Hi everyone,

I'm planning my next roadbike from a 15 year old Pinarello running Ultegra 6600.

I'm slowly weighing up the options of buying complete vs building. I understand building will always be more expensive, but with recent price drops across the industry it's difficult to see the value in Chinese bikes.

Take this Merida Scultura 6000 as an example. $3,600 AUD for a bike with 105 di2 is a fantastic price. Cheapest complete 105 groupset down here is $2,000 AUD leaving me with $1,600 for basically everything else.

On the flip side, I'd buy a complete bike for $3,600 then be inclined to spend another ~$1000 on wheels and tyres. Plus a couple hundred on bits and pieces over time to have the bike fit just right.

If we look at a budget of $4,500 then a build from scratch could be much more feasible. 1k frame, 1k wheels, 2k groupset leaves $500 for all other bits. The shortfall being the lack of dealer support and manufacturer warranty.

I guess the question from all of this is: Financially, where does a Chiner build excel over a name brand, complete bike?

Hi everyone,

Looking at the groupset options for a tri bike.

I'm a little surprised Ltwoo and Sensah don't have any bar end options for either mech or electronic shifting. What other options do I have if I were to piece together a tri bike?

I've been out of the hobby for a number of years, and I feel like 10-15 years ago there was a greater range of entry level triathlon bikes whereas now it seems all high end. This seems relevant in having very limited options for bar end shifters where 105 has nlno provisions for satellite shifters.

Has anyone built a cheapy trip bike? Or is entirely 2nd hand seemingly my only option unless I spend $5k+ AUD

Cheers

Hi,

I'm tossing up between these SuperTeam wheels https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNHmJL4 for about $575 AUD shipped

Or ProX r98 wheels for about $630 shipped. Not including taxes

The ProX has an engraved braking surface and their own hubs. Should I spend $80 odd more for ProX?

Cheers