New road bike help needed

[Aines25]

Hi All

After countless hours of searching the web I'm still a little unsure on which bike would be best for me moving forward.

I have been cycling for my commute for a number of years now on a Carrera vengeance mountain bike, I switched the tyres on it from mountain bikes years ago however, simply walked in to my local Halfords and asked for the quickest tyres that will fit my bike resulting in I think hybrids/road tyres, not entirely sure.

Moving forward as I'm now starting to cycle a lot more outside of my commute I'm wanting to upgrade to a proper road bike.

Questions I have been asking myself are

Will purchasing this road bike I have in mind going to improve on speeds / ride?
Do I need to upgrade or should I stick with what I currently have?

The bike I'm currently debating is the Carrera virago from Halfords, upon reading I understand its a low end carbon frame / entry level road bike, this carbon frame wasn't necessarily the reason why I went for the bike, more so my current Carrera bike has been good to me so thought an upgrade to same brand road bike may follow the same path.

A friend recently purchased the giant tcr advanced 1, lovely bike albeit a little pricey, but I wouldn't mind following suit but I do wonder if the bike is aimed more at pro's and more than I need?

Reasons for use of a new bike would be long rides at weekends and 50/60k road runs throughout the week, bike would need to be of course comfortable and one capable of high speeds.

Happy to look at other recommendations.

Thank you in advance.

 

[vickster]

What’s your budget?
Do you want something racy or more relaxed? The higher speed will come from you, less so the bike (road surface and terrain have an influence to some degree)
Will you be using for commuting?
Will you be using in all weathers, and so fitting mudgauards?
What size do you need (you can find good deals on older models, but often in limited sizes)

 

[HLaB]

IIRC my MTB orientated hybrid would get me 13-14mph on average, at the same time my flat bar road bike would get me 15 miles on average and my drop bar road bike at the time would get me 16-17mph back then for the same effort. I got the road bike bug quite a bit and as I've got fitter the latter number has improved considerably. If you've got the bug/money/space I'd go for it and enjoy

 

[Aines25]

What’s your budget?
Do you want something racy or more relaxed? The higher speed will come from you, less so the bike (road surface and terrain have an influence to some degree)
Will you be using for commuting?
Will you be using in all weathers, and so fitting mudgauards?
What size do you need (you can find good deals on older models, but often in limited sizes)

Budget wise I'm open to pushing towards the Giant TCR Advanced 1 mentioned, it was more a question of if that bike was more than I needed or not.
A racy bike is fine with me although at this minute I don't envisage myself entering races, more so long trips with friends around the country possibly some spots in Europe too.
Commuting I would still use my current bike as I wouldn't want to face the prospect of it being stolen/damaged from place of work so better to be safe than sorry.
All weather cycling yes
Size I would need L possibly XL...I'm 6'1

If you have any links or recommendations to anything please do share.

Thanks

 

[Aines25]

IIRC my MTB orientated hybrid would get me 13-14mph on average, at the same time my flat bar road bike would get me 15 miles on average and my drop bar road bike at the time would get me 16-17mph back then for the same effort. I got the road bike bug quite a bit and as I've got fitter the latter number has improved considerably. If you've got the bug/money/space I'd go for it and enjoy

Interesting and food for thought, cycling is something I've always enjoyed, the commute was done more so out of enjoyment rather than the easier means of transport... fitness levels have always been good as sports has been work since leaving school so that's nothing to worry about.

 

[biggs682]

Welcome @Aines25 sounds like you have a few decisions ahead
Speed to a degree is dependant on the engine ie you
When available i would suggest going in to your local bike shops and see what they offer and see if any float your boat then go and try it on the open road .
Don't be a sheep and fellow your mate as that can backfire badly when you realise it's not the bike you want
But most of all go and try as many as you can before making a decision
Where are you based ?

 

[Aines25]

Welcome @Aines25 sounds like you have a few decisions ahead
Speed to a degree is dependant on the engine ie you
When available i would suggest going in to your local bike shops and see what they offer and see if any float your boat then go and try it on the open road .
Don't be a sheep and fellow your mate as that can backfire badly when you realise it's not the bike you want
But most of all go and try as many as you can before making a decision
Where are you based ?

