Rondar

Hello everyone,

I am planning to buy my first Carbon bike. Been riding a Cube Cross Race till now and used that both for commuting and long tours(200km max in a day). I had my eyes on the Cervelo S3 as I have read that it is a very good allrounder and I love the looks of it. However everytime I read a review another bike gets into my mind. Here are the ones I am considering at the moment. The list is sorted with the bikes costs listed from highest to lowest. With the most expensive being 3450€/4100$ and the cheapest 2650€/3150$. The costs are calculated according to tax refunds and travel expenses etc as I won't be buying any of these bikes from my country Turkey. The Cervelo is to be bought from the USA and the others from Germany.

Specialized Tarmac Expert 3450€ - Many of the teams ride Specialized(well S works but still Specialized) in world tours and this seems the most suitable bike of the brand / Expensive and no solid review
Cervelo S3 Ultegra 3450€ - Love the looks and the colour and like the brand / Expensive and there is no local "official" dealer if anything goes wrong with the bike however the warranty would be valid.
Focus Izalco Max 5.0 3400€ - Very light, very good review and very good equipment and have a good local dealer / Expensive and not the best looks for me
Cervelo R3 Ultegra 3250€ - Seems very reasonable / Same as S3
Canyon Aeroad CF SLX 7.0 3100€ - Very good reviews / Had a bad experience with one of their staff so I don't fancy the brand anymore. Also no chance to try it.
Cannondale Synapse Carbon Ultegra Disc 3000€ - Cycling Plus bike of the year award is a good reference / Heavy and friends had problems with aftersales support
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 8.0 2950€ - Very light again, love the looks and very very good equipment for the price / Same as aeroad
Cannondale SuperSix Evo Carbon Ultegra 2650€ - Lighther than Synapse / Heavy and I don't like the colour and the support problem mentioned above


I am not a racer nor the fittest person but I like to ride fast and long. The roads in Turkey are very much like the ones in England. So I won't be riding on the smoothest surface or the flattest. In fact there will be quite a lot of hills. Thats why I want the bike to be light.
I don't want a bike that I can't try thats why these are the ones I have considered. Like the GT Grade has very good reviews but there is no way I can try the bike so it is not in my list.

I also question if it worths paying this much money while I am not a racer but more of a weekend rider as this won't be a commuting bike.

Can you please help me choose my next bike. Any other advise(bike,brand etc) is also very appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

loimpact

Don't worry about the brand. Get the bike that feels best when you sit on it. And if that happens to be a bike that gives you good local support, then even better still!!

Don't worry about groupset either. Ultegra is great, but so is 105. If you can find the bike you like & there's a significant savings in the 105 groupset, then go for it. There's little difference between the two these days.

You've got a great list of bikes and any one of them could serve you equally well but most important is which one feels best to you when you ride it!!!

pdedes

Cut down your list by fit and appearance. They will all satisfy your requirements. Make sure you can fit 25mm tires, which will do more for your comfort than anything else.

milkbaby

^What he said... Find a bike locally from a bike shop that will give you good support. Do you only weigh 10 kg? Most bikes are going to be within 1 or 2 kg similar weight to each other at the same price, and that hardly matters versus your body weight of 50 kg or more because your fitness (and your body weight, not the bike's) is the main determinant of how well you ride the hills. Whether your bike weighs 6.9 kg or 9 kg doesn't matter all that much! Focus more on comfort, fit, rideability, and reliability. These factors are much more important over the course of a 200 km ride than bicycle weight!

Also, bicycle companies want to sell you their bike by convincing you how much "better" it is than the other companies bikes. They are actually quite similar, just look at the wide variety of bicycles that win any professional road race. There is no one bike model or even one company that dominates the podium.

Edited to add: Your budget depends on how much money you can afford to spend on your hobbies. A $3000 bike is not twice as good as a $1500 bike. It's more like maybe 2% "better" to be honest. But if you will enjoy having a nicer bike and that leads to you riding more, then it may be worth the extra money!

CNC2204

I have a 2015 TARMAC ELITE and its amazing .....

PiLigand

Well, to consider the bikes you've specifically mentioned:
Personally, I really want a Cannondale. If I had the money, I would immediately get the superSixEVO. The superSixEvo is an aggressive geometry, though. The synapse is considered a more 'comfortable' ride by most, and that's probably what you'd want between the two.
I would guess that the support issues were with the disc brakes? Tech on the new end could be hard to find I imagine. Also, is that the only disc bike you're looking at?

Anyways, You've done more research than me of course, but I'd lend my support to Cannondale and the Synapse. Maybe not disc, though.

Rondar

Thats very right. I want a bike between a comfort and an agressive geometry. And for the disc part I have written that wrong. I am not looking for disc brakes as they increase the weight of the bike for about a kilo. I am not a professional racer and never had a real bad heating problem on my wheels.

