I finally splashed-out on a new bike. After a lot of dithering, I finally went for the Focus Cayo from wiggle.com. It is a nice german bike with a nice carbon fibre frame. With pedals and a few other bits and pieces it has cost me £1200. Today the pedals arrived along with some colder-weather riding gear. I have not had a chance to ride it yet as that annoying thing called work keeps getting in the way.
I had looked at the Scott range of bikes but the fact is, I get as good a bike with slightly better gearing (“the groupset” for those in the know) for about £700 less. Compare the Focus Cayo starting at £1000 with the Scott CR1 Team for £1400. I get Shimano Ultegra rather than the lower spec Shimano 105 set but pay £400 less. To get Ultegra on a Scott means the CR1 Pro at £1740. The difference between the bikes boils down to the name on the bar in my view. I’m sure some top-end tri-athlete could test them both and find the £740 of extra value but for me, that’s a family holiday for a week somewhere.
I did also look at the Focus Cayo Expert with the top-end Shimano Dura-Ace group set or the Pro with SRAM shifters. SRAM shifters work in an odd way and I was not ready to change yet. The Ultegra set shifts slightly differently from the Sora set on my trusty and still much-loved Raleigh Absolute but not so much that I’m going to fall-off whilst working it out.
For pictures of the new bike, look here. I’ll let you know what it is like to ride just as soon as I get a chance to actually ride it.
One thing is for sure, I’ve signed-up for the Thames Bridges ride again this year so whilst it is a bit gravelly in places, the new bike will be out in public by then.
