Pinarello Prince or Cevelo Carbon Soloist SLC-SL?

[alecstilleyedye]

i'd recommend getting either campag chorus or shimano ultegra groupsets. the top campag and shimano groupsets are designed for the pros, with a limited useful lifespan.

i've known too many people with campag record kit that becomes an expensive to replace liability before too long.

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

Jashburnham has a Prince. You could PM him for his thoughts. Haven't heard anyone on here say they have the Cervelo though.

To be fair, Jashburnham is not likely to say, "Yeah I spend £5k on this bike and I made a terrible, terrible mistake. It's shite."

 

[fossyant]

Get the top groupsets, but don't get the top sprocket set - too expensive / won't last.

Record is getting stupidly expensive, the same for the new 7900 Dura Ace. The bits that could fail easily might be shifters, and both groupsets shifters are very expensive.

My Dura Ace kit is 17 years old and works faltlessly - it was definately worth the money, but I fear the newer stuff has traded durability off against weight. The 7400 Dura Ace that I have isn't particularly light, but it is 'bomb proof'.

There would be some bit's of a bike that I'd trade weight against durability - I perfer durability...i.e. I'd never buy a £1000 wheel set, more like £500 if I was getting a bike like that - and a wheelset that had been well tested and had a name for 'bomb proofness'

If you can afford it, and it's going to be your best bike - not the daily hack, then go for it, but be prepared for expensive parts when/if needed.

How about the new Colnago frame - CF4 I think

 

[JohnG]

Thanks for the comments - please keep them coming.

The bike will of course be for 'serious riding', not the daily commute.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

I take my commute seriously!!!

 

[kyuss]

£5-£6k is custom built Parlee money. I'm sure the Prince and Soloist are fine bikes but when you can get a custom fitted and tuned Z1 for the same money from one of the worlds top handbuilt carbon frame manufacturers it's a no brainer.

 

[mickle]

The Parlees look awesome but those lumpy lugs remind me of Raleigh DynaTechs from the eighties.

The Pinarello is a monster, the stays and fork just look dumb. I can't see that the profile of those tubes achieves anything, either structurally or aerodynamically they exist because the designer wanted to build in some 'wow/look at me factor. It's a confection, a poseurs bike and that's enough for me to drop the Prince of of the equation.

The Cervelo though is an absolute stunner, every tube profile is there for a reason. Wicked bike.

Or how about a Storck?

 

[kyuss]

Storks are niiiiiice. I also quite like Guru, Serotta and Cyfac too. If I had a spare £6k I'd want something a bit different, personal even, cut down on the chances of bumping into another rider with the same bike.

Face it though, spending that kind of money on a bike, it's not going to be crap no matter what you get. As long as you are happy with it.

 

[fossyant]

Not as good as a Rourke 953............ custom....

 

[Noodley]

IMO when you get to past 2 grand you have to start thinking custom and not label. You say "serious riding" - what is your "serious"?

 

[SamNichols]

Buy an Enigma! Buy an Enigma!

If not, go for the Cervelo. No real reasoning behind this, as I've no idea about 5k bikes, I just think it's nicer.

 

[mickle]

http://www.merlinbike.com/bikes/2005/cielo_dtls.aspx

 

[ComedyPilot]

Go for the Cervelo

 

[simon l& and a half]

I've just seen a Cervelo (having lusted after it), and the finish was second rate. That might not affect the ride, but it matters. As for the Pinarello, if you're going to buy something bendy and ugly, why not just get a DeRosa, or a Serotta?

I'd not seen pictures of the Guru before. That does look very nice. The Cyfac is a bit old-school. It reminds me of the Alan bikes of fifteen years ago, and that's praise indeed. It's to be hoped that it's a better ride than the Alan.

 

[fossyant]

Hubba hubba.....

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/brianrourkecycles/CustomMadeRourkeBikes/photo#5210628893299015986