Help me dispose of €500

Ciaran500

I'm looking at buying a new bike for commuting and I'm kinda out of my depth in the road bike field. It'll be used to get me around on ~30min journeys as well as the odd longer training cycle. I'm an avid mountain biker so know bikes well but have no clue about sizes, geometry, group sets or leg shaving.

So far I've been looking at these:

1. http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_810675_langId_-1_categoryId_212536#dtab
2. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-z100-2011/
3. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f95-2011/
4. http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/allez-16-2011-road-bike-ec025025 (hard to stick to a budget when looking at shiny things)

And I just end up with more questions:

• What groupsets should I be expecting in this range?
• How do I decide on a size? I have no problem buying online except for this.
• Shimano, Campagnolo or SRAM? Should I care? On MTBs they all have a different feel but they all work well.
• Most seem to be a compact with only the odd triple I have a feeling this one is a can of worms...
• Is a carbon fork a big move up from aluminium?
• The descriptions of some of the bikes changes from some of them being described as a bit focused on speed to other more about comfort. I assume this is referring to differences in the geometry, but how can I decide on that? Even if I could sit on the bikes I wouldn't know what I was looking for.

EDIT: The Halfords Carrera is out, its heavier, steel fork and only has 2300 parts.

petethedrummer

What height are you? And do you have unusually short or long legs, relative to your height?

Ciaran500

petethedrummer wrote: »

What height are you? And do you have unusually short or long legs, relative to your height?

Knew I'd forget something. I'm 6'2" with a 34" inseam.

Inquitus

I came across this the other day in the CRC sales

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=59249

Thought it was quite good value myself. Its a bit over budget..

Ciaran500

Inquitus wrote: »

Thought it was quite good value myself. Its a bit over budget..

That is well spec'd and looks sexy, its only €300 extra too...


NO! Bad Inquitus! Leave my wallet alone.

Lemag

I would go for the Felt F95 and get 4% off via fatcheese.ie.

Ciaran500

Lemag wrote: »

I would go for the Felt F95 and get 4% off via fatcheese.ie.

Finding it hard to find a bike to beat the F95 alright and 4% more off would make it even more tempting.

EDIT: Its 2% cashback on bikes FYI.

Inquitus

The Felt F95 on wiggle is €618.50 delivered which is €606 with 2% cashback. The BeOne is €705 delivered, I honestly think its way better value, and worth the extra 85 euro.

Ciaran500

Inquitus wrote: »

The Felt F95 on wiggle is €618.50 delivered which is €606 with 2% cashback. The BeOne is €705 delivered, I honestly think its way better value, and worth the extra 85 euro.

Inquitus

Ciaran500 wrote: »

My bad I was looking at pounds, sorry. I was recommending this very bike to a mate in the UK yesterday so had changed my CRC preset to £'s.

Sorry about that Ciaran.

bogmanfan

OP, I see you're in Lucan. If you don't mind buying second-hand, pop into Stagg Cycles in the village. He usually has good value used road bikes. Was in there last week and there was a 2009 Trek 2.1 for €500. It was a 58cm, which would be your size (I'm also 6'2" and I have a 58)

Lemag

Inquitus wrote: »

My bad I was looking at pounds, sorry. I was recommending this very bike to a mate in the UK yesterday so had changed my CRC preset to £'s.

Sorry about that Ciaran.

It's also a triple which is another reason I'd rather go for the Felt.

jimm

Specialized is UK delivery only. AFAIK you can only buy a Spesh from an Irish retailer if purchasing here.

Ciaran500

Inquitus wrote: »

My bad I was looking at pounds, sorry. I was recommending this very bike to a mate in the UK yesterday so had changed my CRC preset to £'s.

Sorry about that Ciaran.

No problem.

Kinda feel settled on the F95 now, will just be another week before I can afford it and mull over the sizes. Felt say 58-61cm will fit me.

bogmanfan wrote: »

OP, I see you're in Lucan. If you don't mind buying second-hand, pop into Stagg Cycles in the village. He usually has good value used road bikes. Was in there last week and there was a 2009 Trek 2.1 for €500. It was a 58cm, which would be your size (I'm also 6'2" and I have a 58)

Had never considered going second hand from him. I'll pop in during the week and have a look.

Lemag wrote: »

It's also a triple which is another reason I'd rather go for the Felt.

Why go for the compact over the triple?

Lemag

Ciaran500 wrote: »

No problem.

Kinda feel settled on the F95 now, will just be another week before I can afford it and mull over the sizes. Felt say 58-61cm will fit me.

I recommended this bike only a couple of days ago to a friend who is on a similarly tight budget to yourself. Another friend of mine was looking to get one a couple of months ago from the LBS for €770. They couldn't get it in his size. It's a very nice looking bike "in the flesh" IMO.

Lemag

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Why go for the compact over the triple?

Less weight and less gear changes. I prefer being able to go straight from the small ring at the front to the big ring. A compact should have all the range you'll need unless you're about 85 and heading up a category 1.

Ciaran500

Lemag wrote: »

Less weight and less gear changes. I prefer being able to go straight from the small ring at the front to the big ring. A compact should have all the range you'll need unless you're about 85 and heading up a category 1.

So its the middle ring you loose, not the bottom one. Kinda (34T vs 30T). Had never considered that, just assumed you lost all your low range with the compact.

Kav0777

This BeOne would seem better Value than the f 95

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=59250

cython

Ciaran500 wrote: »

So its the middle ring you loose, not the bottom one. Kinda (34T vs 30T). Had never considered that, just assumed you lost all your low range with the compact.

No, that would be the difference between a compact and a standard double. You potentially lose out slightly at the top end with a compact (triples often have 52 teeth on the big ring, though the BeOne there seems to only have 50), and with the wrong cassette you some low range with the compact over a triple. However, many manufacturers spec their bikes with compacts with a broader range cassette than they would with a triple (e.g. the Lapierre Sensium 300 comes with an 11-28 cassette if you buy with a compact, or a 12-25 if bought with a triple), so gappier shifting is the only penalty there.

Lemag

Ciaran500 wrote: »

So its the middle ring you loose, not the bottom one. Kinda (34T vs 30T). Had never considered that, just assumed you lost all your low range with the compact.

The BeOne triple is 50-39-30. The compact on the Felt is 50-34.

cython

I wouldn't be surprised if massive knockdowns in price show up on Tiagra equipped bikes (some already have done, tbh), with the 2012 version going from 9 speed to 10 speed. That's a pretty significant jump which massively lessens the gap between Tiagra and 105 (basically puts it on a par with the 105 of a few years ago), so I can see retailers being very keen to shift their stock of bikes equipped with 9 speed Tiagra. With that being the case, if you don't mind being on 9 speed, there may be great value to be had!

Ciaran500

Kav0777 wrote: »

This BeOne would seem better Value than the f 95

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=59250

Does have a better groupset, but has alot of generic parts and I think the Felt looks alot better. If I have my sensible hat on when ordering I'll be struggling to pick between them. But we'll see how that goes :pac: