Yes, for western branded bikes, can get 8 speed shimano claris brifters.


But if you are willing to consider China brand, options open up for you up to shimano 105 11speed groupset.


I'll go for the China brands over the western ones. More worth the money.

Shit bikes using freewheels and not real cassettes and using low end shifters.

Some decent China brands are CAMP, Twitter. JAVA.

Also can consider Raleigh sojourn, (not truly UK raleigh but Malaysian license/unlicense copy) under 2k for 9 speed sora set.

But this is not the end of story, you need to make sure they have the frame size that suits your height.
You cannot just buy any road bike.
Also, different manufacturer has own way of counting frame sizes. Only consistence is across their own models.



And remember, the higher the speed count, the faster the chain wears out. Only reason to get multi-speed is for smoother gear change, but generally I don't give a shit about that, so 9 speed sora for me is plentiful.


Yes, I'll also stick with alloy.


I dislike carbon bikes, even though they're lighter, the price you pay is not worth the weight ratio. Also, in a crash, they're much harder to repair or even detect the flaws.


And because they're using resins, these degrade over time depending on how often it is exposed to the sunlight.


Carbon bikes do not lasts.... they will degrade.

This post has been edited by jbcoder: Jan 27 2020, 08:38 PM

For carbon road bikes, best to get disc brake version. You don't want to wear down your expensive rims.

Furthermore your carbon rims are shit in the rain, cannot even compete with alloy rims.

Disc frames and rim brake frames are totally different, cannot modify to each other.


The problem with rim brakes on carbon bikes is you need special pads for carbon wheels and they don't work well in the wet compared to alloy rim brakes.


It's ok to get even cable disc brake road bike since they work better in the wet than rim brakes. The only thing better than them are hydraulic disc brakes.


I personally would go for something like this.

https://shopee.com.my/JAVA-S3-Disc-Brake-Ro...4857.2806267188

Another option here. Full hydraulic disc brakes.

https://shopee.com.my/Twitter-Sniper-2.0-Di...6755.2575706901

This post has been edited by jbcoder: Jan 27 2020, 10:19 PM

Yup, consumables like cassettes, chain-ring, no need to get full original groupset, since you can get cheaper consumables elsewhere.


Shifters, brakes (except pads), Front and rear derailleurs lasts forever, so those you can stick with the original.

For cycling events, unless you're SPONSORED or just rich show offs, very few are willing to bring their own expensive carbon bikes in case a pile-up/crash happens.


Pro-cyclists don't need to pay for their bikes, since they're sponsored. So crash 20k bike also never mind.

No you did not get cheated. That price is about right for an entry level Trek Domane bike. It's expensive because of the name 'Trek'. We're just being cheapskates trying to get better deal and bypassing branded products. Mostly aiming for China brands bike frame.


Groupset anything Claris (8 speed)above is acceptable in my opinion, as long as they're brake shifters or brifters. Don't use thumb shifters on a road bike or even downtube shifters. Too dangerous to use for beginners (but they were what's used before brifters came) since road bikes being nimble and thin tyres, are harder to balance with one hand while trying to shift with the other.


Most importantly the bike must suit your height. If you're comfortable riding it then you're good to go. I hope the fella gave you a free bike fitting too.

Well he's not wrong if he fits that model for your budget, assuming he doesn't sell China brands.


Most of these shops are kinda snobs and they're anti-China bike frames.


So if he only sells brand name products and what's available in his shop, then that model is the best you could buy for 3k at his shop.