New bike help!
 

Hi guys, I'm thinking of getting a new racer and any advice on the three below would be greatly appreciated. Pros and cons off anybody in the know would be great. Cheers:thumbsup:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-airlite-400-2011/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f85-2011/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/giant-tcr-2-2011/

No photo's, didnt happen :p

Seats looks angry mate!!!

You just missed a specialised get fit discount Griff. ended on the 31st of august. Was 20% off the Allez range.

I bought an Allez sport which was £719.99 for £599.99 a couple of weeks ago.

Make sure you buy proper cycling shorts though as I did 7 miles without them and my bum still hurts :(

Just bought a ribble gran fondo... really pleased with it. (£1100 with 105 groupset)

For full carbon its really good and rides lovely :wub

Oh and it looks v cool too....

So, the raleigh with the 105 set is better buy? I had 105 on a bike before and it was smooth.
How about the giant, that's my favourite looker at the mo?

I'm surprised the giant doesn't have carbon forks

I've been toying with the idea of getting a road bike for a while now. I can't help with any anything sorry Griff as I don't know what's what on them, but the price range you're looking at is around what I'd limit myself to so I'm interested in any advice given on here too!

It does. Aluminium steerer, composite blades, standard construction for the early years of CF forks (and frames, lugged and glued) still used for cheaper bikes as CF steerers are expensive (relatively)

Other than that, they are much of a muchness, the raleigh appears to be best VFM (with the 105 groupset) and also the most useable (mudguard clearance is always nice to have available if you do want to fit them!). But i suspect the frame may be slightly cheaper, unless you are going to really abuse/race it, you'll probably never notice, keeping the tyres pumped up and getting a decent fit will probably give you more benefit.

The felt looks very similar (but with a cheaper groupset, the micro shift it uses is still very new and doesn't have the back up or road miles that shimano/campag/SRAM have)

The giant seems to be quite racey geometry compared to the others (long top tube, shorter head tube, so unless you want a head down arse up position its probably not the best, the Aluxx SL frame on the giant has a long and illustrious racing heritage in its various versions, it would be ideal to buy and then upgrade at a later date)

Oh, and as an aside, its critical that you get the right size, and set it up right, nothing worse than ruining the ride by having a badly set up, wrong sized bike, makes the whole thing a miserable, uncomfortable and possibly dangerous experience.

Consider looking at Orbea and Bianchi bikes, quite often have a sloping top tube which keep the frame tight and compact without compromising on size.

Trek often do a good deal and are very popular and will last, with very good backup.

Personally i feel that Giant have gone downhill of late.

Look for a swept fork, more forgiving.

They will mix what they need to and always look the nuts and their colours and designs are timeless. They always draw attention. Very well built. More deals on bianchi at the likes of evans but as mattr says its all about getting the size right. For this reason I would go to local bike shop (not halfords) and speak to staff...who probably used to or still do race;)
Have a ride, decent dealer will let you.

You could get a mint bianchi with carbon forks, rear stays and ultegra/105 mix for £600 second hand. I know, because i recently sold one.

steve

got talking to someone who cycles a lot last night and he thinks my saddle might be too high and I'm rocking on it to reach the pedal when at the bottom. I have a soar bum after my rides even with good £50 shorts on.

apparently after a while this get less and less

Set your saddle height with your heel the on the peddle when its at the bottom of the stroke. This means that when you place the ball of your foot on the peddle and make a rotation, your knee will never be fully extended...

HTH

yeah that's what I thought. when I move the pedal into the middle of my foot it's pretty much over stretched so I'm moving on the seat.

I'll adjust and report :)

I dropped the seat down probably 3/4" and the difference is amazing!

had a really good ride yesterday putting in an average of 14.7mph over 8.5 miles apart from... Came up to the traffic lights and thought I'd just do a little track stand and wait for for the lights to change since it won't be long. anyway the inevitable happened. I started to fall and couldn't release my feet from the pedals and fell in a heap on the pavement much to the amusement of everyone in cars around me.

no harm done. Slight graze on the elbow and knee. the worst part is the mark on my brake lever as that won't heal :(

Probably a bit late I know, but being an avid cyclist who works for Raleigh I suppose I better contribute lol

The 400 is one of our most popular road bikes, becasue it offers such good value. The frameset isn't cheap however. The 100 and 200 models use a cheaper tubeset, to help keep the cost down, but the 300 and the 400 both use the double butted tubeset, which is 6061 grade ali. If you contact Shiny on here (usually seen lurking in the westbridgford forum) he rides a 400, so could probably give you a more realistic review (mine will always be slightly biased lol).

All this is probably useless though as you may have bought one now :lol:

Just remember, whatever you do, don't ever shave your legs :o

I nearly bought one as they're only £539 at Wiggle, but ended up with a Cannondale Synapse Tiagra instead. Some reviews made the 400 sound heavy and a bit harsh, but I expect it would have done me well as reviews aren't always accurate! I thought the frame sizes jumping from 55 to 59cm was strange. The 55 may have fitted me, but I didn't get to try either in the end (Synapse is a 56cm).

That certainly doesn't add up....... (avid cyclist who used to ride for Raleigh........ and shave his legs...... :D)

How are you getting on with the synapse as i am thinking about getting one, in 58cm.

Shaving your legs was to stop the plasters from coming off if you had and accident. Not that I am recommending it.

Not bought one yet guys, new cars come first!
Looking earlier and the airlite 400 has shot back up on wiggle :(
Have a borrowed Dawes for the minute until another bargain appears

cycle to work scheme?