quality - price - what would you notice.....

[Amac]

welcome to your expanded life of cycling.
enjoy your picnics, club rides, touring in the future.
March was a very well timed time to retire - do you have supernatural powers?

Ha ha, no, but the timing was good, spent most of March and April, ridding down all the lanes I had often wondered what they were like. Found some great rides for me and the wife at weekends...

Another thought - sounds like you have a perfectly nice functioning bike for most of your sort of current riding, and with winter not that far away the need is maybe not pressing pressing urgent for this other bike - i stress I'm not trying to discourage you from getting one - I have close on ten.

I think I'd take your time with the decision - learn lots from folk on here and elsewhere, learn about your needs.

May avoid a rash decision.

The supply position will surely improve in time.

I'd also not write off considering second hand- you can pick up some very nice hardly used or superbly maintained bikes from careful owners (maybe more careful than some bike shop mechanics).

pm me if you want pointers.

I don't know what your bike maintenance skills are like but if they need work I'd use the intervening time until the arrival of the new toy to brush up on these/buy some good quality tools. Even modestly priced bikes can run very smoothly if well maintained - see above re quality secondhand.

Hi,

Yes I have kinda parked the idea of a new road bike until spring next year, hopefuly more choice then.
Then use the hybrid through the winter, now I know I can keep up on the club rides with it.
.
I keep an eye out for 2nd hand, but I am only 5" 5, so I guess size small.
Also as someone said I do not want an aero race type bike for of an endurance type, comfort.
I think my knowledge might be a bit limited, in knowing whats good and right for me.....

 

[Amac]

What do your clubmates think you should get/spend? Get something like they have and it's most likely to be suitable for the riding you do.

Oh I always listen to advice, but I don't always act on it
Its always good to get a wide range of views.

 

[Blue Hills]

Ha ha, no, but the timing was good, spent most of March and April, ridding down all the lanes I had often wondered what they were like. Found some great rides for me and the wife at weekends...

Hi,

Yes I have kinda parked the idea of a new road bike until spring next year, hopefuly more choice then.
Then use the hybrid through the winter, now I know I can keep up on the club rides with it.
.
I keep an eye out for 2nd hand, but I am only 5" 5, so I guess size small.
Also as someone said I do not want an aero race type bike for of an endurance type, comfort.
I think my knowledge might be a bit limited, in knowing whats good and right for me.....

Good call i think. For a fair old while my only bike was a quality steel hybrid and i rode perfectly happily on ctc day rides with it. No probs keeping up.
Size not a problem for buying secondhand.
As it happens i have a quality steel flatbar bike i need to sell - very light use, kept indoors - not the reason for me being on this thread but if you want more details, pm me - am in london.
Edit, i stress that it's not a road bike though - more audax/light tourer.

 

[wafter]

At the risk of going off on a massive tangent, £700 on a new road bike is going to get you an ally frame and Sora (9sp) or Tiagra (10sp) groupset. £1500 will likely see you on a CFRP frame with 105 (11sp) groupset. All things being equal the CFRP frame will probably ride nicer (less harsh) than the ally, you won't notice the extra gear on the 105 but the shifting quality is nicer and the braking better (assuming you have the full groupset).

As usual it's the law of diminising returns though and twice the price won't mean twice as nice.

Given the terrain you're covering I was going to suggest £1500 on a nice gravel bike, however this will definitely disadvantage you speed-wise if you plan to do club rides.

Equally with the existing hybrid, don't just write it off because it's got a bit clunky; chances are it can still be fixed / taken back to a pleasant serviceable ride with a bit of work (might be a good opportunity to learn something / get some reward out of a bit of a project too ).

Also, don't discount used as typically (if not nec. currently) you can get a decent 1-2yr old bike for about half what it cost new at full retail, while prices might even drop further once the 'ronacycle fever has inevitably worn off the general populous

 

[PaulSB]

I've always believed you get what you pay for. So yes if you invest £1000-1200 in a bike you will get something far better than a £700 model.

The important thing is to understand for yourself what you want from a bike and then purchase accordingly.

For example my last bike I had a choice between 105 and Ultegra. The difference was £500. After a lot of reading I concluded the only real difference was 400g in weight. I invested the £500 in better wheels and resolved to eat fewer Mars bars.

 

[DRM]

I’d get a gravel bike, with more knobbly tyres for off road and a set of wheels with slick road tyres for club runs, I have a Marin Gestalt 2 gravel bike and in standard form it’s comfy, stable, goes off road on bridleways gravel tracks and canal tow paths, and it‘s fast on tarmac, in fact the stock wheels are light and the stock tyres (Schwalbe G-One Speeds 30 mm wide) are equally at home on or off road, it’s got the latest Tiagra 10 speed groupset with a good spread of gears, and a 50/34 chain set set up that is as good and smooth as 105 which is 11 speed.
i think one of these would suit for both club runs and rides with your wife.

 

[Vantage]

Ha ha, no, but the timing was good, spent most of March and April, ridding down all the lanes I had often wondered what they were like. Found some great rides for me and the wife at weekends...

