Cycling UK Forum

Hello everyone,

Am currently deciding between following after having done my research. Any advice from your side on these options?

Thank you

Boardman Road Team vs
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/r ... -bike-2014

Focus Culebro SL1.0 vs
http://www.thebicyclelounge.co.uk/focus-culebro-sl-1-0/

Focus Cayo Evo 3.0 vs
http://www.focus-bikes.com/gb/en/bikes/ ... vo-30.html

what are you going to use the bike for, exactly?

cheers

Weekends only, ie 2-3 hour rides

Long-term goal triathlon

Thank you

IIRC the focus bikes have a steep head angle and a slightly smaller fork offset, and that this can lead to having toe overlap in some cases. This won't instantly kill you dead or anything, but it might cause an accident and it is perfectly avoidable, with no real issues. I expect the Boardman to be better thought out in this respect.

If you are new to cycling, I'd suggest that you buy your bike from a decent shop where they will help you out, set the bike up properly, and provide backup. A cheaper bike that is set up properly etc is a much better proposition than a notionally 'better' one that doesn't fit you, hasn't been set up right, and has a warranty that is almost impossible to claim on etc.

You will also need helmet, shoes, shorts, shirts, longs, waterproofs, proper pedals etc at some point. These can cost a few hundred pounds too.

So before you spend a notional £1000 on a carbon bike, consider the alternatives; for example, the base model cannondale synapse is a decent bike and is pretty good value; you can even fit mudguards to it if you want to. It leaves you £350 for all the other bits you'll need too if you are going with a £1000 budget. Vs the other bikes you are considering it might be a few seconds slower per hour of riding; if you are new to tri's etc trust me, this won't be a significant factor in your overall time.

cheers

Thanks a lot

Is there a material difference between 650 and 1000 bikes if one were to go for latter?

Any other good ones than the Synopse one?

I think the 'notional £1000' might be related to the Cycle2Work Scheme.

The most important thing about a bike is to get one that fits. Do your homework on frame geometry and study the geometry tables of the bikes you are interested in. Getting a good fitting bike is easier if you are mid-range when it comes to size, but more difficult if you are at the extremes, or if you are a woman.

Focus can be bought from bike shops these days so you can be fitted to the right size. My son has a Cayo - excellent value for money and quite racy. So if it's a quick bike you are after have a look at one.
Synapse is more of a Sportive bike - so if you are getting on in years and not so flexible then that might suit - less aggressive than the Cayo.
Boardman look good from what I've seen of them, some are put off because Halfords sell them but the product looks fine in my opinion. It might boil down to which groupset they come with. In the past Focus were hard to beat in this respect.

nbik15 wrote:Thanks a lot

Is there a material difference between 650 and 1000 bikes if one were to go for latter?

Any other good ones than the Synopse one?

There are quite a few decent bike out there in that kind of price range. In theory you would expect to get something significantly lighter, better, faster if you spent £1000 vs £650 but in reality there often isn't that much in it; diminishing returns for sure. The base model synapse is the price it is in part because it has a less expensive drivetrain with 8s shifters. It has a decent frame and reasonable wheels; these are the important things in the long term. The fact is that the 8s cassette and chain will outlast most 10s stuff and it will be cheaper to replace when it wears out too. The idea that 'more gears are better' is true up to a point, but you are well past that point already with a 2 x 8s transmission.

If you don't have decent cycle clothing at present it is as well to bear in mind that the main thing slowing you down is aerodynamic drag and most of that comes from you, not the bike. Someone on a £650 bike with £350 worth of decent cycle clothing will be more aerodynamic and therefore a fair bit faster than someone in shorts, trainers and a t-shirt riding a £1000 bike, for sure.

Spec wise the Btwin bikes in decathalon are good for the price but they mostly don't have mudguard clearance and if they are not local to you they won't give you good backup. Even if they are local to you they may not; chain stores don't tend to attract and then retain really knowledgeable staff.

Right now you may have no intention of using mudguards but if you have the choice of one with and one without that are otherwise similar I'd choose the one with every time. The reason is that it gives you more options; if you get keen you may feel the need for a training bike in the future and being able to have mudguards on that is a really good idea.

