After watching and being fairly enthralled by the TDF , I borrowed GW’s old but gold Giant OCR road bike . I got him to stick on some old V8 pedals as I couldn’t trust myself wearing SPD’s for the first time on a strange bike with thin wheels.
Now to be fair I haven’t been far as time constraints (kids on holidays) and shitey scottish weather I’ve only down two rides of just over an hour and done just under 20 miles each time , but Its fair to say I really enjoyed the fact you can cover greater distances and even stay clean. Now It will never replace bombing down a trail in the mud or the feeling of achievement you get from slowly grinding away till you reach the top of a great hill and absorbing the views.
I even contemplated swapping my on one hardtail for a Giant road bike on the classifieds last night and keeping my full suss but wont the best of both worlds.
So here Is my question what cheap but cheerful road bike for a small budget . Jason Bradbury from the gadget show seemed to enthuse over the Carerra TDF and also the cheap Btwin decathlon bikes look Ok but I really dont know what Im looking for. ?

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikebuilder.asp?action=showframes&sub=conf_BBRW&type=RIBMO

Ribble all the way for a good budget bike!

How is the awesome one?

TBH I don’t think any bikes offered by the reputable manufacturers are bad. A lot of the cheap stuff is far better than the high end stuff I rode 20 years ago.

Is this a late bid to get fit for the weekend?

“It will never replace bombing down a trail in the mud or the feeling of achievement you get from slowly grinding away till you reach the top of a great hill and absorbing the views.“

Heh. I said something like that once 🙂

Cynic the awesome one is probably winding up the French on holiday , Steven given the company of race snakes heading south tomorrow I should have been on that bike months ago .I am only sad Jason Isn’t going as I could have borrowed his tartan rug and kept up the pace with him.