Hi,

Yes I have kinda parked the idea of a new road bike until spring next year, hopefuly more choice then.
Then use the hybrid through the winter, now I know I can keep up on the club rides with it.
.
I keep an eye out for 2nd hand, but I am only 5" 5, so I guess size small.
Also as someone said I do not want an aero race type bike for of an endurance type, comfort.
I think my knowledge might be a bit limited, in knowing whats good and right for me.....

Welcome to the forum
You have your answer right there!
By spring next year, if you hang around on the forum you'll gain knowledge from other peoples posts, successes and failures. By then, you'll have a better idea of what you want.
You could even do what some of us do and build your own bike to your own specifications, wants and desires.
I certainly wouldn't go all out and splash £1500 on a bike without knowing what I'm getting.

 

[Notafettler]

I did 1000 miles plus on highway 101/1 on West Coast of America 60 miles plus a day. With very heavyloads. . It was brothers bike, he got it serviced first but it was a right wreck. Doubt it would fetch a £50 if sold in the UK today. No problems at all. Smooth gear change, brakes and nice fit. A good fit doesn't require quality or to be more precise expensive. I just make sure i have adjustable handlebars and they only get adjusted once. i don't think that's an option with drop handle bars?
The lighter the bike the more expensive and the faster you can go but is that important? IE the few seconds or in cross country running terms beating one more person than you would do normally?
Nowadays I only buy second hand expensive bikes but they are Rohloff equipped and are always expensive. I buy them to avoid maintenance as I am bone idol And don't like parting with money.
I think the £700 one sounds best. I am never sure how a bike shop can work out what bike would fit you? Small, medium, large. Even then you would still need to ride a few for a week to come to a decision.

 

[mythste]

A wee bit of anecdotal nonsense that may or may not help.

I have a variety of bikes, with the following groupsets
12 speed Sram GX Eagle
11 Speed Sram Red (Recently sold, but here for the sake of this anecdote)
11 Speed Shimano Ultegra
11 Speed Shimano SLX
9 Speed Shimano Sora

Some are road bikes, some are mountain bikes, but the Sora groupset (Which costs less than a quarter of some of the others) is fine. I don't get on it and think "this is crap". I get on it and ride it. In fact, i probably enjoy it a bit more because I'm not resenting every pedal stroke costing me a new extortionate cassette.

If it really is for fun, get a bike that speaks to you and is comfortable and you'll hold it dearly, I'm sure.

 

[Amac]

A wee bit of anecdotal nonsense that may or may not help.

I have a variety of bikes, with the following groupsets
12 speed Sram GX Eagle
11 Speed Sram Red (Recently sold, but here for the sake of this anecdote)
11 Speed Shimano Ultegra
11 Speed Shimano SLX
9 Speed Shimano Sora

Some are road bikes, some are mountain bikes, but the Sora groupset (Which costs less than a quarter of some of the others) is fine. I don't get on it and think "this is crap". I get on it and ride it. In fact, i probably enjoy it a bit more because I'm not resenting every pedal stroke costing me a new extortionate cassette.

If it really is for fun, get a bike that speaks to you and is comfortable and you'll hold it dearly, I'm sure.

Haha funny enough that’s how my Marin hybrid feels, it was only £270 about 6 years ago, but looks good and is comfortable. The gears are a bit clunky, but that’s ok with me, I don’t know much difference, but it always feels good to ride

 

[Sterlo]

For my two'pennarth, when I got back into cycling a few years back, I started on a cheap mountain bike, then upgraded to a better one, then to a hybrid, then back onto a proper road bike. The difference between each step was unreal, to the point where I now hate riding the hybrid. It's heavy, clunky, uncomfortable, slow (or is that me?). One thing I would say if you go for a roadie, you sound a little like me, distance over speed, so try and go for an endurance model as I did. It's a little more relaxed, you're at more upright than with a full slammed stem road bike, but the gears and weight difference should make you feel better IMO. Re the gears, I started with 105 then moved up to Ultegra (got a bargain in a sales), the higher up the hierarchy you go, the better the shifting I feel. Whatever you decide, enjoy it, it's what it's all about.

 

[Blue Hills]

The gears are a bit clunky, but that’s ok with me, I don’t know much difference, but it always feels good to ride

I actually quite like "clunky" gears, at least on some bikes - my 8 speed self-built tourer clunks into gears a bit because of some of the gaps in the cogs - but "clunks" with a satisfying certainty and solidity into gear - and stays there. I guess I associate it with reliability. Better by far than the clicking clicking you sometimes get with more gears where the change isn't so definite and needs fettling.

(this bike is a quality steel hybrid - list price maybe about £280 in about 97 - I got mine for around £220 in a sale roundabout then - the one referenced above is the same bike but one size up (best fit for me) I picked up for £30. Then swopped some good mixed bits onto.

 

[Will Spin]

If you spend £700 on a bike you may wish you'd spent £1500, on the other hand if you'd spent £1500 you may wish you'd spent £3,000, so probably worth starting with the £700 bike!

 

[Notafettler]

fettling

STOP SWEARING

 

[Amac]

Funny enough that’s what I was doing when I was doing my reading and research, the” oh I must have that” lol
I think after reading here, I am pretty clear in my head entry/just above level for a road bike and get my hybrid up to scratch...