mauritso

Hi,

I am looking to buy a road bike.
At the very least I want something lighter, better wheels and normal shifters (shifter/brake combo).

The bike will mainly be used to ride to school with (~45 miles a day) on a pretty good road, I like to think I ride pretty fast (19-21 Mph).
In the weekends/holidays I ride with it for fun, a great part of that fun comes from competing (strava)/riding with others.

At first I had the idea to build my own bike, because the maintenance would be easier and it would be a cool experience, but then I ran into this: Planet X Pro Carbon Shimano Ultegra 6800 Road Bike | Planet X
and changed my mind. It looks like incredible value for the money, even if it turns out that I don't have a good fit on that frame it is still full Ultegra 6800 + a nice wheel set (on first sight)/drop bar/saddle/various bits and pieces. 1300 euros/1750 usd/1060 gbp is about the highest I am willing to go.

I don't really have a LBS which can do road bikes in my area and because I use my bike so much I will do the maintenance myself.

For my current road bike (30 years old) I made a thread earlier where I got lots of helpful advice from you guys:
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...e-special.html



current road bike (steel, weighs 29 pounds, 6 speed cassette and 45/52 chainrings, down-tube shifters).
Still needs a new fork and recently new brakes. I will probably be keeping this one to learn some more maintenance, have a backup road bike and have another type of road bike/a stronger one.

Budget: 1750 USD (doesn't have to be spend)
Length: 178 cm
Inseam: 80 cm
Weight: 140 lbs
Used for: Commuting (not much load)/competing (strava, maybe local race events)

What would you advice me to spend and what is the best I can get for:
750 USD
1250 USD
1750 USD (Planet X Pro Carbon Shimano Ultegra 6800 Road Bike | Planet X Medium ?)

Thanks in advance!

calgarc

commuters should never have new ultegra parts. they get stolen alot faster... any modern drive train will suit your needs. check out some shimano 105 bikes. they should give you a good middle ground if you want to race as well...

mauritso

I will only park this bike in the bicycle parking under my school which has CCTV and at home. I will also insure this bike, considering that, would your advice still be the same (get a group set in the shimano 105 range)?

profjmb

Are you sure you won't want to carry things while commuting? If you do, know that backpacks suck. A steel frame allows racks and panniers. I do this with a Surly Cross Check, but there are many like alternatives.

bikemig 

You can get a nice cross bike for less than $1750 esp. since you plan on locking it up. I'd check out what bikes direct and/or nashbar have to offer as well.

Bikes to think about, Nashbar Steel Cyclocross Bike - Overweight Code F Restricted

You can get this today for free shipping plus 10% off

Or this Save up to 60% off new Cyclocross Road Bikes - Motobecane Fantom CX Clearance

If it were my money, I wouldn't be locking up an $1800 carbon bike with ultegra 11 outdoors.

mauritso

Thanks for the suggestions so far!


I did this commute on the Peugeot with a backpack for more than 1000 miles, not ideal if there is a lot of stuff in it, but normally it barely weighs anything so I can manage without a rack. It might be a good idea to mount a rack on my Peugeot though. I also have a Gazelle Lausanne which has a backpack rack (?) that is what I use now if I have a bigger load.


The Nashbar Steel Cyclocross bike looks nice (with mostly shimano 105 parts), but why a cyclocross bike? Order a cyclocross bike and put normal road tires on it?
I live in the Netherlands and the roads are pretty good where I cycle.

To be clear, I won't lock this bike up outside, there is a bicycle parking under my school with CCTV.

bikemig 

I didn't know you were in the Netherlands or I wouldn't have suggested those two mail order places. Cross bikes are great for commuting as you can run skinny or fat tires and you can usu. add a rack and fenders if need be.

The basic idea of a road bike that can take fat tires and fenders is a good choice for commuting.

