Road Bike advice anyone ?

[PhilA]

If they ask you to throw your leg over a bike and tell you it looks 'about right', go elsewhere.

thats what happened when i bought my last two bikes.
1 is mountain, its fine.
other is road - its a right pain to ride, had to tweak some bits - and stil not quite right.
deffo get good adice on that fitting.
i went into a proper locals bike shop - got the "your not from around here" look and no help

if i get past my neck pain, id love to do that etape one day. and before i do, ill need to find a place that does proper fitting
For road - its essential

[mark7]

Phillip

I have a 2010 Secteur Elite (105 triple set) but I test road the SRAM APEX and thought it was easier than I was expecting and a very quick change - like fitting a quick shift to an Elise!! Wide ratio apex gives a good compact solution to us occasional riders.

Mine is very comfy, although I haven't gone beyond 2 hours yet. It takes panniers if I ever do weekends or longer, but they wont take mudguards and I find the racebaldes very annoying - the front lasted 2 rides before I got fed up with the squeaking. Rear isn't so bad, but still annoying. Brakes dont allow the wheels to come out without deflating tyres also, which is a common whinge on forums.

Friends of mine have just set up a new bike shop, but its in EDI (www.rondebike.com) - they sell all sorts of stuff but not much for under £1k - they are the only shop out of london to stock Condor bikes and they do some trendy steel frames for reasonable money.

Tifosi CK7 (http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/5776/products ... -bike.aspx) was recommended to me as a sub £1k audax bike - it comes with full mud guards which you will need for winter/ spring training.

Regards

Mark

[max1966]

I bought an aluminium training bike from Velo Ecosse, it came complete with full 105 groupset, WH550 wheels (swapped with a mate for RS10's which were a step up) and most importantly full mudguards, about £850. Velo are in EDi so maybe not much use.

What you are looking at seems ideal, if better VFM is what you'd like the only option is to go mail order, Wiggle or possibly better with Ribble or Planet X (you can phone them and seek some advice). As long as the frame is correctly sized, a stem change is never going to break the bank, but as mentioned you will soon get used to just about any riding position if you ride often enough.

I always end up back at Velo Ecosse, a bit of shop allegiance I guess.

Whatever you buy if you intend to ride in the winter, with others and most importantly in all weather, ideally get full mudguards, I hate riding behind my mate as he has the blade mudguards which are really short on the back. Oh and keep it clean, a couple of rides on salt covered roads and fur will appear everywhere.

[Mr Momo]

The deed is done.

I've gone for the 80:20 solution - help from on here and work colleague and a little bit of reading mags/online - I've picked this :

http://www.focus-bikes.com/gb/en/bikes/ ... -30-5.html

It's 2012 Focus Cayo 3.0 - bottom of the range Carbon.

Let's see what happens when it arrives

Pedals/Cleats and the rest next.

Bye Bye bank account

[111Robin]

Was having a look at Focus bikes today in Velocity 44 in Stirling. Had a chat with the shop owner who is seriously impressed with them. His usual steed is a Spesh Tarmac S-Works but he has been trying out the Focus Izalco (admittedly with £2k worth of carbon wheels) and reckons it is easily on par with the S-Works and not much slower than a full aero TT bike. I didn't realise bike shops had to "qualify" to sell the likes of Specialized/Focus, he was telling me the process they have to go through each year. I guess this means they only select brands that they believe are worth the effort, so looks like Focus (previously unknown to me) are up there with the big boys. Indeed I'll be sniffing around the shop sometime next year for something carbon/sporty to complement the long distance Roubaix and Focus is now on the list. Enjoy it while you can before the snow arrives.

[Dark]

I hate this thread!

I've already got a decent Focus road bike but I ordered a 2011 Focus Cayo in the Wiggle sale....... will be here Monday!

Doing the Dunfermline Sportive tomorrow, 75 miles around Fife and Perth & Kinross, we even cycle past Knockhill! Hopefully the weather will hold!

Mark

PS: welcome to the Focus bike community, team gear available here, they ship to the UK no problem!

http://fahrradbekleidung.focus-bikes.de/

[Mr Momo]

Dug out my tiny '92 Trek 2300 (47cm) from the loft this afternoon :

Looks like this, although it's all Ultegra 600.



