Please help, £700 max budget road bike, Do I go Mekk/Planet X/other?

[Kestevan]

The RT58 looks a cracking bike, and the guys at Planet X are usually excellent.

I'd also have a look at the Felt F95 on Wiggle. For the price it's looking hard to beat - although if this is your first road bike, an on-line only retailer might not be ideal (although Wiggle have a well respected exchange policy).

 

[SteCenturion]

Maybe THIS

Good.

Bike featured in a group test Cycling Active approx 2 issues back.

Favourable reviews & well respected.

 

[SteCenturion]

O.k - tried to resist adding my drivel but here goes.

Had a look at your links (Mekk Potenza & Poggio).

What I gleaned from them is that the Potenza has the more relaxed geometry *comfortable distance bike* & the Poggio a little more aggressive (still comfortable if it fits properly - probably).

The Mekks look good value for money for a carbon frame (given the discounts) & are very upgradeable.

The Mekks also seem to employ only a partial group set with brakes, chainset, & cassettes etc being own brand or lower spec items.

One thing to remember is that 'not all carbon frames are created equally' & there are scores of alu & carbon frames of same or 'near as makes no difference weight'.
Carbon frames are though often more comfortable than aluminium though a bad carbon frame won't be.

You could use the bike 'as is' for 18 months then swap out the whole group set for full Shimano 105 10 speed (after saving up) & have a cracking spec bike.

Alternatively @vickster suggestion - Giant Defy 2 (ash cycles) or even the 2013 Defy 3 (ash cycles) are great bikes & upgradeable being one of the best Alu frames on the market.

Cubes Peloton 2013/14 or even Peloton Race 2013 (if you can find one) will be in range & recieved excellent reviews in Cycling Active (Mar/April) & Cycling Plus (May edition).

The Boardman suggested upfield will be a safe/good bet also.

Try before you buy is probably best bet (though I just took a gamble).

& hope you find a great bike & enjoy your cycling.

 

[Cold]

My budget was the same and after a few suggestions from here I went and had a look at the bikes mentioned.
I had a good chat with one the guys in the bike shop and I eventually decided to go for a Cube Peloton.
The 2013 Cube Peloton Pro is going for for £700 online reduced from £930 and I am pretty pleased with it.

 

[anthony dean]

i had the exact same problem i had a btwin from decathlon and was a great starter bike but after 2 years of good use i decided to upgrade with a budget similar to yours i decided upon the defy 2 after reading numerous reviews and comparing specs to other bikes in same price range i ordered the defy 2 for £600 from pauls cycles and do not regret it one bit it is very well made and very comfortable ride btw they have a defy 1 for 800 if u can push your budget

 

[Doyleyburger]

No mention about looking at second hand bikes here......unless I missed something on the above posts???
For 700 you could get a very nice 2013 full carbon second hand bike. Obviously it can be risky doing this but you'd be very unlucky if you come across a bad one. Iv seen a number of team carbon Boardmans on eBay for around your price range. When you get it, stick it on your LBS for a once over.
Never dismiss buying second hand as there are done excellent bargains to be had

 

[vickster]

Problem with buying used carbon is you and your lbs may not be able to see any hairline cracks which could cause the frame to fail catastrophically. There are a number of carbon bikes out there for a grand or less new if you want plastic and can stretch the plastic further

 

[etunc1]

I owned two MEKK Poggio's (both 2013 model) as well as a BMC Granfondo and a Planet X RT58. Among these, the best one is my MEKK Poggio 2.5 (105 Groupset); the worst and the most expensive is the BMC Granfondo which is a rattle machine and not as stiff as my Poggio. When I bought a second Poggio following a serious road accident, I went for the 105 groupset and found no real difference in performance to the Sora set the first one came with.

All Poggio models share the same frame. Thanks to this bike I understood what I have been paying for when buying a new bike: The advertisements! e.g. De Rosa declared in an interview with their product managers in 2012 that more than half of their operating cost is advertisement and sponsorship. I'm asking myself; why pay for all these magazine articles and full page adverts?

RT 58 is a fine bike but I purchased it as a frame only and moved my Poggio 1.5 components onto it. So I don't know what the original setup feels like.