Buying a cheap roadbike. Your advice and experience please...

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Buying a cheap roadbike. Your advice and experience please...

36 posts & 23 voices | Started 1 year ago by binners | Latest reply from binners

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darkside

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binners - Member

I'm looking to get a roadbike for the commute. Big hills and fat tyres and suspension are ok for a bit, but not on a daily basis. I've decided I want a roadbike as opposed to a hybrid.

Budget is a consideration here. I spend enough on my mountain bikes. And they earn there keep in keeping me smiling. The roadbike will be just a workhorse. So I'm not bothered about the name on the frame, carbon fibre wotnots. It won't be getting ridden for pleasure at the weekends. Its a form of transport full stop

There seem to be some good deals on fleabay on new 'entry level*' Vikings and Raleigh's in the £200-300 catergory. Reasonable spec with Shimano Sora gears etc. Does anyone have any experience of these?

Any advice in general greatly appreciated

Thanks

*'gateway' drug, more like

Posted 1 year ago #
geoffj - Member

Normal rules apply, you will be much better going second hand.

I bought a Giant SCR with Tiagra groupset of here for £250.

The same spec bike new now, would be £700 ish

Posted 1 year ago #
thomthumb - Member

boardman is very good value for money.

my mate has bought a couple of those entry level bikes from ebay.

they are well and truly rubbish. one of the front wheels fell apart after 6 weeks whilst coming down a hill at 20mph! not a nice thing to happen.

Posted 1 year ago #
uplink - Member

Get thyselve to Decathlon

Posted 1 year ago #
carbon337 - Member

I picked one up on here for 75 quid last week. Someone found it in a cash converters and got it for 50 - then sold it on to me for 25 quid profit within an hour.

Its a bit long but im getting a new stem (£5), ive had to change the cables (£10) and in inner tube from tesco for (£3) - think i need a new seatpost too so will look for a cheapy inline one on here.

Used it first time this morning and shaved about 5.5 mins off my commute over my old singlespeed. that was into a wind though so not really i good comparison.

Need to sort the gears out a bit better. I dont really mind it getting scratched etc on a train. The alternative was the BTWin Triban 3 i think at £299 but thats all 2300 kit and a carbon fork or my LBS had a Forme Rapid in for £385 or the Carrera TDF (350) which is what all the forums recommend.

Mine is Sora kit (scratched a bit) and Tiagra callipers - i thought for 75 quid I cant go wrong

Posted 1 year ago #
stilltortoise - Member

I've had a £400 Trek - which was reduced to £250 - for 11 years now. I'm no roadie but it's had a few miles on it and has stood up well. I find I simply don't need or want to upgrade it in the same way I do with my MTBs.

It can be a bit flexy in the cranks if I'm really going for it, but I'm talking high speed, high gear out of the saddle honking here. For everything else I've had no complaints. In fact I'm starting to wonder why MTBs can't be such good value. It's given me considerably higher fun per £ than my full susser.

Posted 1 year ago #
becky_kirk43 - Member

My road bike is full Sora, thought about upgrading but decided against - not fussed about gaining a few % performance and it works!

My frames an Iceni, didn't cost too much.

Posted 1 year ago #
ourmaninthenorth - Member

Its a form of transport full stop

Buy something that takes full mudguards. You'll thank me when you have a wet summer commuting...

Have a look at Ribble.

Posted 1 year ago #
carbon337 - Member

Buy something that takes full mudguards.

I think that will be a problem with my cheapo... Are the sks race blade guard thingies any good?

Posted 1 year ago #
uplink - Member

The Crud Raceguards are OK but a bit brittle/fragile

all spares are available though for the postage cost

Posted 1 year ago #
mos - Member

I bought a 2005 spesh allez sport off the bay 2 yrs ago for £200. It is better than a £200 new bike for sure. Still going strong.

Posted 1 year ago #
drofluf - Member

.. Are the sks race blade guard thingies any good?

