First road bike, budget £1500

[jparemain]

Hi guys!

So I'm quite a lurker on here and have been cycling on my bad MTB for quite a while now. I really feel ready to get a road bike and soon I will (hopefully) be joining a cycling club. Anyway, I have a budget of £1500 for a road bike. I have looked at a few today, particularly from Specialized and Giant and they all look nice. I tried a Giant which felt nice (Defy 1). I was told I'm a M/L so I tried this and it was the right size.

I will mainly be doing distance rides with some climbs. My main question is whether it's worth more money for a carbon frame.

I have a short list of bikes that I've been considering. Please tell me which you think would suit me the most:
-Specialized Allez Elite
-Specialized Tarmac Sport (worth extra for the carbon?)
-Giant Defy 1 (tried, was nice)
-Giant Defy composite 2 (worth extra for the carbon?)

Please feel free to tell me if non of these bikes would be good for me and suggest another one!
I am a beginner but am a firm believer in 'buy cheap, buy twice' so ideally I don't want to cut corners and buy a cheap bike, only to buy a new one a few months later.

Thanks in advance,
James

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I have an Allez Elite, it is a great bike and I have done a metric tonne on it with no issues. Though you will get a much better spec bike than the Allez Elite for £1,500.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Not all frames are created equal IMHO, this does not matter if they are made of aluminium, carbon, titanium or steel.
Ultimately for your budget I would personally look at the Allez race which has only just been released. It is getting rave reviews at this time.
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/...roduct/review-specialized-allez-race-14-47441

Ultimately I would advise finding a LBS store which will give you a great service and advise. I would then advise riding and testing some bikes and buying the one which suits you, the one which makes you smile.
It does not matter what I or anyone else consider to be a good bike, It only matters what you consider to be a good bike.

 

[oldfatfool]

I would be looking at ROSE or CANYON, if you can stretch to £1750 then you can get Ultegra Di2 on a Canyon Ally frame, along with a nice wheelset.
Unlike the "named" brands you will find that you also get a full g-set rather than a headline mech. and lower end brakes, cassette etc.

 

[vickster]

If you can stretch to 2k you can get Ridley carbon with di2 in kermit green

 

[vickster]

If I were spending that much, I'd want something different to the ubiquitous specialized, giant or trek

 

[format]

I would be looking at ROSE or CANYON, if you can stretch to £1750 then you can get Ultegra Di2 on a Canyon Ally frame, along with a nice wheelset.
Unlike the "named" brands you will find that you also get a full g-set rather than a headline mech. and lower end brakes, cassette etc.

Seconded. I have a Canyon Roadlite 7.0 and it's lovely.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

When looking at bikes also ask about the warranty offered by the manufacturer, some companies stand behind their products with lifetime frame warranty and others will offer you a two year warranty at best.

 

[Get In The Van]

its a jungle out there around that price.
I have also set myself that limit on my bike, I've kinda got the CAAD 10 as my benchmark, its got Shimano105 and its possibly the best rated Alu frame on the market right now, plus a lot of rave reviews, so from there i'll just look around, the Basso bikes look nice and a bit unusual as do the canyon and rose bikes,
have fun and get what you like the best and another one which you may overlook is the Boardman team carbon, a lot of bike for the money, yes its from Halfords but take it to your LBS and get it set up right if Halfords can't do it.

 

[redcard]

With that budget I'd be looking at Canyon or Ribble.

 

[buggi]

if that budget is "cash" rather than credit, i'd be looking to go a bit higher and barter the shop down. i got my £1800 Scott CR1 Pro road bike for £1400. all because i like the CR1 but wanted ultegra which came on the CR1 Pro, so asked them to swap the groupset over. The shop couldn't be arsed with the additional work... so knocked the additional cost off

 

[buggi]

don't forget that some bikes (like the Tarmac) are very race aggressive and stiffer frame. if you want long rides you might want a more relaxed position (like the Allez i think). If the roubaix is within your price range, i've heard that is a very comfy ride and also very fast. (best of both worlds)

 

[redcard]

don't forget that some bikes (like the Tarmac) are very race aggressive and stiffer frame. if you want long rides you might want a more relaxed position (like the Allez i think). If the roubaix is within your price range, i've heard that is a very comfy ride and also very fast. (best of both worlds)

The Allez is basically an aluminium Tarmac.

The Roubaix and the Secteur are Specialized's 'relaxed' bikes.

 

[Kestevan]

Planet X,
Rose,
Canyon
Even Ribble

All have excellent bikes at this price level, all much higher spec than the big name brands above.

 

[Saluki]

What about a nice Eddie Merckx bike?