I wouldn't be too excited about locking up a carbon bike with ultegra 11 on a daily basis in any case.

bikemig 

Also this might be time to think about N plus 1. The peugeot UO-10 is a fine commuter. The weight penalty is negligible in the Netherlands since unless you live in Limburg, hills probably aren't much of a concern. So the bike you picked out is a fine road racing bike but just realize you may not be overly excited about what happens to that carbon frame and those expensive parts if you lock them up outside on a regular basis. Plus are you really wanting to ride in the rain without fenders on a regular basis? What about a lighting system?

Personally I'd commute on the UO-10 and specialize it for commuting. I'd save the nice bike for fast rides and the occasional commute. Just my 2 cents worth.

mauritso

usu?

So what is the sweetspot for best road/cyclocross (not entirely sold on that yet, but I am starting to see the advantages) bike and chances it would get stolen?

Also, would it be a big improvement from what I have now if I got something like the Nashbar Steel Cyclocross bike (integrated shifters/levers would be really nice)?

bikemig 

The Nashbar has a better frame and parts than the UO-10. The UO-10 is one of my favorite bikes. Yes it has gas pipe tubing but it rides great and the quality of the components were quite good. So the Nashbar will be a better bike.

Only you can tell how much of a problem theft will be but I don't like using expensive bikes for commuters. I really think this is N plus 1 time. The UO-10 is first rate commuter and the weight penalty is immaterial given your commute. I'd fix it up for commuting and ride the heck out of it.

I'd have a 2d bike for fitness that I might ride from time to time to school and/or work as long as I thought that it was a secure place to lock it up. Here you can get any bike you want. But for anything short of flat out road racing, the cross is a better choice, IMHO, because of its versatility. Cross bikes rock.

mauritso

Yes the Peugeot does it's job pretty good and it already survived a few crashes, on of the pros of steel...

I did ride in the rain without fenders, not that fun, luckily I can take the public transit with bad weather.

So you are saying invest some more in the Peugeot (fenders, lightning, brake, fork and maybe wheels?)

When I commute to school sometimes I take another route over a hill (45m/3%) but that is mostly for fun/the challenge (shifting gears while trying to break a record uphill is a problem with downtube shifters). Almost everyday I am doing a fast ride in the morning (or at least I think so, is 20-21 mph fast/average/below average around here?).

I am faster on the first two days of the week, so maybe 2/5 on a new bike with nice weather and 3/5 on my Peugeot? (The parking under my school isn't really affected by the weather).

Thank you for your opinion and thinking along, I have a lot to think about.

EDIT:

So if I am going to go with 2 bikes it will be the peugeot + a road bike and if I wanted to go with 1 bike I can better get a cyclocross bike.

bikemig 

Yeah those are different directions you can go in. A cross is a one bike does it all kind of bike. But since you really need a commuter, I'd invest in fixing up the Pug properly and then using the funds left over for a road bike or a cross (as a 2d bike). You should go test ride a cross; they can be very fast and very light.

SpiderDad

I just recently purchased a 2013 Masi Gran Criterium with basically the same needs as yours. Everyday commuter, but also to go on longer rides for fun. I ride in the rain so I added lights, fenders, and a pannier rack as I need to bring a change of clothes with me everyday. I carry my laptop in my backpack...again, everyday. The fenders are race blades so they can easily come off if it's not raining, or I'm out for a weekend ride. It's got Shimano 105 and it was about $1500 US. I love it. I'm still tweaking the fit, which means I'll probably love it more soon! My LBS told me that the cassette is steel as well, so it will do better in the rain (as far as wearing out) that we have where I live. Not sure if that's bs or not, but it sure sounded good! Even though it's an everyday commuter, it still feels zippy enough for me for the "fast ride". On my commute I average around 22 or 23km/h and that's with a 100m gain change over 8km. My last (albeit short) hill is 12% on my way home. I would say I'm faster than 98% of all commuters and I'm 51. At this point, I'm very happy that my LBS told me that this steel Masi was a better option for my needs than a carbon bike... but 80% of the time I swing my leg over the saddle is to commute...even if it doesn't add up to the most kms.... Commute 5 days a week... fun ride once or twice a week. Hope that helps.