£650 Road Bike Top Trumps

[Shadow Dancer]

If all goes to plan I will be upgrading from my "cheap and cheerful" sub 200 notes test bike to something I now feel I can ride with a bit more confidence and something that is more upto the task of the job at hand.  Those of you who have followed the story so far know I am recovering after a bike crash, have had a thrash about on the cheapo to see if I can still ride, have found my legs and taste for the bike life again and have also found I kinna enjoy the road thing as much as I did ripping up the woodlands on my old MTB.So, had a mooch down the LBS (Different one from where I got my cheapo Ammaco roadie from as they don't do anything higher end really) and was having a chat with the guys who run it.  I went in to have a look at the Orbea Aqua or Giant's around the £550 range, but got talked up/tempted into the £650 bracket for the better gears and whatnot, which is fine but £650 is pretty much as high as I can float as I gotta get a Turbo in this splurge out also.  The LBS guys were kinna dancing between the Orbea 2010 Aqua TSR & the Cannondale CAAD 8 Sora. The Caan8 coming out slighty ahread on spec (Gears and Chainset higher spec, frame was touted as being superior + seat is more to my taste) but I much prefer the colour scheme with the Orbea's (White and Red so not my colour scheme at all, however I can suck it up if it is the better bike). However, after reading enough threads and the like around here I know some like to air their views about buying "mass produced named conglom tatt" so here is your chance to point me in the direction of what you think can rank above or alongside the dreaded mass produced bikes without ranting about their innate evilness.  & I have come to see that some of you guys and ladies are seriously clued up and have very informed and worthwhile opinions and knowledge so I would be a fool to not at least see if you would perhaps shed some light and your wisdom on the choices I have before I part with what for me is going to be a very substantial amount of cash. As the title of the thread suggests, Road Bike Top Trumps is the name of the game, the bike with the most best bits/highest spec for the price tag across the board is what I am looking for, rabblerousing and mere hearsay or opinion spouting can be saved for other threads please. (: I am more than happy to consider a lesser known brand if it does indeed have the better spec and is reliable, even if it means a bit of a hike to get it.Thanks in advance, and apologies for those who are tired of seeing another thread of this ilk. 

[Tom Staniford]

eBay will give you the most bang for your buck, provided you know what youre after.

[Shadow Dancer]

You mean buying bits and then bike jigsaw at the end of it?

[puddings]

no, you can often find complete bikes. Also worth looking in the back of the comic - there are sometimes some nice bikes there for reasonable bucks

[blunty]

i am also looking at new bike below £650 mark and am torn between Orbea Aqua TSR and Cannondale CAAD 8. Which one did you go for in the end?

[Shadow Dancer]

My current bike = None of the above...Of the ones above I would have opted for the Orbea in the end I guess based on CAAD's are hard to get hold of in the size I wanted/long delivery times because of low stock/supply and I would have wanted it sooner rather than later.Plus Orbea colour schemes are more flexible.I eventually opted to push the boat out as ar as I could and went for mid range, I probably spent more than I can afford (ok, I did but I don't for a second regret it even if beans on toast 5 nights a week is getting old!) to get as high up the component chain as I could and I feel it was worthwhile considering the time and miles I had since done on my Fuji. You may still be able to snap up one of last years mid range bikes for this years entry level prices if you spend a bit of time looking online and I'd seriously advise that, having this years paint job and a small difference in gear spec isn't always a better option, some bikes have dropped spec levels this year and prices have gone up so you can score an utter gem for a decent price if you invest some time and effort.

[eliot coolican]

Shad's, I'm looking at it right now-Columbus Zonal is the absolute unrivalled king at your price range, and there's only one Sheriff in town.

[Shadow Dancer]

Check OP post date Eliot.

[eliot coolican]

For 650 it's still the dogs you know what Shads, I've just felt like a big splash in steel and campag-there's nowt wrong with it and i'l certainly keep it.