Trying to decide between 2 bikes

[ghostwalker]

Hi all, my first post here.

Myself and my better half are looking at getting road bikes.
For her it's just about general fitness and going out for rides together.
For me it's commuting the 16ish miles each way to work through the wilds of north norfolk and into the big city of Norwich.

We both have a budget of around £700 and in terms of road bikes are novices.

I have it down to a couple of bikes.

The Cube Peloton Pro 2015
or the
Cannondale Synapse Sora 7 2015.

Being such novices i was wondering if anyone could offer a pointer to the better choice of te 2.

Many thanks

 

[vickster]

Go give them a test ride and see what you think down to your preference really

 

[J1888]

I'm no expert at all, but am after a bike around that range so looking at both them seem similarly specced...one thing I spotted

C'Dale: Cog Set SRAM PG-950, 11-28, 9-speed
Cube: CASSETTE Shimano 9-Speed, 11-30

So, I'm guessing that Cog Set and Cassette are, in this instance, the same thing?

No idea how much difference that would make...

Oh, and smaller tyres on the cube?

 

[MartinQ]

If you're primarily going to use it for commuting, do they take a pannier rack, possibly 28 tyres (cr*p on the road in winter, not essential but ...), mudguards, ...

 

[Drago]

Ride them, but the one you like best. That's exactly what you would do with a car, its how it should be with a bike.

 

[vickster]

11-30 should make it a bit easier on hills

 

[Mike!]

Synapse would be the more suitable commuter due to rack and guard compatibility but it's no good if you don't like the ride. Get some test rides :-)

 

[BrumJim]

I've survived several years of commuting without a pannier rack, so wouldn't worry too much about that. Mudguards can be sorted with a Crudcatcher or SKS option.

Go for what you like the best. For a 16 mile commute you are going to spend some time on it.

 

[ghostwalker]

I have tried the cube as a mate owns one. I'm buying from an online store so trying the cannondale is a little more difficult.
My main concern is how the slick almost treadless tires that the bikes come with,will deal with wet Road conditions. I am used to mountain bikes with the big clod treads and seeing the road wheels I am just a bit like. Eeeeeerr!

 

[Tomtrumps]

Don't worry about the tyres. I've only been had my road bike for 9 months and even in the most torrential of rain, I have never had any concerns, and am using the stock Schwalbe Durano tyres which came with my Cannondale (and they have very little tread!) . You can always get something like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus which is a chunky road tyre if you have real concerns.

Oh a for what it's worth, the Cannondale is really nice and a very good frame apparently. I have the CAAD8 as I wanted something a little less upright but the Synapse was very comfortable.

 

[Leaway2]

This is taken from the Sheldon Brown website
http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

Tread for on-road use

Bicycle tires for on-road use have no need of any sort of tread features; in fact, the best road tires are perfectly smooth, with no tread at all!


Unfortunately, most people assume that a smooth tire will be slippery, so this type of tire is difficult to sell to unsophisticated cyclists. Most tire makers cater to this by putting a very fine pattern on their tires, mainly for cosmetic and marketing reasons. If you examine a section of asphalt or concrete, you'll see that the texture of the road itself is much "knobbier" than the tread features of a good-quality road tire. Since the tire is flexible, even a slick tire deforms as it comes into contact with the pavement, acquiring the shape of the pavement texture, only while in contact with the road.


People ask, "But don't slick tires get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tires with tread. All tires are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

 

[vickster]

In my experience marathon plus may be puncture resistant but inspire very little confidence in the wet!

Any wet road should be treated with respect, especially metal work and white lines. You need to slow down. A water filled puddle can be a frightening hazard too

OP why are you set on buying online and not in a local store, for a current model especially?

 

[SteCenturion]

If you were prepared to <or even want to> stretch that budget slightly, there are a few more options to consider.

A 2014 full carbon Cube Agree GTC with 10 speed Tiagra & 12-30 cassette for £799

2014 full carbon Giant Defy Comp 3 with same Tiagra & 11-28 cassette for £749 *Few sizes*

2014 full carbon Giant TCR 3 same 10 speed Tiagra for £790 ....

all from www.paulscycles.co.uk

they do Cannondale too.

The advantages being that you would get much higher spec per £ spent going for a 2014 model.

These bikes would also be significantly lighter & therefore easier to ride up hills.

 

[byegad]

11-30 should make it a bit easier on hills

Hills? This is Norfolk we are talking about.

 

[vickster]

Indeed but the OP did bring up the cassette and cranks