First road bike?

[R8Steve]

So the time has come for me to start doing a bit of road riding. All my friends have started doing it and now the weather is getting better i fancy joining them.

Having tried to keep up on my current bike (Boardman HT Pro carbon MTB) have discovered the difference between a road bike and a MTB..painfully!

My current thoughs are either

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/evapo...

or

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/...

Budget will be about 1k, had originally thought about 1.5k but need to get proper shoes and other kit.

Any thoughts on the above bikes or any recommendations what to get bearing in mind i haven't actually riden a roadbike..not a pedal powered one anyway.

[Sarkmeister]

Paul's Cycles have the Giant TCR Composite 3 for £949. Looks like a very good deal.

[option click]

Both good bikes for the money. Of the two my preference would be the Boardman.

Also look at Ribble, Planet X or Canyon - all three brands offer good bikes that offer great value for money.

[anonymous-user]

Pinnacle are under rated, they are seen as "Evans' own brand" but they are well spec'd and nicely built. Only the badge snobs will have a bad word to say about them and its unlikely they have ridden one.

The Boardman suffers from the Halfords association but again they are great bikes for the money and again, the haters will either not have ridden one or lament Halfrods service which is hit or miss and varies from store to store.

Assuming comfort is a priority, I'd go and try the Pinnacle first as its slightly less aggressive geomoetry and wont be quite as "head down-arse up" as the Boardman...

Evans arent the best at stock level management though so you might not find many 2012 bikes around (despite their claims) now but the equivilent 2013 bike is worth a look.

Other things to consider are the Genesis Volant 20 Genesis are another criminally under rated brand and this is a nice bike for the money.

They are dozens around at that price range though, its the Cycle to Work traditional cut off but also a nice round number so largely every brand will have a few bikes at that sort of £900-£1000 level. Its quite hard to buy a bad bike at that sort of price though, some will be better suited to what you want than others, but whether its Merida, Vitus, Boardman, Specilased, Trek, Fuji etc they will largely be the same spec and quality with only minor variations. you could do a lot worse than buying one that you just like the look of, at least you will enjoy riding it and have some pride in it.

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 26th April 12:50

[R8Steve]

Thanks all,

As a total novice I do tend to find myself drawn more towards the look of the bike than anything else if truth be told. Glad to hear that it's hard to buy a bad bike at that level. Having never ridden any others i wouldn't know the difference anyway i suppose!

Having another browse about i see that boardman do a carbon road bike for 1k, strongly considering that now if only for the fact it is the road version of my current bike and they would look good sitting together in the garage

Does that seem an ok bike for a novice? I'm doing the 4 Abbeys challenge with work next month so am probably looking to buy one this weekend

[tigger1]

Have just got a carbon boardman - love it.

Was also considering the cannondale caad8 and Giant Defy 1 at similar (sub-1k) prices.

Go try a few - whether you want a racy or "upright" position will make a difference to your choice.

[bakerstreet]

That Defy at £949 is a steel!

Ribble Grand Fondo is worth a look. The Planet-X entry level Carbon bike is the RT-57. Both nice bikes.