Right guys you have €2500 what do you buy?

BUACHAILL

got myself a budget of 2500 maybe 3000 what do i buy ?

vms7ply9t6dw4b

A Car!

penexpers

Bit of an open question. Why kind of bike would this be?

BUACHAILL

agh no they are no fun

BUACHAILL

sorry was a bit open, road bike

Caroline_ie

http://www.racycles.com/SpecializedTarmacProDoubleBike-idv-7644-264.html

My Specialized bike's brother: and bang on budget if you buy if from the US.

BUACHAILL

thats savage isnt it

Caroline_ie

Specialized bikes rule ...

Explosive_Cornflake

Self build?

BUACHAILL

its a lot of money to spend without having a shop to bring it back to though

BUACHAILL

what self build? gimme yours ?

Caroline_ie

BUACHAILL wrote: »

its a lot of money to spend without having a shop to bring it back to though

AAaaah - you don't bring back a bike that beautiful ... you keep it, adore it, take care of it, THIS bike can become the best thing that can ever happen in your life.

BUACHAILL

im thinking warranty not adoption ha

blorg

To be honest Buachaill, I wouldn't do it if you are just starting out. I'd spend €500-750 on a second-hand or entry-level road bike, having tried it out and reasonably sure that it fits, cycle that from now until the end of the summer and then, when you have a much better idea of what you want/need, consider dropping €2,500-3,000.September/October sort of time is a good time to be buying a bike, you can get some cracking deals on current year stock.

Not 100% sure from what I recall reading about your commute plans- did you buy an entry level racer already?

If you spend that money now it could work out OK but you might end up with something that was just wrong for you (whether fit, geometry or the type of bike.) You can always keep the other bike as a winter bike or for your monster commute.

Drapper

blorg wrote: »

To be honest Buachaill, I wouldn't do it if you are just starting out. I'd spend €500-750 on a second-hand or entry-level road bike, having tried it out and reasonably sure that it fits, cycle that from now until the end of the summer and then, when you have a much better idea of what you want/need, consider dropping €2,500-3,000.September/October sort of time is a good time to be buying a bike, you can get some cracking deals on current year stock.

Not 100% sure from what I recall reading about your commute plans- did you buy an entry level racer already?

If you spend that money now it could work out OK but you might end up with something that was just wrong for you (whether fit, geometry or the type of bike.) You can always keep the other bike as a winter bike or for your monster commute.

+1 on this!

penexpers

Caroline_ie wrote: »

http://www.racycles.com/SpecializedTarmacProDoubleBike-idv-7644-264.html

My Specialized bike's brother: and bang on budget if you buy if from the US.

The only thing I don't like the look of on that bike is the integrated crankset. I believe this means you can't upgrade the crankset and if it ever breaks then it's an expensive trip to a Specialized dealer to have it repaired.

BUACHAILL

yeah i hear you and thanks for the advice but i sold it today just wasnt happy with it. so now i need a bike and have a pretty good idea if what i am looking for. have cycled before so i know my needs. but as i said i am bikeless as and from today

blorg

Number one question then would be- why weren't you happy with it?

As that could give a good indication as to what you should be looking at that you would be happy with.

BUACHAILL

yes indeed, i bought it with a limited budget and was the best i could get for the money but didnt like the gearing system, but again was thinking with moneyand not needs. my commute is fairly big so i have decided to take the plunge, oh it had shimano sora on it, wasnt rated well and performed worse

TinyExplosions

I agree with Blorg, but if I had too, either a Trek Madone 5.2, or a custom build around a Cinelli Estrada with Ultegra groupset (Treason I know to pair an Italian frame with a Japanese groupset, but I like Shimano)

Drapper

BUACHAILL wrote: »

yes indeed, i bought it with a limited budget and was the best i could get for the money but didnt like the gearing system, but again was thinking with moneyand not needs. my commute is fairly big so i have decided to take the plunge, oh it had shimano sora on it, wasnt rated well and performed worse

that will be some bike to commute on! (where do you work :p hope you got a good lock mate!!)

BUACHAILL

can keep the bike indoors, and i dont have to commute but am going to anyway. losing the company car for the summer fancy the bike, wicklow - loughlinstown

penexpers

I guess you bought the last bike in a hurry so I wouldn't do the same thing again. Go to various shops and take test rides on a large range of bikes and see what works and doesn't work. After you've done this you should have a fair idea of what you like. This process should take at least a couple of months. If you buy the wrong bike after spending 2500 euro on it, you'll find it alot harder to sell on.

BUACHAILL

yeah see thats it, dont wanna make a mistake on this one, i was looking for 4 weeks before i bought my last. i am gonna make a decision this week.i have been doing a lot of homework the last few weeks. i like the trek and i like the pinarello but think they are overpriced. was also looking at the focus cayo pro. just wondered on other peoples opinion!!

penexpers

What you're mainly paying for with the Trek and the Pinarello is extra labour costs. The Madone 5 and upwards is manufactured somewhere in the US (Wisconsin, I think?) and (I think) Pinarello are still manufactured in Italy.

BUACHAILL

what would you buy pen ?

jefferson73

Self build might be an option with regard to current exchange rates and up to 3000 budget

Thinking:

Endorfin Speed III
or
Look 555
or
Cervélo Soloist Team

Need your Height and weight?
Climber?
Preference for Ti, Carbon, Alu or steel?

penexpers

I don't know. I'm not too up on road bike. I'm not really a fan of carbon fibre so I'd probably get some that had a steel frame. The last bike I got was a self-build Surly Cross Check and the next bike I'm getting will be a self-build Surly Big Dummy. So I would say get a Pacer (the Surly racer) but I have no idea if it would suit your needs.

BUACHAILL

i like the carbon ,height is 5ft 8 and 13.5 stone

blorg

Buachaill- I have a Focus Cayo (standard, although I have upgraded a few bits like the wheelset and saddle) - you could do worse than just get the standard Cayo.

I considered the Focus range a lot when deciding on the new bike and decided that the basic Cayo offered the best value of the range. I didn't feel the more expensive ones really justified the price difference from the base model for what you got, so I got the base one and then upgraded- letting me get exactly what I wanted.

This is especially true now as the price on the basic Cayo is back to 999 while the other ones are still elevated from where they were (Wiggle put prices up as a result of the strong Euro- the bikes are German.) At the end of the day the Cayo frames are all the same (although the forks are lighter on the more expensive ones) so you can get the basic one and then upgrade as you see fit; I went for a lighter wheelset and tyres, chopping around 500g off the overall weight.

A Cayo at £999 (€1,300) would not be a bad idea at all, better than spending €2,500-3,000 outright - you can give it a go and then upgrade as you see fit. It's a nice bike.

You will not fault Ultegra as a groupset!

BUACHAILL

thanks blorg i had that in the back of my mind alright and is wellworth considring in the mix, did you upgrade there and then or later on down the road?