Hi Biggs, thanks for the welcome.

I'm currently based in London, well Waltham Abbey...given the current pandemic, going to and trying bikes currently isn't something easily available.
also unsure which shops offer the try before you buy option, only stores I know of are Halfords / decathlon / Evans Cycles, I'm sure there are many others so if you can recommend any it would be appreciated.

regarding purchasing the same bike I agree, looking to invest in something that has a longevity to it and will last me for a good few years to come

 

[CanucksTraveller]

TCR.... I wonder if the bike is aimed more at pro's and more than I need?

If it helps you any, I have a TCR advanced, and I'm laughably, embarrassingly far from being pro. 😄

I got it because I wanted a fast carbon bike like the blokes on the telly have, and I liked how it looked with the compact frame, and I wanted to cover miles quickly. It does! And I very much enjoy it, and that's all your motivation should be. Buy whatever bike you can afford that pleases *you*.

 

[Soltydog]

A friend recently purchased the giant tcr advanced 1, lovely bike albeit a little pricey, but I wouldn't mind following suit but I do wonder if the bike is aimed more at pro's and more than I need?

I thought a bit like that about 15 years ago when I got back into cycling. I used the C2W & started looking at £500 bikes, ended up with a Spesh Allez Elite at £950 & for a good while I used to think "this bike's too good for me" but I did enjoy riding it & maybe I rode more as I had a nicer bike?

Re the TCR advanced 1, at the end of last year I bought a TCR adv 2. It's far from the most expensive in my fleet nowadays, but it's a very nice ride. My only gripe with it was the stock wheels. Quite heavy & spoilt the ride a bit, so my advice would be go for the 2, & spend the extra £300 on a better wheelset 👍 You'll notice the better wheelset more than the difference between 105 & Ultegra groupsets & the 2 is a nicer colour (infact it is a colour rather than white )

 

[vickster]

The Carrera is £700...is that @Aines25 ballpark budget?

 

[Soltydog]

The Carrera is £700...is that @Aines25 ballpark budget?

They mentioned they would like to follow their friend with the Giant, so I'm guessing they can afford it, but maybe not sure if it's worth the extra? For what it's worth I didn't pay the list price for mine 3 fairly local Giant dealers, so think they have to be a little competitive

 

[vickster]

Could get a 2019 Contend SL2 for under £800
https://www.ashcycles.com/site/defy-contend-range-2019/giant-contend-sl-2-2019
good starter roadbike
The Carrera is probably decent enough as a first road bike, has decent feedback on the Halfords site

 

[cyberknight]

the carrera got a good review recently , tbh the frame looks like an old boardman design that halfords have put cheaper groupset and wheels on so upgrade worthy .

 

[Aines25]

I thought a bit like that about 15 years ago when I got back into cycling. I used the C2W & started looking at £500 bikes, ended up with a Spesh Allez Elite at £950 & for a good while I used to think "this bike's too good for me" but I did enjoy riding it & maybe I rode more as I had a nicer bike?

Re the TCR advanced 1, at the end of last year I bought a TCR adv 2. It's far from the most expensive in my fleet nowadays, but it's a very nice ride. My only gripe with it was the stock wheels. Quite heavy & spoilt the ride a bit, so my advice would be go for the 2, & spend the extra £300 on a better wheelset 👍 You'll notice the better wheelset more than the difference between 105 & Ultegra groupsets & the 2 is a nicer colour (infact it is a colour rather than white )

Haha yeah that's what I've been wondering, I highly doubt I'll ever do races, although I've competed in sports/work all my life that could change haha, but mainly I will use it to do long rides with friends / myself for years to come....

regarding wheel sets, that's another issue, I have no idea what's deemed good / better than a next pair so that is help id also need lol....what difference is there in 105 and Ultegra?

 

[Aines25]

The Carrera is £700...is that @Aines25 ballpark budget?

Hi, this wasn't my budget, more so the bike I looked at due to already having a Carrera, after some digging and the friend getting the tcr I took it upon myself to do a bit of research which then led me to come across a lot of info I still wasn't fully understanding which then brought me here to ask.

if the Carrera is a decent bike that id be able to ride for years then I'd go for that, if there was much difference in more expensive options then I would spend there as its a better investment long term.