Years ago I slightly horrified my framebuilder by insisting that my new race frame should definitely have a chainstay brace and that the frame should be built so that the brake blocks would be in the bottom of their slots using the calipers I had chosen. 'It's almost like you want to fit... mudguards' he spluttered, clearly aghast at the very thought. I asked him how much heavier the bike would be that way and he was forced to agree that it was stuff-all. I then calmly informed him that after a few years of racing use I'd doubtless get the itch for something different at which point this frame would become the training bike, so yes, it is second life it would indeed have mudguards. I still have that frame.

hth

cheers

I'll be honest.. 99% of Hungarian children in kindergarten when sees the Union Jack will think of "2nd hand clothing". And I love 2nd hand clothes shop, I've bought 3! altura gel-padded shorts for 3 bucks (yes, 3 pounds), 2 of them were brand new with the manufacturer's sticker still inside it. You can have jerseys and cycle shorts, even bib-shorts for a couple of bucks only if you buy in these "Háda" stores. Therefore, the only thing you'll spend significant money beside the bike is:

-shoes
-pedals
-helmet

The latter can be bought in decent quality from Aldi or Lidl, never heard anyone having a bad word or opinion about those two options. Shoes sometimes can be bought with a great discount also second-hand. Be aware though, that most cycling shoes are differently sized. I'm lucky, half of my street shoes are size 45, half of them are 46, and I need exactly 45.5 sized Chain cycling shoes fit me perfectly, so they're quite accurate in terms of sizing.

I'm very fond of wearing a helmet. Looks great IMHO, comfortable, protects your head from the blazing sun, even cools it down a little (the holes are great at circulating the air around your skull and also your head is protected from direct sun exposure..) Oh, and they tend to absorb shock when you happen to crash. Fortunately I've never needed that feature yet, and I don't want to experience what's it like to crash, but I feel better wearing a helmet..

Some accessories worth having: a standing pump capable of 9-10 bars of pressure inside your skinny tyres. (I use mine on 9 bar, approx. 130psi, this way it's almost impossible to get puncture accidentally) Some saddle bag for spare tubes (just to be safe..) a mini-chain tool (just to be safe..) a multi-tool (diff. sized allen keys, screwdrivers.. should take care of most situations on the road) tyre levers (just to be safe..) and a little mini-pump.

These accessories are usually carried in the saddlebag-pouch. The jersey pockets are useful for this as well.

And then comes the bike.. I'd go with either the focus cayo (great frame geometry.. germans never screw up this.. ) or, if you have help from someone for fitting, take a look at Rosebikes..

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-pr ... aid:745551

more relaxed geometry than the cayo, ally frame around 1350 grams (the specs says 1280, but tour magazine always weigh these around 1320-1350.. plus the fullcarbon fork with tapered steerer..) complete new 11spd 105 gruopset for 860 pounds.. mavic aksium wheelset, weighs around 8kgs due to the lightish handlebar-stem-saddle-seatpost-wheelset-tyres..

student wrote: ...And then comes the bike.. I'd go with either the focus cayo (great frame geometry.. germans never screw up this.. ) ...

except they do screw up...!. -they have no room for mudguards and the front centres are so short that you are likely to have toe overlap. Both these things are pointless and stupid on a bike that might be bought by a beginner, and in reality do not offer an expert rider any real advantage either.

cheers

excuse my ignoring the fact that not everyone is like continental europeans when they design those frames, germans tend to also ignore the possibility of adding mudguards, as it's very rare for them to use fenders on their roadies.

Why would a beginner spend £1000 on a carbon near race bike?
I thought the op wanted a fast bike with the goal of doing Triathlons. The bikes he mentioned would all have been pretty good for that purpose. The fact that he's picked those out would show that he has a pretty good idea already of the kind of bike he's after unless someone has advised him of their own choices of course. Race bikes can still have mudguards fitted if desired - they don't have to be bolted to the frame these days.
Many cyclists looking for a fast bike for two to three hour rides and a weekend blast aren't too bothered about mudguards or toe overlap. If the guy said he wanted the bike to commute to work in his suit then obviously he's going to be wanting something completely different to the bikes he's looking at.