Aluminum Allez vs Chinese Carbon

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CharlieOsRide
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:17 pm

by CharlieOsRide

Have posted before in the past, and am back on line.
I have owned Sworks Tarmac, Sworks Allez Aqua Sapone, Cannondale's, and three different Chinese Imports. The one I am on now is from GotoBike. Solid frame, but time for a new ride.
So my question is this, which do I go with? The new Allez Race, or a Chinese import. I am looking at the Knock Off Tarmac or Venge after reading about them on other forums.
My stats
I am 195 lbs (solid not fat but built)
planning on racing local Crits again
would like to climb again, and force myself back into the pain cave.
have a budget as a single dad
am ok with the "Matt" finish, but a little color is ok to.
will build with Sram Red/Force and FSA Components thanks to a hook up I have.
So would love to hear everyones input.
Any Allez Race pics I would love to see, spare me the Chinese builds I have seen enough of those. That's one of my issues with the Chinese imports.
Friends don't let friends ride junk.

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btompkins0112
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Location: Mississippi

by btompkins0112

Allez! The new frameset colors are pretty cool. That would be my choice between the two.

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53x12
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:02 am
Location: On the bike

by 53x12

For $880, the Allez E5 Smartweld is one heck of a deal. You can build a solid solid bike for <$2500 that route. I would take an Allez over a generic Chinese carbon every day of the week. But that is just me.
"Marginal gains are the only gains when all that's left to gain is in the margins."

mrfish
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Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:49 pm
Location: Near Horgen, Switzerland

by mrfish

Look at the CAAD10 thread - you can get a solid Di2 bike ready to race for $2500 that way.

But I would personally think about a Chinese carbon bike. Ideally from somewhere which will paint the frame to match team colours. Then you will have a unique bike.

CharlieOsRide
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:17 pm

by CharlieOsRide

After dealing with four different sellers in China, I don't think that route is what I want again. The Allez is pretty sweet, and would have a legitimate warranty. And not be a "knockoff" or "open-mold" I am debating Chinese Carbon rims though. I see a lot of bikes on here with those on high end branded bikes. So that may be an option for this build.
Is the Allez available in any other colors than the BBQ Black?
Friends don't let friends ride junk.

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jgadd
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Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 9:10 pm
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by jgadd

I moved from a Chinese carbon frame (Pinarello Dogma copy) to an Allez (a 2012 Allez Evo, so E5 with BB30 and the Tarmac fork).

The Allez is by far my favourite of the two. It's a little heavier, but is far stiffer in the head tube area while only feeling slightly more flexible in the BB area. Also, the fit and finish of the frame is much better on the Allez (my Chinarello was well used, but had a poorly fitting seatpost and always had problems with the headset bearings not being fully flush and needing regular cleaning/refitting to keep away creaks). Obviously the ride is a little more harsh on the Allez, but again, it's a very slight amount.

All of this is of course very subjective. Your mileage may vary, and as my frame was one of the earlier Chinese carbon ones I can't comment on what a new one would be like. I can say, though, that I definitely prefer my Allez to my old Chinarello!

Jim
rideupgrades.co.uk

Twitter: @rideupgrades for the site, @gaddjames for the personal stuff.

jeffbong
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:04 am

by jeffbong

i have the allez race black on black...

1) Harsh
2) Power transfer not really great
3) Feels bouncy when u slam down the power...

For the money...i would forget the complains above...:)


brokentelephone
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 8:31 pm

by brokentelephone

Why don't you dream big, and scour the net for deals?

My friend got a 2013 Cervelo R5 frame for about what you want to spend on the frame -- he just checked all the big and small sites regularly, joined mailing lists for specials, and had a bit of patience and ended up with a 65% off or something.

Or how about Motobecane? I don't know much about them, but they're good value?

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53x12
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Location: On the bike

by 53x12

brokentelephone wrote:Why don't you dream big, and scour the net for deals?

My friend got a 2013 Cervelo R5 frame for about what you want to spend on the frame -- he just checked all the big and small sites regularly, joined mailing lists for specials, and had a bit of patience and ended up with a 65% off or something.

Or how about Motobecane? I don't know much about them, but they're good value?



Someone really got a built up R5 for ~$1600, the cost of a complete Allez Race. I have a hard time believing that as that is way below what Cervelo would even sell to dealers. I'm just not going to buy that.

Motobecane? Meh. You basically buy those bikes for the components. I would rather wait until a season end deal on a CAAD10 and still get a great frame in the process.
"Marginal gains are the only gains when all that's left to gain is in the margins."

CharlieOsRide
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:17 pm

by CharlieOsRide

I can't believe it was a real Cervelo at that price. And Motobecane are only T700 frames from China anyway, so why pay for a frame with an ugly paint job and decals when I can get the same quality frame from Alibaba.com blank with no ugly branded labels?
Plus I want to build this with my spec, not a factory spec. It is more personal that way. The Allez is looking to be the winner here, I need to go see the new CAAD 10 frame and see which I like.
Friends don't let friends ride junk.

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53x12
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by 53x12

If you are open to it, you should definitely check out 2013 CAAD10's. You can get quite a good discount this time of the year, like 40-50%. Seems like not all shops are willing to hook up customers with the end of year deals Cannondale has going on now. Not sure why.

But even if you didn't like the parts on the bike, you could buy the bike and sell everything off to just keep the CAAD10 frame. Depending which model you went with, you should be able to get the frame down to $500-600 bucks. Then you could build it exactly as you like.
"Marginal gains are the only gains when all that's left to gain is in the margins."

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btompkins0112
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Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 3:04 am
Location: Mississippi

by btompkins0112

^ this.

I just purchased a 2013 CAAD 10 Rival edition for $1,200 from my LBS (40% off $2k retail). I then purchased a SRAM Force 22 group for $900. So I am in $2,100.

$2,100 Total cost of bike and new Force 22 group
($550) Sale of Rival group (+FSA cranks)
($200) Sale of Fulcrum Racing 7 (+Schwalbe tires)
$1,350

So $1,350 for a brand new CAAD 10 w/Force 22......pretty damn good deal IMHO.

deltasierra
Posts: 131
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:41 pm

by deltasierra

btompkins0112 wrote:^ this.
($550) Sale of Rival group (+FSA cranks)


Where do you find these suckers? Around my neck of the woods, Rival pull-off can't get that for sure, even with a crankset.

by Weenie


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53x12
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:02 am
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by 53x12

What bt wrote. Even if you don't like Force 22 and want Shimano Ultegra/DA the same basic principle applies.
"Marginal gains are the only gains when all that's left to gain is in the margins."

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