I’ve been asked to find a small (50) road bike for a friend on a limited budget.
I’ve trawled Pauls, Rutland, Evans etc. and I’m struggling to find a better spec than this:

http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-performance-road-pr7-bike-73113.html

Anything else worth considering?

I would have suggested Decathlon’s Triban 3, but the Merlin one looks better.

I’ve no idea what the Shimano Clitoris running gear is like, but £300 for an alloy bike with carbon forks seems like a steal. Tell your friend to bite their hand off 🙂

I only hope they start doing something similar but with discs.

Claris is good Hebden. Feels like old Tiagra when shifting, ie, good enough. Brakes are ok too.

Do decathlon have the triban 5 on offer at the mo?
Edit-Just checked £329.

I’ve been shopping around this last week or two, and doubt you’ll find a better spec of bike new. That’s second hand bike money IMO.

Thanks for the help guys – I’m going to suggest she goes for it.

“I’ve no idea what the Shimano Clitoris running gear is like”
Erm shimano claris surely ? 😳

No Shimano Clitoris is great when lubricated properly, Claris is just dull and clunky on comparison

Shimano clitoris is typically hard to find, particularly for male riders

Apparently it’s self lubricating….

Does anyone know if you can increase the gearing to 9 or 10 speed?

Shimano clitoris only has one gear. Fast!

I’m sure I remember reading claris is essentially re-tooled Sora, because the OEM customers really liked it. Dunno if its picked anything much up from old tiagra other than maybe proper shifting…

Road cc write up