Carbon road bikes mainstream or custom made

[Our connor]

I hope to buy my first carbon road bike in the spring I have been looking at the giant defy advance 1 with ultegra gears but have also been to terry Dolans shop and was advised that the tuono sl frame would fit me although the gearing was SRAM rival or shimano 105 for around the same price so do I go for the giant or the custom made Dolan with slightly less impressive kit ?

 

[fossyant]

Custom made is not what you think. They can do a bike that comes off the peg to your specs. Your choice !

Custom is a bike frame made to your measurements, which is very expensive.

 

[400bhp]

As Fossy says.

I find Giant bikes extremely boring to look at. I'm sure they are generally good but not for me.

I'd have a Dolan though. Nice bikes and you should get good service.

 

[Cuchilo]

I would (and have) go for the Giant . They make their own frames and the advanced stuff is hand made . I don't know anything about Dolan so cant comment on their products .
If you want the personal touch then I guess Dolan will give you that .

 

[Cuchilo]

Custom made is not what you think. They can do a bike that comes off the peg to your specs. Your choice !

Custom is a bike frame made to your measurements, which is very expensive.

If they don't lay up the carbon frame themselves then I would go for the Giant .

 

[Drago]

Unless your tiny, huge, or a strange combination of dimensions, then it will be easy to find an off the peg frame that fits you perfectly.

Giant make all their frames, including the carbon ones, in house. I'd very happily have a Giant carbon frame if they ever make one rated for a rider above 105kg.

 

[Our connor]

Thanks everybody ,when I went to Terry's shop he compared his frame to the trek I'm riding at the moment .i forgot to mention I'm not very tall so found it difficult to size a bike in the first place. Terry said he could use various components to make sure of my fit while giant just said have you tried a woman's xs size ?although they didn't have any in stock to try.

 

[Cuchilo]

Been posted before but .....


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBZB3W7RG0M

 

[mustang1]

Do you buy any other custom stuff like suits, jeans, shoes etc?

I think you'll be fine with Giant BUT Dolan is way cooler and I'd love to own one of those over a Giant or other big name brand.

 

[Cuchilo]

Do you buy any other custom stuff like suits, jeans, shoes etc?

I think you'll be fine with Giant BUT Dolan is way cooler and I'd love to own one of those over a Giant or other big name brand.

Not sure I understand why . If they just take an off the peg frame and add off the peg parts , what makes them cool ? I am 41 by the way so lost my cooleness many years ago

 

[Kestevan]

Dolan makes some lovely bikes, and I know the Preffisio (alloy) and Tuono (carbon) come in some very small frame sizes as they were one of the few that would fit Mrs Kes comfortably.

As an aside, people with smaller hands generally find that SRAM levers are much easier to operate and more comfortable than the equivalent Shimano offerings, I know Mrs Kes does ( as I believe does @vickster )

 

[vickster]

Indeed, the hoods are much slimmer. Although my hands are not especially small for a woman, the SRAM hoods just fit so much better between thumb and forefinger for controlled braking on hills especially - I can't brake in the same way on 105 at all. Reason why the Genesis was built from the frame rather than buying the off the peg 105 (also I would have had to change saddle and bars for starters)

 

[Drago]

I'd have thought better of cyclists, choosing a brand for the imagined kudos. The name on the frame is at the bottom of my list right at the other end from fit, integrity, weight, ride, build process, and guarantee, with colour, bosses, finish etc somewhere in the middle.

Having Carlos Fandango in italic script on the downturn may be lovely if you're hanging it on the wall, but is utterly meaningless when actually riding the thing

 

[vickster]

I don't agree...personally from now on, I will avoid the big brands (unless I win the bike and even then I would sell it if it says specialized on it)...I am not normally interested in brands, but when it comes to bikes I want something different, individual...I have probably seen two other paves on the road, other whytes but not the same model and perhaps a couple of burnt orange genesis. If I am going to spend £1500+ on a bike! I want it to feel special and I never got that riding previous giants, treks and especially specialized, they were simply tools and very unexciting ones . No one ever complimented me on how lovely my Sirrus was, I have it fairly often with the Pearson especially

 

[Our connor]

Thank you for your input everyone, i was especially interested in vicksters comments about SRAM components as I too have small hands and my shimano Claris equipped trek is the first bike I have ridden with sti levers. I will wait a while to make a decision because I'm waiting for giant to ring me so I can try a xs frame in the meantime thank you all.