I'm looking for a new road bike and got quite overwhelmed. I've been riding bikes all my life but only recently started earning enough disposable income to care about specs. Nonetheless, I'm looking for a budget friendly/bang for buck (1000-1700€) bike/build that does it all. I've read and watched a lot more bike content in the last month than I previously thought existed and often ended up in this forum when looking for information. Please feel free to correct me or guide me in a different direction if you feel like I made some wrong assumptions.
- I want to ride it all year round. Winters are becoming less and less harsh, but it's raining often. Thats why mudguards are a must and -from what I've read so far- only frames with with eyelets allow for an trouble-free mount (?).
- I will ride mostly roads (commuting), but would also like to ride on light gravel and paved forest roads. So from what I've read, tires at about 28mm to 33mm width should be adequate. I'd also like a tubeless ready wheelset although I'd consider changing them later.
- The bike infrastructure in my city is abysmal. Therefore I'm looking for something where I can sit a little more upright to keep an eye on my surroundings. I assume a relaxed road geometry or a sporty endurance frame should do. I recently sat on a colleague's Canyon Endurace 7.0 and it felt pretty good, although I didn't ride it for a longer time. Considering geometry, I'm 1,82m tall, my inner leg height is 90cm and I'm pretty flexible (can lie my hands flat on the ground while legs stretched).
- Considering said bad/nonexisting bike lanes, I think hydraulic disc brakes are a plus to be able to react quickly, when riding down a wet hill and getting cut a car. What do you think?
- Regarding the groupset, I'm looking for a 105 or something similar, preferably 2*10.
- I don't know about frame material.
- Last but not least it should be reasonably light.
I already found some good recommendations in this thread, but it went in a somewhat different direction:
viewtopic.php?t=163545
First some road bikes that I'm eyeing, that I ruled out because of a lack of mudguard mounts, that might give you an idea of what I'm looking for and for me to illustrate my train of thought.
Giant TCR Advanced (used around 1200€):
+great price
+great frame
+great weight
+105 or groupset
+tubeless ready wheelset
-narrow tire clearance (2020+ models have 32mm width, but are out of my price range)
-no mudguard mounts
-used models mostly rim brakes
Cervelo R3 rim (used around 1300€) - pretty much the same pro/cons as above. I think I read somewhere that models pre 2013 had some reliabilty issues
+good price
+great frame
+great weight
+105 groupset
-narrow tire clearance
-no mudguard mounts
-used models mostly rim brakes
Canyon Endurace 7.0 disc (New 1500€):
+reasonable price
+OKish weight
+105 groupset
+wide tire clearance
+tubeless ready wheelset
-no mudguard mounts
Scott Addict
-I'm completely lost on the sheer amount of models they released under this name
-no mudguard mounts
Now some models that I'm considering, but didnt find any good deals for yet:
Giant Defy Advanced
+OKish price
+OKish weight
+105 groupset
+tubeless ready wheelset
+wide tire clearance
+mudguard mounts
+disc brakes
Cannondale Synapse
+OKish price
+OKish weight
+105 groupset
+wide tire clearance
+mudguard mounts
+disc brakes
-tubular wheelset
Ribble CGR
+Great Price
+customizable
+wide tire clearance
+mudguard mounts
+disc brakes
-tubular wheelset
-somewhat heavy
Focus Paralane
+OKish price
+nice weight
+wide tire clearance
+mudguard mounts
+disc brakes
-tubular wheelset
Because I can't find those models atm I would love to hear some alternatives.
Also, as said before, I'd love to pick a quality frame that fits my needs, try to get a deal on a used groupset and wheels and build a bike on my own. But I guess that would be more expensive than getting a complete one and exchanging the wheelset if it sucks.
I'm also interested in some real life experiences considering these models. Is the fender mounting system trash? Does it steer like a traktor? Etc.
Thanks for reading.