Bike advice

[Lee_M]

Ok, I am a bit loath to post this given some of the abuse I've received on here for suggesting it's ok to spend lots of money on a bike I've if you have it, but

25 years ago I took out an endowment mortgage, it turned out to be crap like all of them, but luckily my life had moved on so at least I don't need it to pay off the mortgage it was originally tied to since it would have spectacularly failed!

Anyway, my wife (wonderful person she is) has said why not spend some of it on a new bike which has made me very happy.

Thing is while we all drool over really expensive kit, we don't often get the opportunity to buy it, so what should I buy?

A full bike or a box of bits, and if so what?

I have 3k to spare and would like a slightly more relaxed bike due to my back, I like the trek domane but it's not available until October, but I'd like some alternatives?

I know there are such things as the specialised roubaix etc, but what else? Anything unusual?

I'm 6'3" so it needs to come in at least a 60 or 62 frame

 

[Peteaud]

£3k

Would not know where to start - so many nice ones

 

[Cheshire Celt]

I am looking at bikes 2-5 k and the help on here is leading me towards a canyon bike I must admit they do tick all the boxes apart fom you need to buy online

 

[Lee_M]

yep I was looking at them too, but its a heck of a lot of money to throw into the internet wilderness!

 

[Cheshire Celt]

Yip and I have just asked the question if the bike fails do I need to ship it back to Germany ???

 

[mr_hippo]

Unlike you, I have a limited choice when it comes to buying unless I want to spend a fortune on shipping and import duty which I don't. So I am limited to Trek, Cannondale or Giant. Cannondale are overpriced here aand I do not like the dealer's attitude and I think the Giant dealer is a distant relative of Dick Turpin! . At the time I had a hybrid, tourer and road bike (2 Trek and 1 Nashbar) and always had good service from the Trek dealer so Trek it was.
My specs were simple - light road frame, touring gears (getting a bit too old to push 53/39) and barend levers, oh, I also wanted 36 spoke wheels. but Trek did not do what I wanted but they did do a 62cm 2.5 frame and my LBS had one in stock! . Somchai, LBS owner had built my wheels for about 8 years so he built me a nice pair so I now have what I wanted and am very happy with it.
Have you ever seen posts on here like 'I have a 2012 SuperBling and want to upgrade it'? If they want to upgrade a fairly new bike so soon after purchase, why did they buy it?
I see on the Trek website that they offer the Domane as a frameset as well as a complete bike and am sure your Trek dealer will be able to order one for you. Then it is a simple matter of building it to your spec - you will then have your ideal bike.

 

[Lee_M]

yep, I understand and my local trek dealer is really helpful,

unfortunately the bike isnt available until October 8th! Maybe I'll just have to leave the money burning a hole in my pocket until then...but its really hard!

 

[Cheshire Celt]

Well after weeks of thinking I took the plunge and spent 2-1 k on my new rd bike but what did I go for

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

With £3,000 to spend, there is no way I would be buying anything off-the-peg.

You can have something built to your exact specification that will last a lifetime and be unique!

 

[Rob3rt]

Build! Choose a frame, some nice wheels and a groupset and then go from there. I would either go with Cannondale (out of the more common brands) because I like them, or look at something a bit more exotic, Colnago, Cervelo etc.