Help picking a new bike

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neocraven

New Member
Hi Gents,

Been reading a fair few posts here and you all seem a friendly lot!

I'm looking to spend around £1000 on a new road bike, but am a bit lost as to what to buy. It will be my first road bike - my last bike was/is a PowaByke X-24, which served me well for the last year but I'm now ready for some serious cycling and commuting into work.

I cycle about 16 miles each way, and am about average fitness.

As I'm buying this using C2W, I'm stuck with Evans unfortunately (I really wanted a Boardman as I hear lots of good things) and have been looking at these three bikes:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/pilot-21-2010-road-bike-ec020781

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/xo-1-2009-road-bike-ec001637

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caad-8-105-compact-2010-road-bike-ec020232

Any thoughts/recommendations? I know my options are pretty limited for bikes (alu frame + carbon fork, probably 105 groupset) but which would be best for my type of cycling?

Just a final note - I cycle from Uxbridge to Central London - so relatively hilly in some parts with a few steep climbs.

Thanks all!
 
cannondale mate, brilliant machine for the coin, plus then your left with some money towards pedals, shoes, and a helmet......

good luck and hope whatever you choose puts a smile on ya face. :biggrin:
 

battered

Guru
They all look superb, I think any one of them that was the right size would be a lovely bike to ride.

All I would say is that if you want to commute on it do you want to be able to fit panniers? If not then where are you going to put your stuff?

Lovely machines all though, you will enjoy them. They do look like very focussed road bikes so expect high speed, a hard ride and an exhilarating experience when you get up to speed.
 
neocraven said:
Unsure about Specialized. Are they very good?

Just walked into Evans, and they 90% got me convinced to go with a Trek 2.3. It's a little more money - £1200, but looks worth it.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/23-triple-2010-road-bike-ec019713?query=Trek 2.3

Suggestions?
Specialize are indeed good bikes. You'll find lots of threads on that model (the secteur), it gets good reviews. Basically I believe it is a more comfortable bike but at the expense of aggressiveness.

If you can afford the the extra £200 go for the Trek.
 

battered

Guru
Specialised are indeed nice bikes. At this price though they are all good, and the best one is the one that fits you and suits your purpose. The only way to establish this is to get on one and try it. Enjoy yourself, these are nice choices to ba able to make.
 
OP
OP
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neocraven

New Member
Thanks for all the replies!

Just picked up a Trek 2.3 this morning and loving it.

I was very tempted to go for the Fuji Team Pro which was the same price but with carbon frame - but the Trek had better components.

Time to ride on!
 
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