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9/11/2010 8:21:42 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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Im looking to upgrade in 2011 but am unsure what to go for.I will have a budget of approx $5,000.So far the bikes Im eyeing off are the Scott Addict R2, Trek Madone 5.2 & the giant
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10/11/2010 9:57:58 AM
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Justin Venning
Posts 2
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Troy, a good budget, you should have plenty to choose from. Pretty much all manufacturers these days have two geometries of frames to choose from (one more race oriented, the other slightly more relaxed for all day riding). You should be able to get ultegra (maybe dura-ace) but I would go for the ultegra level and spend the extra money and get a bike with a very good set of wheels. There is hardly any difference with the group sets but there can be a huge difference with choice of wheels. Unfortunately some manufacturers will put on some pretty ordinary wheels on a $5,000 bike so just be carefull.
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10/11/2010 1:17:17 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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yeah I`ve also noticed some dont advertise how much the bike weighs either.Hmm its a bit of a toss up between the Scott & the trek I think.But Im willing to explore all my options as I want something light & stiff
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27/11/2010 11:37:36 PM
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Steve OConnor
Posts 14
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$5000 buys a lot of bike. I had a look at GT's that are available in Adelaide in limited number at the moment, and was pretty happy with the top of the line model. You get $1 change from your $5k. The RRP is normally around $8999 or so, which puts it in line with the other big brand name bikes of similar spec..
GTR Team Carbon
Pros :
(ticks all the boxes for a modern top end bike)
- Carbon frame with the usual massively wide tubes
- Integrated Seat Post
- Tapered headtube
- Press in BB (BB86)
- Ritchey carbon cockpit (absolutely gorgeous unidirectional carbon bling)
- DuraAce 7900 std crankset with 11-25 cassette
- Fizik Arione with carbon rails
- Ksyrium SL wheelset
- Mine came in at 6.6Kg without pedals. Happy ! I really wanted something UCI illegal as an excuse for not racing.
- Something completely different, has a unique character (for what thats worth - its a bike, not a person !!!)
Cons:
- Something completely different (styling is a bit out there and in-your-face)
- Finish on some detailed parts of the paintwork is a little strange on close inspection. General finish is superb, but there are some tiny parts of the paint that look like they were painted by a 2-year old. Odd ! It could be why this batch has come up on the market now on the cheap, in which case, its the bargain of the year.
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27/11/2010 11:38:16 PM
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Steve OConnor
Posts 14
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... cont
I guess that all new bikes at this price point and above are simply excellent no matter what you choose. Some may be slightly better climbers than others, some may be more aero, or handle better, accelerate slightly quicker, etc. But its all a matter of degrees and diminishing returns. They are all awesome bikes with little between them.
My previous bike was an Avanti Giro - alloy frame, relaxed geometry (slackish angles, lots of fork offset, long chainstays) with carbon seat stays, 105 compact running gear .. and a couple of years worth of trick upgrades, weighing in at 8.7Kg. Still a good bike that I enjoy riding, and we have had some great rides together. In comparison - My first ride on the GT scared the living crap out of me !!. Everything happens so much quicker, especially the brakes !! Luckily you do relearn all of that and re-calibrate your brain very quickly to suit the new responses of the bike. Super comfortable, and I can now descend with much more confidence. Thats probably more to do with the racier geometry and excellent DA brakes more than anything else to do with the bike. Likewise with handling - much much much better than the old bike.
Component quality. I was more than happy looking at Ultegra for this upgrade bike. Unfortunately, I have tasted DA now, and I will never, ever, ever go back to anything less. There may be 'no real difference' between Ultegra and DA .... but it really doesn't matter to me anymore. Im completely gone over DuraAce now, and no amount of logic shall convince me otherwise. Im sure many of you will understand this.