Took ages to clean etc, then pump up the flat tyres (was waiting for a big bang, but got a full 115psi into the front and 80 into the rear - short dodgy valve after a flat many years ago) and some missing bar tape fixed with clear gaffer tape . Dusted down the old Vittoria shoes Old SIS shifters on the frame

But it was a goer

Quick change for a short ride in fading light - brilliant. Didn't fall over and the bike didn't break.

Still laughing now.

[111Robin]

I hate this thread!

I've already got a decent Focus road bike but I ordered a 2011 Focus Cayo in the Wiggle sale....... will be here Monday!

Doing the Dunfermline Sportive tomorrow, 75 miles around Fife and Perth & Kinross, we even cycle past Knockhill! Hopefully the weather will hold!

Mark

PS: welcome to the Focus bike community, team gear available here, they ship to the UK no problem!

http://fahrradbekleidung.focus-bikes.de/

How did it go on Sunday Mark ?

[Mr Momo]

I hate this thread!

I've already got a decent Focus road bike but I ordered a 2011 Focus Cayo in the Wiggle sale....... will be here Monday!

Doing the Dunfermline Sportive tomorrow, 75 miles around Fife and Perth & Kinross, we even cycle past Knockhill! Hopefully the weather will hold!

Mark

PS: welcome to the Focus bike community, team gear available here, they ship to the UK no problem!

http://fahrradbekleidung.focus-bikes.de/

How did it go on Sunday Mark ?

Was it windy ?

[Dark]

Thankfully the weather held, even the wind was relatively kind! Although some of the roads were disgusting with the amount of mud & crud on them!

The route was 75 miles and took in five main climbs; Knockhill, Glenfarg, Abernethy Glen, Falkland Hill & Cleish. The 3rd & 4th climbs were the toughest at 3.6km, 200m, 5.7% and 4km, 226m, 5.7%. The last climb over Cleish was almost a sprint in comparison, 3.1km, 148m, 4.8%! Got a puncture on the decent of Falkland Hill, just as I was going around a corner. The tyre deflated almost instantly, not sure why I didn't fall off! Blew a 5p size hole in the sidewall of the tyre which we managed to fix with some patches, I took the last 25miles easy after that!

Cycling time was about 4.5hrs but it took 5.5hrs overall due to puncture, food stop & waiting for my very slow friend! Honest

The blog if anyone is interested......... http://801dalmeny.blogspot.com/

Mark

[smee]

How are you guys getting on with your Focus bikes? I was looking at the 105 2011 as well. Is it comfortable on a longer run? I was originally looking at Giant Defys for their less extreme geometery, worried the focus will be too head down? Would be grateful for your experiences.

Thanks

[Dark]

Not ridden the Cayo much yet but it's exactly the same geometry as my Variado.
I don't find the riding position too aggressive; this year I've completed 4 sportive's of ~100 miles each in relative comfort.
Edinburgh Bikes in Aberdeen should have the 2012 Focus bikes in stock, might be worth going to try for size. You'll see that the Izalco is much more heads down than the Variado or Cayo.
Not ridden the Giants but from what I've seem the Defys have a taller head tube than the Focus which makes for a much more upright ridding style.
Getting the correct frame size will make a big difference to the riding style; too big and you'll be stretched out low, too small and you'll be sitting up straight! I'm 5'9-5'10" and a medium (54cm) Focus seems perfect although I think my legs are a bit shorter than average.
If you're looking at the 2011 Focus Cayo from Wiggle then keep in mind the wheels will definitely need replacing, they weight an absolute ton! They might be okay for winter and commuting but not for sportives or racing. I replaced with my existing Mavic Ksyrium Elite's and took 1kg off the total bike weight! The frame finish is also a matt black which is a bit weird depending on the light, worth looking at the photo on the Wiggle website.
Cheers, Mark

[Mr Momo]

Got a call to say the bike will not be here till the end of the month

Was away on business alll week, so I used the gym bike and running machines a few times

Did my first run on the Retromobile today - FANTASTIC fun Only a short 18 miler, but everything worked).

Another run tomorrow.

[Mr Momo]

Here she is (arrived earlier than anticipated) :



Apologies for the fantastic background. I now realise that SWMBO has decorated the whole house from top to btm in various materials, none of which are blank !

They forgot to attach a seat, instead placing a small white and blue wooden block above the seat post

So, glass of red wine tonight and I'll be set for a short test ride tomorrow am

[111Robin]

Enjoy