Which bike for my friend?

[epa611]

My friend has asked me to suggest a suitable raod bike for him

He works in Marbella, so will be doing lots of hills, so I'm thinking a triple.

He has given me a budget of about £600.

The two bikes I've got in mind for him are:

Trek 1.5 Triple

Specialized Allez Sport Triple

I'd get my CTC 10% discount on both of these.

Can anyone suggest anything else to look at?

Thanks.

PS, This IS NOT for me 

[clarion]

I've just been searching, and I can't improve on those suggestions.  I thought there might be a Giant Defy that would suit, but I can't find one.  And Ribble don't have any offers on at the moment, which was my other idea...

Both nice bikes, though.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

The new Specialized Secteur may also be of interest, similar to the allez with a slightly higher front end for a more relaxed position.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

[clarion]

That's interesting.  It's got a similar look to the Tricross, which is very comfortable.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

That's interesting.  It's got a similar look to the Tricross, which is very comfortable.

In the flesh it looks just like a triple Allez though, the higher front end is a subtle difference, where as the Tricross is more heavy duty in comparison.

Secteur

Allez

Tricross

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

[clarion]

I was referring more to the proportions, but I see what you mean.  Is this Spesh having a go for the audax market?

[CommuteTooFar]

Surely someone living in Spain will not want an amerincan bike. Orbea make some nice ones.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

I was referring more to the proportions, but I see what you mean.  Is this Spesh having a go for the audax market?

No, it is simply budget Roubaix (below) so aimed more at the Sportive market as apposed to the audax market, the latter generally have guards and a luggage carrying capacity.



I have asked the larger companies several times why they don’t cater for the audax market specifically, apparently audax bikes are more popular here in the UK than anywhere else, even the European countries that share similar weather to the UK don’t want them, they prefer Sportive style bikes, which is the main reason why the large manufacturers concentrate on the sportive/race bike market and very few even make a higher end audax bike, as the worldwide demand is simply not high enough.

Another reason is that most manufacturers use carbon frames in their high end ranges, which although more robust than many fear them to be is not same as saying that carbon is a robust as titanium, steel or aluminum alloy, the latter three are often therefore the preferred choice for audax bikes that may not enjoy such a precious existence as a summer/sportive best bike.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk

[clarion]

Oh dear.  I was hoping it did have guard & rack capacity

It looks like a cool bike for speed & distance.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

Oh dear.  I was hoping it did have guard & rack capacity

It looks like a cool bike for speed & distance.

Like the Allez the Secteur does have rear rack mounts, but no guard eyes, some have fitted guards on the Allez, a bit of Heath Robinson fettling needs to be done so they should just go on the Secteur, both have tight clearances though, so narrow guards and tyres needed.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk