First road bike options

[gillian]

Looking to buy my first road bike with a view to (hopefully) heading out on long rides and eventually taking part in a couple of sportives.
I would like something that I don't feel too much need to upgrade and am probably looking at a budget around £750.
I have been today and had a first wee look in a few places and at the moment I'm looking at the following options:
Norco Valance A1 Forma 2014
Trek Lexa SL
Giant Avail 2 or 3
Specialised Dolce
Specialised Dolce Sport
*LBS seem to only stock Giant

Any thoughts, comments, recommendations on the above very welcome.

 

[vickster]

Giant avail 2 as a well made, well specced, practical bike. I had one, the 2012 version, for about 18 months and did several thousand miles on it. Only thing changed was to narrower bars, new tape and tyres. @jefmcg has done over 10000km on hers

If you want to save a few quid and can buy online, or are close to East London, you can save money and get the rather lovely looking 2013 model here

http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-avail-2-2013

I am assuming that some of the other bikes are sora equipped, the avail 2 is tiagra so the next rung up the ladderhttp://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-avail-2-2013

On paper the Norco looks best, 105 and better wheels, being heavily discounted, Evans are very good for test rides, so go ride one. The fact only Evans sell would put more off a bit and it's not a very interesting looking bike to my eyes

As with all bikes, you may want to upgrade wheels and tyres at some point, but totally unnecessary immediately

If you are looking to do longer rides, fit is Absolutely crucial, so make sure it's the right size. All of these are wsd but you may find the right bike is a mans / unisex model

 

[Cyclist33]

Looking to buy my first road bike with a view to (hopefully) heading out on long rides and eventually taking part in a couple of sportives.
I would like something that I don't feel too much need to upgrade and am probably looking at a budget around £750.
I have been today and had a first wee look in a few places and at the moment I'm looking at the following options:
Norco Valance A1 Forma 2014
Trek Lexa SL
Giant Avail 2 or 3
Specialised Dolce
Specialised Dolce Sport
*LBS seem to only stock Giant

Any thoughts, comments, recommendations on the above very welcome.

well on the plus side, out of all those bikes id recommend the giant. as a value package theyre really very good and you wont need to upgrade. they have the added bonus of being one of the best bikes for the price you can get, regardless of the value.

 

[Saluki]

+1 for the Giant Avail here too. I have a Giant Defy (the unisex version of the Avail if you like) being a taller woman and all. I did change the bars to narrower ones though.
Giant's rock. I couldn't comment on the others as I've not ridden them. You do get a lot of bang for your buck with a Giant.

 

[gillian]

So , I have finally made it round some shops and tested some bikes. Unfortunately, I didn't find the giant comfortable, xs was too small and small felt a bit stretched. The others all felt similar and seemed to fit OK despite the varying sizes (spec 51cm, trek 50cm, norco 48cm). Should I have been sticking with the same size on each for comparison?
Anyway, as specialised seem to have a £200 price jump from the dolce to the dolce sport, I'm leaning towards the trek or the norco. Any further thoughts?

 

[vickster]

Which one makes you smile more? Sizing varies between manufacturer in terms of what they measure to give the size, you need to compare the geometries and component sizes etc

http://www.trekbikes.com/int/en/bikes/road/endurance_race/lexa/lexa_sl/

http://www.norco.com/bikes/road/road-endurance/valence-alloy/

http://www.specialized.com/gb/gb/bikes/road/dolce/dolce-elite-triple-eq#geometry

It looks like the Norco is actually a slightly bigger bike than the trek, the specilzed bigger again, the 48cm would match the others more closely at first glance

 

[Apollonius]

Sizes are not standardized between makes, so you have to go with what feels right. Mrs Apollonius has a 44 and a 46 in different makes (not to mention a 21" - but that's off topic.)
In her experience, it is the top-tube length that matters most for fit - and that is much more important than brand.
The reason for the price difference in the Dolces is that you get a better group set for the money. This may or may not be important to you.
You are looking at quite small bikes. Are you sure you can work the gears comfortably?
Women have small hands, often, and the Shimano "swing the brake lever" thing can be very awkward. You need to try these things out.

 

[vickster]

SRAM works much better with my hands and I am not small, just can't brake from Shimano hoods. However, barely any bikes in the UK come SRAM equipped as stock. I like cross levers for braking in traffic, so if any of the bikes jave them, good. You can add them but they do take a lot of space on narrow bars

 

[Apollonius]

Yep. Mrs A has cross levers on one of her bikes for exactly this reason. Can't say she uses them much though, but she says she does.

The point is that these little things matter a lot. People's experiences with a brand are not as significant as the way you use the bike - or are struggling to do so. Keep looking until you find the perfect blend.

 

[vickster]

I do use them a lot but usually ride in a lot of traffic. One of the road bikes doesn't have them and I have to think much harder about braking!

 

[surfdude]

my wife has one of these Giant Avail 2 and loves it . she has had it for 3 years now and it is still going strong .