Evans C2W Scheme - Need advice for new Road Bike

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seanmcd

New Member
Hi guys, I am looking for some advice for a new road bike. My work uses the Evans Cycle to work scheme so I need to use it here. I have signed up for £1000, which is also my max budget.

It will be my first road bike. Last year I bought a sensibly priced Hybrid bike (the Pinnacle Neon One) as I wanted to make sure I would use it and couldn't justify buying an expensive bike (as to be honest, I wasn't sure I would use it). However this year I've fallen in love with cycling again. I commute 2-3 times a week, which is about 10miles each way and I completed the London to Paris bike ride. I really enjoyed the training for the L2P and was regularly riding 50+miles on the weekend. This year I want to join a cycle club for weekend long rides and the odd sportive. I'm looking for a fast bike, that's comfortable that does not need any upgrades for a few years. Being able to fit a rack for the odd bit of touring would be a bonus, but to be honest that looks like the sacrifice I will have to, and am willing, to make in order to tick all the other boxes.

I know the first piece of advice is 'get the one that feels and rides best for you' and I intend to, it's just that there is so much choice out there!
Last weekend I test rode 3 bikes; BMC Granfondo GF02, Specialised secteur sport disc c2 & the Cannondale Synapse 6 Tiagra. The cannondale and Specialised were quite similar and while they were 'nice', I wasn't blown away..but Oh My God, the BMC was absolutely stunning and I have been thinking about it all week.

Before committing to the BMC, I want to try and ride other similar bikes to this to get a true sense of how good the BMC actually was (maybe that was the only one that was set up right, or the right type of fit, etc). On my list of bikes to try are the following, but I would really appreciate any advice or suggestions on other bikes (stocked by Evans) that I should also consider.

Trek Madone 2.1
Cannondale CAAD8 105
Specialised Allez Sport

Thanks and sorry for the long message!
 

vickster

Legendary Member
BMC, sounds like it's the one
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
Hi guys, I am looking for some advice for a new road bike. My work uses the Evans Cycle to work scheme so I need to use it here. I have signed up for £1000, which is also my max budget.

It will be my first road bike. Last year I bought a sensibly priced Hybrid bike (the Pinnacle Neon One) as I wanted to make sure I would use it and couldn't justify buying an expensive bike (as to be honest, I wasn't sure I would use it). However this year I've fallen in love with cycling again. I commute 2-3 times a week, which is about 10miles each way and I completed the London to Paris bike ride. I really enjoyed the training for the L2P and was regularly riding 50+miles on the weekend. This year I want to join a cycle club for weekend long rides and the odd sportive. I'm looking for a fast bike, that's comfortable that does not need any upgrades for a few years. Being able to fit a rack for the odd bit of touring would be a bonus, but to be honest that looks like the sacrifice I will have to, and am willing, to make in order to tick all the other boxes.

I know the first piece of advice is 'get the one that feels and rides best for you' and I intend to, it's just that there is so much choice out there!
Last weekend I test rode 3 bikes; BMC Granfondo GF02, Specialised secteur sport disc c2 & the Cannondale Synapse 6 Tiagra. The cannondale and Specialised were quite similar and while they were 'nice', I wasn't blown away..but Oh My God, the BMC was absolutely stunning and I have been thinking about it all week.

Before committing to the BMC, I want to try and ride other similar bikes to this to get a true sense of how good the BMC actually was (maybe that was the only one that was set up right, or the right type of fit, etc). On my list of bikes to try are the following, but I would really appreciate any advice or suggestions on other bikes (stocked by Evans) that I should also consider.

Trek Madone 2.1
Cannondale CAAD8 105
Specialised Allez Sport

Thanks and sorry for the long message!

What was "absolutely stunning" about it, out of interest?
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
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if its this one your talking about its outside of your budget of £1000 which you did say was your max - or are you willing to go above that budget mark you set yourself
 
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seanmcd

New Member
Thanks for the feedback guys. The Granfondo I tested was with Tiagra, not the 105 and comes in just under the budget (£975 on sale)...http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bmc/granfondo-gf02-tiagra-2014-road-bike-ec053875

Evans do let you 'top up' the voucher, so you can go over the £1000, but I need to buy pedals and will be skint after xmas, so need to make every penny count.

Not really sure what it was that I loved about the BMC, which is kind of why I posted this, as I wanted to see if there were 'similar' bikes that I could compare it to. It just fit really well, was super responsive and was quicker than any bike I've ever ridden before (not that this is a great deal of bikes). I only got about 10 mins with it, but the whole time I had a stupid grin on my face and it 'felt' like a £1000 bike (i.e. it's the first bike I've ridden that I think is worth that type of money).

