Ventura cp 50 (argos)

[smokeysmoo]

But if you are spending £399 on a bike you are not going to get a top of the range alu frame

Who mentioned 'top of the range' anything? Not me H

If the OP is happy to roll the dice then he should go for it, I wouldn't pull the trigger on that bike myself purely from the lack of long term reviews.

Each to their own though innit?

 

[Hacienda71]

Basically from my experience I prefer lower end carbon to ride from a weight and comfort point than cheap alu and Alu can fail to

 

[potsy]

If I was in the market for another bike and £400 was my budget I would certainly have it on the shortlist, looks like a good option to me.

 

[bpsmith]

Which is a fair comparison, except cheap Carbon is usually priced similar to fairly expensive Alu.

 

[Justinslow]

Well I've put my money where my mouth is and bought one, currently sitting in my shed in its box awaiting unpacking tomorrow as it's my birthday! (easier to persuade the missus I needed a new bike than other tat)
I will keep you posted on developments! Cheers.

 

[Arjimlad]

Blimey, that looks like a proper bargain. Let us know how you get on.

 

[0lonerider]

hope yi have lots of fun with it mate.
good thing bout argos is they have a great 12 month moneyback guarantee if it was to fail.

 

[Arjimlad]

I'd want a longer than 12-month frame warranty but for that money....

 

[Justinslow]

I'm hopefully gonna build it up on Saturday with a mate who's got a couple of high end time trial bikes (and does time trials) and knows what he's doing, it will be good to get his thoughts (if he says it like it is truthfully) and hopefully I can ride his expensive bikes as a comparison.
Was looking at the warranty options that you can buy but not sure if they extend to bikes like they do fridges or tvs!

 

[vickster]

I'm hopefully gonna build it up on Saturday with a mate who's got a couple of high end time trial bikes (and does time trials) and knows what he's doing, it will be good to get his thoughts (if he says it like it is truthfully) and hopefully I can ride his expensive bikes as a comparison.
Was looking at the warranty options that you can buy but not sure if they extend to bikes like they do fridges or tvs!

Accidental damage on your home insurance?

£400 after a year you can take the bits off, get a better frame and bin it?! You'll have upgradeitis Or flog it whole for a couple of hundred

 

[Justinslow]

Ok, opened up the box and pleasantly surprised, all looks good, great packaging and protection in transit, frame and paintwork look exquisite for £400 this looks a much more expensive bike (remember it did start off at an rrp of £1400). It comes with a manual and all torque settings.
Obviously it does concern me that being carbon fibre it will be too harsh for my "bimbling" around, time will tell.
Remember my budget was £400, so we are comparing it with other sub £400 bikes.
One thing of note the 1 year warranty states that it will be void if any modifications are made to frame fork or components, I suppose that's pretty standard.
All in all so far so good, we'll be putting it together tomorrow, will need some decent pedals though.

 

[Justinslow]

Ok, built the bike ahead of schedule (rained off at work) all went together nicely just had to set up seat height, bar straightness and torque every thing up, gears were all good, with just slight adjustment of the brakes needed. The only fly in the eye was the wheels- the shimano r500 pair were both out of true, not horrific but both will need tweaking (luckily I know someone who will do it for a drink) and don't think it's worth returning the bike because of it.
We weighed the bike minus the girder pedals and it comes in at around 9.75 kg so not as light as the blurb would have you believe, my mate reckons it's probably about a kilo heavier than his moda and bianchi both costing 2 grand or above and both swathed in carbon everything ( but then he's 15 stone and I'm 12)
Size wise I got the 55cm version as I'm just a tad under 6 ft and it fits quite well, my mate who's slightly shorter than me struggles with the reach to the bars, so shorties will struggle on this bike as 55 is the smallest frame and 58 the only other option.
Just need to get some miles on it now to get used to it and see how much it hurts me! Cheers.

 

[Peteaud]

Let us know what i rides like when you get the chance.

To me £400 is a bargain.

 

[MrGrumpy]

£400 for even a winter trainer is a damm good bargain, reading the the posts above, you would struggle to get a bike with the spec listed elsewhere for £400. Sounds like its not a lightweight by any stretch however I would buy one for a winter run about, and I appreciate others would also have this as a main bike. Even some of Halfords gas pipe framed Carrera`s come on at that price. Anyway nearest thing from them is this http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-road-sport-2014 how does that compare at an extra £50 ?

 

[sight-pin]

Let us know what i rides like when you get the chance.

To me £400 is a bargain.

Looks a good buy for the price i agree.