What new sportive bike for £1k

[wilbo83]

Simple question. If you had £1000 to spend on a brand new bike available today, for use in sportives and regular road riding, what would you buy? Bonus if it can be had on 0% finance too. Current considerations are a Planet X Pro Carbon, Ribble Gran Fondo and Giant Defy 0 (I currently ride a Giant Defy 4 2010 model) but would be interested in other thoughts.

[gazza285]

Kinesis T2. I like Kinesis.

Saying that I only rode two Sportives last year, one on my ancient Raleigh and the other on my even more ancient Vitus 979.

[Celtic Dragon]

Ribble will also be looking at for that price point.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bbd/road-track-bike/...

[Steve vRS]

Are the Defy 0s below £1000 now? I paid £999 for my Defy 1 3 years ago and although have little to compare it against, love it and can highly recommend it - the 0 with Ultegra components should be slightly better!

Steve

[thepawbroon]

I've got the Planet X Pro Carbon, I've had it for 30 mins and nothing has gone wrong!!!



Seriously, how about a Cannondale Synapse Alloy Disc / 105? Seems quite popular.

[pembo]

thepawbroon said:

I've got the Planet X Pro Carbon, I've had it for 30 mins and nothing has gone wrong!!!

Apart from a huge decrease in space in your hallway!!

How big are those boxes? Mine turned up earlier than expected when I was away for 4 days and ended up spending that time filling my neighbour's dining room!

Edited by pembo on Wednesday 7th January 17:06

Edited by pembo on Wednesday 7th January 17:06

[jamiebae]

Personally, I fancy building a bike myself along the following lines

11 sp 105 groupset - £280ish
Genesis Equilibrium Disc 2015 frameset - £499 (can probably get 10% off this)
Leaves £200-250 for wheels and finishing kit, plus some brakes, you can eBay the 105 ones from the gruppo

A cheaper frameset would save some cash, and the rim brake version is £50 less so can certainly be done under budget. It isn't carbon, but for Sportives and normal rides I'm sure it'd be perfect, and more pleasing to own than a cheap carbon frame built down to a price point.

[Roger Irrelevant]

At this price point I'd be looking at the likes of Planet X, Boardman, Canyon and Vitus (effectively Chain Reaction's own brand these days), and seeing which 2014 models are most heavily discounted. In fact I did the same thing at a slightly higher price point myself and ended up with a Vitus VRi with Ultegra Di2, which I have to say is bloody fantastic and as good a bike as I could possibly have got for what I paid. And make use of the cycle to work scheme if it's available to you (a lot of bike shops will let you use it even if the bike's a bit over £1,000 too).

[BadgerBenji]

If you can stretch to an extra £200 the Giant Defy Advanced 3, is a cracking bike, full carbon and disc brake with a very smooth ride, thanks to the seatpost and seatstays that have been freed from holding brakes.

[broster]

thepawbroon said:

I've got the Planet X Pro Carbon, I've had it for 30 mins and nothing has gone wrong!!!



Seriously, how about a Cannondale Synapse Alloy Disc / 105? Seems quite popular.

I had the same thought with mine when it was in the box, until I opened it and the frame was cracked where the bars had hit it! Then I had to spend hours on the phone trying to speak to someone about replacing it

[Gizmoish]

Canyon Endurace. £1099 for full 105 and everything.

[anonymous-user]

Gizmoish said:

Canyon Endurace. £1099 for full 105 and everything.

I'd go with this the or if you prefer buying from a shop, the Hoy Sa Calobra which at £1000 is a bargain.

[Daveyraveygravey]

jamiebae said:

Personally, I fancy building a bike myself along the following lines

11 sp 105 groupset - £280ish
Genesis Equilibrium Disc 2015 frameset - £499 (can probably get 10% off this)
Leaves £200-250 for wheels and finishing kit, plus some brakes, you can eBay the 105 ones from the gruppo

A cheaper frameset would save some cash, and the rim brake version is £50 less so can certainly be done under budget. It isn't carbon, but for Sportives and normal rides I'm sure it'd be perfect, and more pleasing to own than a cheap carbon frame built down to a price point.

I'm seriously thinking about something similar but a Kinesis Aithein frame (under 500 quid online) same groupset and then hunt around for some wheels... Never had a carbon bike though and this will be my last "racer" so that is swaying me away from the Aithein.
Have a look at Dolan and Sensa bikes from Merlin cycles

[wilbo83]

pablo said:

I'd go with this the or if you prefer buying from a shop, the Hoy Sa Calobra which at £1000 is a bargain.

Bit naive but I had never even heard of the Hoy bikes. My local Evans store has the one you linked and the 2015 .003 model (currently £850 with 105 groupset) in so may go take a look after work.

[Celtic Dragon]

wilbo83 said:

Bit naive but I had never even heard of the Hoy bikes. My local Evans store has the one you linked and the 2015 .003 model (currently £850 with 105 groupset) in so may go take a look after work.

I wouldn't worry too much about Hoy bikes, The name comes from Sir Chris Hoy who helpd "develop" them

http://www.hoybikes.com

[bakerstreet]

This is getting a little silly now. |This has been covered many many times on this forum. Worth doing a search.

I'd throw my money at a 10sp Pro Carbon and you will have change from £1k for something like a Garmin computer or some ultegra wheels.

[TheLemming]

Planet X RT-58 £999
Carbon semi- aero frame. SRAM Force 22.
7.9kg

Easily dropped to 7kg with a few judicious upgrades further down the line.

Sorted.

I'm not sure that anything compares at that price point right now this second.

[nammynake]

bakerstreet said:

This is getting a little silly now. |This has been covered many many times on this forum. Worth doing a search.

I'd throw my money at a 10sp Pro Carbon and you will have change from £1k for something like a Garmin computer or some ultegra wheels.

It does get asked a lot, but bike ranges are refreshed every year and deals come and go on a monthly basis. Advice will therefore differ on a frequent basis.

[wilbo83]

Thought I would update this with my current thoughts, to see if there is any more opinion or owner experiences. I am waiting until after visiting the London bike show next month, when I hope to see a couple of these, and then will make a purchase.

The current shortlist, probably in preference, is:

Planet X Pro Carbon with Ultegra, FSA Team 30 wheels, £999
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FBPXSLPULT6800/planet...

Rose Pro SL 2000 with 105 5800 + Mavic Aksium WTS for £805 (or spend a bit more for the Pro SL 300 with Ultegra @ £1047)
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/pro-sl-2000-bike-n...

Dolan L'Etape with 105 5800, RS11 Wheels, £999
http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-bikes/road-bi...

Canyon Endurance AL 6.0 with 105 5800, Mavic Aksium One, £899
http://www.canyon.com/en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=357...

Canyon Endurance CF 7.0 with 105 5800, Mavic Aksium One, £1099
http://www.canyon.com/en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=369...

One frustrating thing is that the PX Pro Carbon isn't offered with 105 5800. It is offered with 105 5700 for £799, which was my original plan and budget, but if this was 5800, it would be more tempting. I contacted PX and they stated it is unlikely they will build it with this groupset as they plan to use SRAM more in future (tried double tap shifters but they are not for me).

Edited by wilbo83 on Tuesday 20th January 17:28

Edited by wilbo83 on Tuesday 20th January 17:51

[jamiebae]

Can't you buy a 105 5800 groupset for about £300? Buy the PX with 5700 plus the new groupset, and a 5800 groupset too, then strip the new bike and fit the new bits and get the old stuff on eBay, you should get a couple of hundred back too.