Hi all,
after a year and a half of my budget mountain bike that only ever saw road use I've decided to take the plunge and get something more suitable that I denied myself last time around on the logic that the versatility would prove useful. With my 21st coming up pretty soon I'm hoping that it will provide the means to treat myself to something moderately nice. After much searching of finance options on various sites I've narrowed my choices down as much as I seem to be able to without some advice and help given how little I actually know.
At the budget end of things that I'll be able to afford for sure I've settled with a Fuji Team 2.0 just to have something to fall back on.
However the real choice is at around the £1100 range where I've got my eye on three bikes and even after reading all the reviews I could find online am having trouble even narrowing it to two. Ideally I'd get to have a little run around on them all, but part of me would like to be less trouble than that for the sales people. So right now I'm looking at:
Really they all look rather the same to me, so I was wondering if a more discriminating eye would be able to say if that holds true, or some are overpriced/good value. Specifically the one question I would have outright is the worth of the Pinarello frame and if it's worth dropping down to the Tiagra groupset for in the long run.
I also have one final little 'problem'. My LBS does rather excellent finance (though mainly stocks Specialized) and has the Specialized Roubaix Elite SI2 which looks so very tempting. Obviously given the price hike from the others I'm looking at it will be superior, I'm just wondering if the upgrades are worth the extra cost.
The main reason I'm not completely sold on the carbon bike (given both the desire to use my LBS and good finance option) is the future options available. Given the economy and whole student deal splashing out large amounts of cash at once isn't ideal. Looking forward, this really does suit upgrading an existing frame with multiple small costs than splurging on an entire new bike whenever such things become prudent. Given my complete lack of knowledge on frames and tires I'm not sure which of these bikes suits that best: the higher-end aluminium frame or lower end carbon.
Really I'm just feeling a little lost after looking through so many options and was hoping for any helpful thoughts available.
Thank you for your time.
after a year and a half of my budget mountain bike that only ever saw road use I've decided to take the plunge and get something more suitable that I denied myself last time around on the logic that the versatility would prove useful. With my 21st coming up pretty soon I'm hoping that it will provide the means to treat myself to something moderately nice. After much searching of finance options on various sites I've narrowed my choices down as much as I seem to be able to without some advice and help given how little I actually know.
At the budget end of things that I'll be able to afford for sure I've settled with a Fuji Team 2.0 just to have something to fall back on.
However the real choice is at around the £1100 range where I've got my eye on three bikes and even after reading all the reviews I could find online am having trouble even narrowing it to two. Ideally I'd get to have a little run around on them all, but part of me would like to be less trouble than that for the sales people. So right now I'm looking at:
Really they all look rather the same to me, so I was wondering if a more discriminating eye would be able to say if that holds true, or some are overpriced/good value. Specifically the one question I would have outright is the worth of the Pinarello frame and if it's worth dropping down to the Tiagra groupset for in the long run.
I also have one final little 'problem'. My LBS does rather excellent finance (though mainly stocks Specialized) and has the Specialized Roubaix Elite SI2 which looks so very tempting. Obviously given the price hike from the others I'm looking at it will be superior, I'm just wondering if the upgrades are worth the extra cost.
The main reason I'm not completely sold on the carbon bike (given both the desire to use my LBS and good finance option) is the future options available. Given the economy and whole student deal splashing out large amounts of cash at once isn't ideal. Looking forward, this really does suit upgrading an existing frame with multiple small costs than splurging on an entire new bike whenever such things become prudent. Given my complete lack of knowledge on frames and tires I'm not sure which of these bikes suits that best: the higher-end aluminium frame or lower end carbon.
Really I'm just feeling a little lost after looking through so many options and was hoping for any helpful thoughts available.
Thank you for your time.