An update...this morning I test rode the Trek 2.1 Madone, which didn't feel very comfortable and I was a bit disappointed with. I'm 6'1 and tried the 58cm frame but I felt that in the drops I needed the seat to be further back a bit. I also rode a Specialised Alley Sport, which was with Sora and a lot cheaper, which I actually found a better fit for me (same frame size - 58cm) and more comfortable but was slower and less responsive. They had already sold the BMC that I rode last week, so I couldn't have a second spin. I think I am going to order the BMC and the Cannondale CAAD8 105 (purely from the reviews) for a Battle Royal. Winner takes all!

My heart is with the BMC, but I just want to see what's out there as I don't have my voucher yet and have some time to test them this week and also this will be the last bike I can buy for the foreseeable future (my wife is sick to death of bike chat).
 

Tomtrumps

Active Member
I recently had an Evans voucher and went for the CAAD8 105 2015 model. I was lucky that a new store opened nearby with 10% discount so was able to get the pedals and shoes too.

The green is awesome, the position feels racy but is comfortable and the 105 feels very smooth. I also tested the Hoy Sa Calobra 3 which came with 105 brake calipers- these felt more responsive than the Tektros on the CAAD8 but the green and the quality of the frame were too good to pass up. I simply love it and would happily recommend it.

Just for reference I also tested a CAAD8 Tiagra, a Hoy 105 10 speed and the Pinnacle 5 with SRAM Apex and much preferred mine. Would have been happy with the blue 2014 model but they had sold out of my size.
 
I have been looking at both the caad8 105 and the giant defy 1 2015 models.

I am hoping to see some discounting soon as i have'nt seen any yet.
 
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seanmcd

New Member
The CAAD8 really does get a lot of love, I can't wait to try it. Currently Evans have the 2014 model for £850 and the 2015 for £999. Having a look at the specs it seems as though the 2015 model has the shimano 105 5800 (vs the 5700), 2 more gears and a 105 cassette (the 2014 has a tiagra). Speaking (obviously) as a complete noob, aside from the 2 extra gears, does this make a big difference and worth the extra £150? I currently have 8 gears on my Neon One and it got me to Paris ok.

I was also thinking about the Hoy Sa Calobra 3 when it was reduced to £800, but has now gone up to £1000 again. The Hoy Sa Calobra 4 is currently on sale for £1050, but all the guys at Evans I've spoken to seem to be pretty down on it and always steer me away from the Hoys as they are "really aggressive" and "don't have the same experience in frame making as X,Y or Z" (maybe they have no sales targets for Hoys?).

Unfortunately Evans don't stock Giant, so they are off the list, although they seem to crop up in many 'best bike' lists.
 

AndyRM

XOXO
Location
North Shields
I was also thinking about the Hoy Sa Calobra 3 when it was reduced to £800, but has now gone up to £1000 again. The Hoy Sa Calobra 4 is currently on sale for £1050, but all the guys at Evans I've spoken to seem to be pretty down on it and always steer me away from the Hoys as they are "really aggressive" and "don't have the same experience in frame making as X,Y or Z" (maybe they have no sales targets for Hoys?).

The only aggressive thing about the Hoy range is the cassette as it's not particularly hill friendly, though can be easily changed. As for the frames, they're designed by James Olsen of Genesis fame, who has also done excellent work on their other in-house Pinnacle range.

I'd still go for the BMC though - I've always liked how they look and handle.
 

evo456

Über Member
Hi guys, I am looking for some advice for a new road bike. My work uses the Evans Cycle to work scheme so I need to use it here. I have signed up for £1000, which is also my max budget.

e!

Don't forget to add an affordable accessory and apply the the RTW50 promo code to get £50 off, alternatively if you can find the bike cheaper else Evans will be able price match it.
 
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seanmcd

New Member
Don't forget to add an affordable accessory and apply the the RTW50 promo code to get £50 off, alternatively if you can find the bike cheaper else Evans will be able price match it.
Thanks evo456, that is a pro tip indeed. I wasn't sure that those offers worked with the C2W scheme. I must have seen that banner ad for discounts if you spend more than £250 50 times in the last week on the Evans site, but didn't think to ask about adding this to the C2W voucher (D'oh!).
 

Tomtrumps

Active Member
Oh yes, I also claimed the £50 voucher for using Evans C2W and received another £20 voucher under the current scheme for spending over £100 on accessories Unfortunately the value of the bike does not count towards your spend.
 
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