new bike advice

[stubrant]

Hi, I've been commuting from Purley to London (35 miles round trip) for about 3 months on an old mountain bike and am about to buy a road bike. I have a budget of about £800 but for that money i can't see anything better than the spec you get on a £650 boardman bike from halfords.

Whilst I do like the look of a Trek, Specialized or Bianchi its seems that I would just be paying for the name compared to a boardman or am I wrong? I've never bought a decent bike before so i'm a bit out of my depth on what makes up a decent bike. My cycle route means lots of traffic lights and gear changes and never get a long run at a decent speed.

I'm also confused about what size of bike to buy and surely its best to at least sit on the buike before buying - which is a problem with halfords as no shops seem to stock them and you have to order online. I'm 6ft 2 (about 16.5 stone if that makes a difference). I'm also concerned about if I need to take the bike back for any reason as I've heard halfords are crap at setting the bikes up. I do like the thought of buying from a local shop where I can take it back if theres a problem and have a couple of good ones near me but feel like i'm going to be paying £150 over the odds for the privelidge.

Any general guidance and advice would be appreciated - thanks

Stuart

 

[HLaB]

You've just about summed it up there. The boardman from all accounts is a crackingly well specced bike for the money but its put together by hellfrauds. You pay a bit more for the better service of a lbs and the name but circa £150 you might consider OTT.

Sorry that doesn't really help.

 

[Lozatron]

as i understand it your LBS makes more money from the servicing and the parts than they do from the bikes themselves - although they're higher value items the margins on them are quite low - due in part to folks like us searching the internet for better prices...

If halfrauds has the right bike for you why not buy from them and pay your friendly lbs a few quid to set it up right for you. You'll still have change from your £800 to spend on more accessories (or beer...)

I've also heard it said that the Halfords in the City (St Pauls I think) is a bit more sensible when it comes to asking people to spend a whole stack of money without trying the goods.

 

[silverbow]

Do you have somewhere safe for this new bike? I don't want to sound melodramatic but have you read this thread? --> http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=41491

 

[g00se]

Hellfrauds... I've been in a few of the 'Metro' stores that were once the 'BikeHut' monikered chain. They seem to have kept the BikeHut staff on and - even though it was always Hellfrauds under a more expensive name - the staff seem better trained / enthusiasts and more willing to help.

This is certainly the case in the London St Pauls shop and the one in Norwich.

 

[stubrant]

Thanks to you all for your advice - i will pop down to st pauls and let you know how i get on.

 

[g00se]

If you're near one of the bigger Evans shops in London, then there are quite a few reductions on at the moment - try the one in Spitalfields - it's open until 8pm.

 

[adscrim]

If halfrauds has the right bike for you why not buy from them and pay your friendly lbs a few quid to set it up right for you. You'll still have change from your £800 to spend on more accessories (or beer...)

+1

I have a Boardman comp and it is indeed a cracking ride. I've recently put a pair of Fulcrum wheels on it and it rides like a bike twice the price.

The original set up was appalling though. However, I'm now 3k miles in and can't complain. Before spending the money on the wheels I thought about saving for one of the Carbon jobs. I may still do that at some point in the future but when thinking about it, I couldn't come up with a 'good' reason not to ride the bike I had. I did come up with some reasons but they mostly revolved around shiney, carbon and new!

Spend some of the excess on some SKS race blades or similar - there are no mudguard fittings!

 

[stubrant]

Hi All, really do appreciate all your advice - its all so confusing if you haven't done this before. Went down to ST Pauls Bike Hut - staff were friendly enough and at least I got to sit on one. Seemed ok but its a bit weird without any pedals on.

For the money I don't think these can be beaten - trouble is now i'm torn between the lightweigth aluminium Boardman team at £799 or going for it and getting the Carbon one at £999 - apparently theres a pound difference in the weight and no diference in the spec. Like I mentioned earlier Im commuting about 150 miles a week and won't be racing. Can anyone give me a good reason to go for the carbon over the aluminium.

Thanks

 

[silverbow]

I can't tell you whether to go for aluminium or Carbon I would imagine Carbon was stiffer and therefore had better power transfer... I'm sure someone knows!!!

I would say ignore the weight difference. 1 lb is nothing, most people could lose 7lbs in body weigh no problem! Now go find a bike for similar price that is 7lb lighter!

 

[Downward]

Trek 1.5 2010 is lurvly and lovingly put together by my LBS who were enjoying building the new 2010 models that had just arrived.

I reckon this is happening up and down the land !

 

[stubrant]

I know its been a while since i last posted on this thread - but if anyones interested i got the boardman carbon comp - its the nuts - and fingers crossed had no problems -apart from 3 punctures - only wish i waited a bit - i see they are doing a limited edition white version - looks nice. I do like the look of the 2010 treks though