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HigHurtenflurst on 23 July 2017
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bonzobanana said:
HigHurtenflurst said:

Yeah I looked it up after. 1x7 speed is more like my early childhood bikes. I had a 1x5 (can't remember the brand) followed by a 2x5 Apollo, both with indexed thumb shifters. The large gaps between gears isn't a bad thing if using for a commuter bike but if that was the case I wouldn't be looking at a road bike shape at all.

I guess it's not a bad option for a teen if looking for a 1st road bike, at that age you can power through in a higher gear, I guess it is a bit overpriced though (at least compared to other btwins which seem like good deals)

Do you have any advice for buying times? the 540 I am looking at is already out of stock entirely in red/blue and in some sizes in the black... i'm not sure if they are likely to get re-stocked or if they are moving to a newer model soon. I was hoping to try pick one up if they discount it after they bring out next years but I am not sure when that is, or if it will be discounted at all if it's so popular.

My 2nd pick is the Mekk Pinerolo 0.4, which is very similar spec and currently same price on Rutland cycling, but the Btwin I might be able to have a test ride if I take a day trip to Sheffield Decathlon.

You mean this one or the flat bar model?

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-grey-black-105-id_8377756.html

I notice at the top it says lifetime warranty on the forks but lower down 2 years. I'm guessing 2 years is correct. I'm a heavy rider and don't have much confidence in carbon forks especially if the warranty is limited to 2 years but the bike looks great apart from that. To be honest I'm probably a sub £400 bike type person. There are diminshing returns for me being heavy. I'm looking more at cyclocross type bikes that will take more abuse. An extra kilo here or there means nothing to me I'd rather have the extra strength and stopping power. I'm especially motivated to make sure the forks are steel preferably chromoly steel. 

I quite like this bike, its cheap but well equipped. It's heavy by road bike standards which I suspect is down to a rather thick heavy aluminium frame and weightly wheels but the groupset is very good for the price and looks perfect for me as a normal road bike but I think a cyclocross bike would be a better option. Also its relatively slow due to the low range cassette, it sits in between the Triban 100 (very slow) and my existing Vertigo Carnaby and the Voodoo cyclocross bike. Tempting though because its such a solid looking bike that seems to be designed around reliability without pushing performance. A change of cassette would sort out its speed issue though. 

http://greenwaycycles.co.uk/road/58-road-racing-bike-7426799794082.html

Yeah the frame is lifetime but carbon components are less (must be a mis-print) I would probably be happier with an allloy fork (more secure in the knowledge it will last) but I don't think it's too much of an issue, not had a crash since I was 12 and I am like 60-65kg, and my plan is to use it for leisure riding & use my current bike for commuting so any damage to the fork would only be from some kind of crash.

£650 is a bit of a stretch for me but apart from going up to at least 28mm tyres it is exactly what I am looking for, (and I was hoping when next years models come out they might drop it to £500ish)... That greenway is a good deal though, not come across that brand/site before, but as a minimum upgrade I would definitely need to change the cassette. Even assuming it's a compact crank with 34T I think I'd need more than 25T for climbing on a 13kg+ bike. & I'd need to know if it's possible to put bigger tyres.
I swear when I first clicked on the link it was £166... now it's £200

Anyhow thanks for the links.
I'm not in any rush so I think what I will do is leave it for now, keep checking for discounts and if I can snap up something with a 105 group for under £550 I will, if that doesn't happen I may wait till next year or try out somethin cheaper and make sure it is easily upgradable.
I definitely want a decent groupset upgrade though, my current bike which I don't think I have mentioned yet is a Raleigh Strada 2 and has Shimano Acera which is roughly equivalent to Claris, I would be happy with Tiagra except I like having a nice high top gear for downhills and for some reason Tiagra cassettes only go down to 12T.