Help needed on new bike £600-£750

[Wanderer]

Following a visit sometime early on Sunday morning by some toe-rag who bolt-cutted the shed padlock and knicked my 10-year-old Rockhoppper and my one-year-old entry-level Giant, I now have to go through the whole process of choosing a new bike (don't suppose I'll get full replacement monies from the insurance, so I'll just have to concentrate on the road bike this time).

Having been a club member now for around 7 months, I'm just bewildered by the huge display of bikes on a Saturday morning. So I need some help. I guess sticking with Giants (they seem to have dropped the SCR range - I had a 2.0 - and they've now replaced it with Defy) or Specialized gives you more spec for your money as they are a bit more mass-produced, but does anyone have a really good alternative idea for something in the £600-£750 range (yes, you can see I've caught this bug, as the stolen Giant was around £450). Box Hill and my age seem to dictate a real need for a good low gear - the Giant's triple gave me a 30 on the front and a 25 on the back. Not too worried about sexy colours although Bianchi blue-green makes me jealous when I see it!

And if you live near Sutton, watch out. I'm told by the police that there's a wave of shed and garage bike thefts going on. It must have been a quiet day on Sunday, though, as they sent Forensics around. And the first thing he did was to pick up the cut padlock with his bare hand. I suppose I knew really that he wasn't going to dust it anyway for prints. More importantly, when the police rang later to give me my crime number for the insurance, they offered me the services of their Victim Support Unit. Very touching and understanding in the circumstances. Helmets off to Sutton police.

[Andrew G]

Glad to see someone adding to their stable .
For £750 I think a good bet would be to check out Evans and Halfords for their Pinnacle and Boardman bikes. At that price range they have good purchasing power so you can get a pretty good spec for your money.

Also check Wiggle for the Focus bikes, they are very nice and the alu bike (in your price range) has had excellent reviews. Variado with Shimano is the one I saw with the great reviews but see they also do a Culebro with Sram at the same sort of price.

Also go to GBs and see what deals they have in their sale. Lots of bikes will get discounted and some that are not on the website but pulled out of old stock. In many cases these will only be 2 year old models and very good bikes but they'll want to clear them for 2009 models so you can pick up a bargain. Being a local bike shop rather than big dealer or online you should get a bit more flexibility if you want to change the odd thing on it - chainset for a triple for example, but don't rule out a compact as a 50/34 with a cassette with a 27 sprocket will still give you a very low gear.

Pearsons in Sutton are also an excellent shop and will also be knocking out "old" stock for new models so worth a visit. Very helpful brothers (Pearson) run it.

Happy shopping.

[Roy Green]

I noted a nice knoch-down Planet X for £750 (from about £1300) on Wednesday.

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

[quote="Wanderer"] Not too worried about sexy colours although Bianchi blue-green makes me jealous when I see it!

[Dominic]

Have a look on here:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/

Have a look on their special deal bikes that are good value. Alternatively use their bike builder to build to your price and spec. Don't worry about the bike being delivered as they are very well packed but easy to assemble when they come (you just turn the handlebars round and adjust the seat).

I have got one of their winter bikes and think they are superb

[tel]

Wanderer

I`m thinking of selling my Pearson Carbon Pro, it has Kserium SLs and full 10 speed Durace, although it is 3 or 4 years` old now but it has only been ridden in the summer months and I would say it is in excellent condition. It cost £25000 then.

I really like the bike and only selling because I feel a Colnago coming on.

They sized these frames centre to top (57) but it would be more like 54 c2c.

I`m 5ft 9in if that helps.

I think £800 would be a steal for someone.

Terry

[Wanderer]

Thanks for all the help. In the end I wimped out a bit and bought the next step up in the Giant SCR range as my local bike shop was offering last year's model at £550 down from £650. I know it's not much of a discount when retailers are expected to be lucky to get any sale at all, but there you go. I thought I'd notice it, moving down from a triple to a double, but took it out today over Epsom Downs and up Box Hill, and I reckon the only reasons I was slow were because I've hardly done any exercise over the last six weeks, I've gluttonized myself over Christmas and it was perishing up at that altitude!