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27/11/2010 11:38:44 PM
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Steve OConnor
Posts 14
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... cont
Stiff and strong - no probs there. Nothing wrong with the old bike - the Giro has been a tough bike for me at least, but this GT thing just feels really strong. After we chopped down the integrated seat post, I grabbed the leftover part of the tube and had some fun trying to destroy it, crack it, smash it. No luck !! Ridiculously strong stuff. So the top of seatpost is real stiff  If you tap around the frame with your fingernail, you can pretty accurately hear/feel how thick the frame is in parts. On the GT, the chainstays are thick-as, and the BB feels almost like a solid lump of Krupp steel from the breech of a naval cannon. Shouldnt expect any flex in the powertrain. Same same with the headtube. The toptube on the other hand tapers down to paper thin. This is all subjective anyway, as the grade and weave of carbon material is equally important. Fingernail test wont sniff out the difference in this area. You should find that 99% of modern name-brand frames out there use a blend of the 'best' carbon anyway.
Aero : This one is very hard to judge objectively. My old Avanti is actually pretty aero after all the mods attached to it (incl AC 420 deep dish wheels). The GT picks up speed easily and holds it well. The avanti suffers badly in crosswinds, on the GT they are barely a problem. Could be the wheelset making that difference ? I havent had time yet to do any proper aero testing on the GT to get objective numbers, but subjectively it feels pretty much the same. You would expect those large cross section tubes to make a difference though ... maybe not ? The GT uses a triangular section downtube, with one edge facing into the wind, and the flat edge facing upwards. Without getting all rocket scientist about it - that arrangement should work better than a plain old box section. Dont know - Ill play around with some numbers eventually and work out a comparitive CdA and Crr compared to the Giro. Many factors at play here.
Climbing performance is interesting. Ive only used a compact up to now, and moving to a standard with the same cassette ratios is a little bit of a culture shock. Im having to learn climbing all over again .. but so far, there are climbs I can do on the GT at speeds which I find impossible on the old Giro. Climbing out of the saddle in particular seems infinitely easier and smoother. Not sure why - there are only a few millimeters here, half a degree of angle there, and a few 100g less here and there as the difference between the 2 machines. But the reality is that they climb completely differently. Go figure !
Which brings me back to the original motivation for upgrading. I had this vision of upgrading to a modern race bike, and then finding that when I hit the hills ... I could just glide along and float up the hill like a butterfly, happily carrying on the sunday morning conversation whilst my friend's faces collapsed into purple agony. No such Luck !!!! Climbing is probably harder on the GT than my old bike, because it just wont let you take it slow without hurting you. There is a sweet spot with the climbing pace on this bike that is significantly higher than the same sweet spot on my old bike. Its not just cadence either, its something else and I really cant explain it better than that. So the hills hurt even more - you just go up them a lot faster.
Hope that helps. Looking forward to hearing how your upgrade adventure turns out. At the end of the day - its a lot of money, and its probably more socially acceptable to invest that $5000, or spend it generously on others over Christmas presents ..... but its a fantastic adventure none the less, and I highly recommend it.
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23/12/2010 1:28:02 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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theres some very nice Meridas for 2011 around the $4k mark too
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29/12/2010 6:25:52 PM
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Daniel M Smith
Posts 25
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I also am in need of a new road bike, but can't afford much. I have stumbled upon a site which sells cheap bikes but went to buy some zipp 404 clinchers for $500AU and funny enough got ripped off with now no response from seller. I paid via bank transfer so my bank is trying to get it back, typical if I don't. But seriously IS there any REAL bikes out there for sale that are cheap? Another Aussie seller I found is selling top end Trek 9.5 speed concept TT bike for around $2000US. I know there are huge mark ups, but still is it possible to buy this cheap? My dream bikes are Felt AR2 full dura ace or Cervelo S3 2010 dura ace with zipp 404 for a price around $2000US?
I love riding and racing but can't be competitive on old creaky bikes and everything is so friggin expensive! Daniel.
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30/12/2010 2:20:46 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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I hear you Daniel
A good race bike these days costs big bucks (around $4,000) Those guys in renditions series have bikes costing up to $15,000
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