Poss new bike

[stevey]

Been looking at these as my next purchase opinions welcome

One of these will be my summer good weather ride only bike (already have my winter bike)

http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/roa...n/dolan-l-etape-carbon-road-bike-builder.html

http://www.formebikes.co.uk/products/bikes/road/longcliffe1

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXRT57ULT/planet-x-rt-57-shimano-ultegra-6800-road-bike

 

[vickster]

The planet x and dolan have shimano, the former having a groupset someway up the food chain. However, the dolan can be specced with shimano or sram (my personal preference)

The forme has campag, you'd likely want to see if the Italian suits you, assuming you are coming from shimano now

The forme is however the best looking bike, in that it's not black

 

[Mo1959]

Unlike vickster I quite like black and I am loving that Planet X with ultegra That would definitely be my choice I think. The few people that have put in reviews on it sound like they are well impressed with it too.
You are probably a much stronger rider than me, but the gearing would be the only thing that might put me off. I think I would struggle on some hills with a normal double chainring and 12-25 cassette.

 

[stevey]

@Mo1959 the planet x has a 11-28 cassette would this be better for getting up hills 8% + as i ran out of gears on my 12-26 cassette with the winter bike.

@vickster is there a whole world of difference between campag and shimano/sram

 

[Mo1959]

@Mo1959 the planet x has a 11-28 cassette would this be better for getting up hills 8% + as i ran out of gears on my 12-26 cassette with the winter bike.

I have 11-28 but a compact 34/50 chainset and I find it copes with just about anything.

 

[vickster]

@vickster is there a whole world of difference between campag and shimano/sram

The operation is different, shimano from sora up shifts up and down with a single push of the upper or lower brake lever part. Sram uses a double tap system, like for like is a little lighter than shimano. Campag I think uses a thumb button for the down shift, some love it especially on Italian bikes, others find it agricultural whatever that means! I think parts for campag are less flexible and harder to come by. I like sram as the hood shape suits my hands unlike shimano, which I struggle with braking from the hoods

Sram can come with a very wide 11-32, apparently can get up any hill, personally I have yet to see this in practice

 

[cyberknight]

The operation is different, shimano from sora up shifts up and down with a single push of the upper or lower brake lever part. Sram uses a double tap system, like for like is a little lighter than shimano. Campag I think uses a thumb button for the down shift, some love it especially on Italian bikes, others find it agricultural whatever that means! I think parts for campag are less flexible and harder to come by. I like sram as the hood shape suits my hands unlike shimano, which I struggle with braking from the hoods

Sram can come with a very wide 11-32, apparently can get up any hill, personally I have yet to see this in practice

The shifting on campag has a more definite click compared to shimano, if i had to choose i would go campag as i find shimano shifts a bit vague .At the end of the day they all work so the best bet is to go to a couple of LBS and try them as they all also have different hood shapes so see what suits you.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

SRAM has exceptionally shoddy customer service and quality control, lightweight because they use cheap materials and this is experienced in the feel of the product (I have their top of the range groupsets on my MTB and a road bike) but very positive shifting for mechanical systems - Just do not buy their latest products, only buy proven products imho.
Campag has great visual quality a lovely finish and the high end equipment feels a bit clunky (EPS) and the customer service experience depends upon who you talk to, I have had great and terrible.
Shimano is solid and great quality, its not exciting but it does exactly what it says on the tin and my customer service experiences from them far exceed what I have ever obtained from SRAM and Campag

 

[StuAff]

I have two Campagnolo-equipped bikes (10 & 11-speed) and two with Ultegra (9 speed), so I'm familiar with the differences: the Campag shifters have an inner lever like the Shimano setup, but unlike that it shifts to bigger cog/bigger chainring. There's a thumb button (a bit like the old Shimano Sora setup) for smaller cog/smaller chainring. Brake levers just brake. Shifting action is generally described as 'positive', 'clunky' , or as @vickster notes, 'agricultural', depending on one's perspective. Even after thousands of miles on each system, I still make the odd wrong shift now and again! I prefer Campagnolo, but very happy with the Shimano setups too, not much in it. Cassette choices are, if you want a bigger ratio range, better for Shimano/SRAM than Campagnolo, (Campag offers 12-30 and 12-27 Centaur-level cassettes, but there's no 11-27 option- except from third parties- and no 11-28 at all). As with Shimano and SRAM, you can mix and match 10-speed components from different groupsets, and 11-speed components from different groupsets, but not combine the two. If you go up to 11-speed, you can however use Campag, Shimano or SRAM groupsets with cassettes from any of the others.

Campagnolo has had an unfortunate knack of downgrading specifications on their lower-end groups in recent years- the newer Veloce setup cannot do multiple shifts, and I'm glad I got the first iteration of Athena as they started speccing lower-level cranksets, and again multiple shifting got binned.

Of those bikes, I'd go for the Planet X or the Dolan over the Forme- PX don't offer a bike builder but they will change components if you so wish. Definitely a case of trying frames, and groups, before you buy.

 

[stevey]

Thanks for the input guys and gals much appreciated