, hunched over? would it mean i can fit well or even better on a slightly smaller frame if it had a custom longer top tube do you think? what's the criteria on deciding the ideal length of top tube for your height? i see what bike shop has to say about that. if a longer top tube be definately better fit then i go with that and go with a custom bike made. i dont want to put up with something if it aint right. i see now until you get properly measured up you none the wiser if the factory bike is really the best fit. i wonder is there any factory frames out there that suited specifically for taller riders?

I'd go to an LBS or 2 and sit on 3 or 4 road bikes of different makes. This will surely give a fair indication of what size you might need. Costs nowt

yes i am soon enough. going to a lbs with a excellent reputation that been building custom bikes for years. in meantime i kept closer eye on makes that do bigger bike frames to avoid disappointment and not waste time getting hung up on model only to find they dont do my size when time comes. i heard 1 quote bigger frames are stiffer and another quote saying they not.