That is why I am asking to get the information to make an informed decision. Have a maths / science background so tend to be logical and evidence based. I know I will never race, I'm 13.5 stone so could make ride lighter by losing more weight ( although I have lost 5.5 stone this year). Any help appreciated.
You are not trying to win the Tour de France (I hope!) - you just need a nice bike to enjoy riding and keep you fit.
+1 for this
Many thanks for your reply, test riding this week and I'm fairly certain I won't be able to resist something. I'm just loving riding my bike, really enjoying riding with a local club, still love riding on my own on my trusty tourer. Wish I had started riding like this years ago.I think that looks like a very nice bike and I'm sure that you would be happy with it!
I am still riding a 15 year old Cannondale which has a good quality aluminium frame and a carbon fork. It weighs about the same as the one you are looking at. My bike is equipped with a Campagnolo groupset but Shimano 105 is very good. The BMC has a good wide range of gears.
I reckon at the price you are talking about you would be better off buying a quality aluminium frame than a lower quality carbon fibre one.
It might go against the grain to 'forget the science' but ... 'forget the science'!
You would probably find it very difficult to measure any significant differences between the BMC and CF bikes in your price range. A small weight difference perhaps, but you could lose more off yourself than you could off the bike.
As Yellow Saddle has hinted at, you are probably going to end up buying a bike that you like rather than something which is much better than other similarly priced bikes. Buy something soon and enjoy riding it through the summer. If you start getting into comparing specs you could end up dithering about until the autumn. I have seen it time and time again, and the bike eventually chosen was no better than the first one looked at!
That costs £250 more!
But soooo worth it!
I stopped cycling for 20 years before finally starting again in 1989. The bike I bought then weighed about 3 kg more than the one you were looking at. It didn't have the wide range of gears or the integrated gear shifters available now but it was still a huge improvement on what I'd ridden before. I reckon a couple of kms on that BMC and you will have a big smile on your face.
Not having a spare £250?
Worth reining things in for a couple of months.I stopped cycling for 20 years before finally starting again in 1989. The bike I bought then weighed about 3 kg more than the one you were looking at. It didn't have the wide range of gears or the integrated gear shifters available now but it was still a huge improvement on what I'd ridden before. I reckon a couple of kms on that BMC and you will have a big smile on your face.
One thing I do chose to to do on my aluminium bike is to use lower tyre pressures than may people recommend. I would probably use 95-100 PSI rear and 85-90 PSI front on the BMC if you find the ride harsh.
Not having a spare £250?