Rondar

I am currently using a 105 groupset and yes it is very good indeed. However when I checked the price gap between 105 and Ultegra fitted bikes it was not huge. At least not as much as the gap between Ultegra and DA. So I opted for Ultegra.

Rondar

Thanks for the advice I will check on that. I know you can fit 25mm on S3 R3 Synapse and I guess the Izalco but not sure about the others.

Rondar

The weight issue is the thing that confuses me the most. I like to see the differences as % instead of g. So the 800g difference between S3 and Izalco is actually 13%. I know it is the rider who is the most important for challenging anything but the weight is an important factor as well? Or isn't it?
These prices are my absolute limits. Even a bit over. However when I think I won't be this free to spend money on my hobbies all my life(as I have no gf, wife, kids etc atm) this seems like the time to do so. However I question if it worths it. I mean would I understand the difference between a top level bike of a brand and a normal one. Like the Canyon Ultimate CF SLX vs Ultimate CF SL or the Hi-Mod and normal frames of Cannondale etc.

wallrat

My only suggestion is to buy a bike that you can do locally. It doesn't always happen but it'd make it much easier to deal with warranty service if you have to.

pdedes

Low weight is over-rated. Let's say you weigh 160lb. and your bike is 20lb. The entire system is 180 lb. If you can climb a particular hill in x min at a given power output, reducing the weight of the bike by 3.6lb will allow you to reduce your climbing time by 2%.

thatcycleguy

When you think of bike weight add your weight to the bike and then compare weight savings to others. You will see that the percentages decrease dramatically when you figure your weight with the bike.

Agreed, bike weight is overrated amount comparable bikes.

Rondar

Hello everyone again.
I am bumping this as I have inspected many bikes and came up with different options.

I won't be buying a Cannondale as it is very expensive here and if I buy from USA the warranty won't be valid.

So now I'm thinking of buying a
Cervelo R2
Cervelo R3 105 2014 with 5800 105 groupset upgrade
Focus Cayo 4.0

I have been offered almost same prices for these bikes. They are all around 2400€ or 2800$.

I will upgrade the wheels on any of them but the R2 would need a saddle upgrade as well.

The Focus is fully SRAM Force equipped and weighs 7.2kg(claimed) even with its Fulcrum 6.5 wheels.

What do you think?

TrojanHorse

Are you buying it locally like just about everybody suggested? I think you're asking for trouble if you import one on your own.

Any one of those bikes will suit you fine if it fits and you can actually get it. Buy the one you think looks coolest.

Rondar

Yes I will be buying locally all those. I had the chance to try the 2014 R3 105 only. A 51 frame was OK. Maybe just a little small. I think the ideal frame for me is 52 but neither Cervelo nor Focus has that size. It jumps to 54 from 51. The 2015 models were not there yet but I was told they will arrive in a couple of weeks so I will have the chance to try all of them anyway.

Edit: The R2 won't be available until May. So that's a waiting time there for it.

auslo

Not sure why anyone in their right mind would buy a carbon bike unless they are racing or under 130 pounds but have fun spending tons of cash for almost no performance benefit!

shelbyfv

Welcome to Bike forums. Can hardly wait for more insightful and informative posts!

auslo

It's my opinion that carbon bikes are a way for middle aged men to compare dick sizes and offer no serious performance value to a casual rider. Sorry, I'll refrain from posting my opinion and only respond sarcastically to other peoples from now on.

pdedes

you don't know who we are.

scott967

I like SRAM Force, but not sure I'm getting the 52/36 rings shown on the Focus?

scotrt s.
.

auslo

You are right, I don't know any of you. Sorry for sounding like an ass, I'm just giving my 2 cents. The OP says himself he isn't a racer, he isn't the most fit, is generally a weekend rider and he asks if carbon is worth it. I'm saying no, it is a phenomenal waste of money. Ultimately he should get whatever bike he wants and is going to motivate him to ride, if that happens to be an expensive carbon frame so be it. But just because Freds like you feel they have to buy expensive gear doesn't mean everyone should.

D1andonlyDman

Well, one reason might be that Carbon bikes are often more comfortable rides than Aluminum bikes, and they are also often noticeably lighter weight than Steel bikes. And those advantages apply even to weekend riders in less than optimal athletic shape. And as you yourself point out - buying a bike someone really wants might serve as a strong motivator for them to get maximum use out of it. So those are two perfectly valid reasons for the non-competitive racers amongst us.

StanSeven

The only thing I can add is the Fulcrum wheels on the Focus are heavy and not especially good. If you get down to the Focus I would try to negotiate different wheels. I rode the R3 and it's nice. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

pdedes

and now you are calling us all Freds? you're ignorant.