First road bike advice for an ex MTBer...

[Sideways Rich]

Having moved to Singapore and sold all my cars in the UK (sacrilege I know) I won't be buying a car over here, £50k permit to drive one and the tax on cars is outrageous think £90k for a basic Golf. I'll have to get my kicks from track days instead.

So enough of the ramble I used to ride MTB's and built my own 15+ years ago (Kona Hahanna then GT Zaskar with Magura brakes etc - loved that bike) I had grand aspirations of resurrecting my biking and bought a Specialised Pitch Pro which I rode 3 times, and have left in the UK with a mate who is probably going to buy it.

My thoughts have turned to getting a decent entry level road bike whilst I'm here to get around and keep fit. My only experience of a half decent road bike was in Bedoin France in the summer where my bro and I hired some decent Giant road bikes and spent the day on them, really enjoyed it, amazing the speed you can get up to and distance you can cover on one.

So as a complete novice what should I be looking at in terms of decent brands, value for money, group sets etc....

Budget is around the £1k mark, but if spending a little more means not upgrading immediately if I really get into it then happy to do that.

Thanks all

[paulmon]

Lots of bikes at this price point. Cannondale CAAD10 is worth a shout.

[Comfortably Dumb]

Any examples of what bikes £1k buys you in Singapore? Or are you looking to buy here and ship over there?

[Sideways Rich]

Comfortably Dumb said:

Any examples of what bikes £1k buys you in Singapore? Or are you looking to buy here and ship over there?

A very good question have been past a few bike shops here but not in one as yet so may need to increase the budget to adjust to local market conditions, lets hope its not the same price inflartion for bikes as for cars! :-)

Intention is to buy locally, have seen a couple of Trek bike shops.

[Sideways Rich]

paulmon said:

Lots of bikes at this price point. Cannondale CAAD10 is worth a shout.

Thanks will check it out, I know how a MTB should fit seize wise, however have no clue for road bikes, any rule of thumb I should be aware of?

[HurryUpAndWait]

Sideways Rich said:

Thanks will check it out, I know how a MTB should fit seize wise, however have no clue for road bikes, any rule of thumb I should be aware of?

There's a few size guides available - I recently bought a Canyon bike and their website has a size calculator whereby you input various body length measurements (height, inside leg, torso length, shoulder width and arm length) and out pops the size - you can then see their geometry which should translate to any other manufacturer.

http://www.canyon.com/_en/tools/pps.html

Give this a go.

I'd like to report that it gave me the perfect size, however, I've yet to receive the bike, so alas, I'll have to wait to see if it's any good myself!

[Sideways Rich]

HurryUpAndWait said:

There's a few size guides available - I recently bought a Canyon bike and their website has a size calculator whereby you input various body length measurements (height, inside leg, torso length, shoulder width and arm length) and out pops the size - you can then see their geometry which should translate to any other manufacturer.

http://www.canyon.com/_en/tools/pps.html

Give this a go.

I'd like to report that it gave me the perfect size, however, I've yet to receive the bike, so alas, I'll have to wait to see if it's any good myself!

Thanks chap, will check it out

[mudshark]

Oh those figures really right? Sounds crazy! Why so high?

I'm a big fan of giant bikes, a Defy would be great unless you want something more aggressive - they do great in mag reviews so have a look.

[Sideways Rich]

Right time to sort this out, my birthday in 3 weeks so I'm going to sort out a bike.

Any particular manufacturers that I should be looking for?

[Bobley]

If you've already ridden a Giant and was happy with it then the Defy is a totally kickass bike. I don't have one by the way, I bought a Boardman Team Carbon and I'm very happy with it but I doubt you'll get one locally (I could post you one out if you like!).

The other safe bet bikes are things like Specialized Allez Elite, Felt F85(?), Scott Speedster and I'm sure Trek will do something too I'm sure. You probably want to get on a few of these bikes and try them for feel.

On the flipside why not get a cross bike like the new Orange RX9 (Thing) get it sent out to you and you can be all patriotic?

[Sideways Rich]

Bobley said:

If you've already ridden a Giant and was happy with it then the Defy is a totally kickass bike. I don't have one by the way, I bought a Boardman Team Carbon and I'm very happy with it but I doubt you'll get one locally (I could post you one out if you like!).

The other safe bet bikes are things like Specialized Allez Elite, Felt F85(?), Scott Speedster and I'm sure Trek will do something too I'm sure. You probably want to get on a few of these bikes and try them for feel.

On the flipside why not get a cross bike like the new Orange RX9 (Thing) get it sent out to you and you can be all patriotic?

Thanks Bobley, great info, will see if I can arrange some test rides.