Not as good as full 'guards but they do a pretty decent job. Got a pair on my winter bike, bit of spray onto my feet but no worse than my other bike with proper 'guards.

Posted 1 year ago #
carbon337 - Member

can we have a < £400 road bike pic thread?

Posted 1 year ago #
allmountainventure - Member

I picked up a Carrera Vanquish from Halfords for the same purpose a while ago for £450. At the time the frames were made by Merida (or coming out of the same factory)and sprayed up different for Halfords. Same Merida was just over a grand, although the Merida version had a slightly better wheelset the rest was the same.

+ for value
- for style points (although thieves wont give it a second glance)

I dont think they are out of the Merida factory anymore but you can be sure Halfords havent started making their own frames; most likely they are still buying from one of the big frame makers.

Posted 1 year ago #
binners - Member

off you go carbon337 and make it so.

Even better - can we have a 'show us your sub-£400 road bikes, particularly if you want to flog it to me

Posted 1 year ago #
jonba - Member

I have sora on my old road bike and it works, cheap stuff generally works on road bikes, much more so than mountain bikes.

The only downside is the sifters are annoying. There's a thumb lever that is difficult to reach in the drops.

Carbon forks are worth it if you find one as they add significant comfort.

Options I can think of are

second hand
On-one (and ditching the gears)
ribble
decathlon

Be careful with properly old bikes (5+ years) as specs/standards have changed so you may find it hard to find wheels, stems, seatposts etc. or if you do find them they will be niche and expensive.

Posted 1 year ago #
allmountainventure - Member

can we have a < £400 road bike pic thread?

Halfords special thread.

Posted 1 year ago #
carbon337 - Member

Midlifecrashes sold me this:

Does the job so far.

This is the BTwin I was tempted by : http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/triban-3-170478497/

Posted 1 year ago #
andy7t2 - Member

I'm looking to get a roadbike for the commute. Big hills and fat tyres and suspension are ok for a bit, but not on a daily basis. I've decided I want a roadbike as opposed to a hybrid.

Budget is a consideration here. I spend enough on my mountain bikes. And they earn there keep in keeping me smiling. The roadbike will be just a workhorse. So I'm not bothered about the name on the frame, carbon fibre wotnots. It won't be getting ridden for pleasure at the weekends. Its a form of transport full stop

bought a bike last year for the same reason and with the same thought process "just a workhorse"

Thing is i spend between 8-10 hours on my road bike each week and only about 5 on my 2 mountain bikes, it's worth trying before you buy with the amount of time you'll be riding it, can't you get cycle to work, i got a £600 bike for £30 a month

Posted 1 year ago #
ourmaninthenorth - Member

Carrera could be a good bet at the moment - Halfords doing 20% off their Carrera bikes.

Most of all, I never ever want to see pictures of binners in lycra. Ever.

Posted 1 year ago #
binners - Member

Don't worry fella. I'm possessed of enough self-awareness to never ever ever contemplate going out in lycra. I'd look like a badly stuffed sausage.

Posted 1 year ago #
gamo - Member

Friend asked me the same question at the weekend,sub £400 and wanted new so after a bit hunting found this-
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/29467/Dawes_Sportif_Bike_2010
seems ok for the price and he thinks it looks great!

Posted 1 year ago #
rocketman - Member

My only advice would be to make a monumental effort to keep whatever you buy completely stock. Replace like for like and resist the temptation to upgrade.

My big mistake was to buy a £250 Peugeot rb and then fit an old, but still tasty SDG saddle from my MTB 'box of bits'. And so it became a saddle with a sh*t bike attached to it...

Posted 1 year ago #
chrissyboy - Member

Bought off here a few weeks ago - 2010 CAAD8 for £300. If I hadn't found it I would have gone for the Halfords tDF special...

Posted 1 year ago #
midlifecrashes - Member

Nice to see the Giant is on the road, Carl. I was pretty sure it wouldn't need much. I'm pretty sure Giant do mudguards with cutouts to get around the clearance issue on the Defy, might be worth a look for the OCR. Enjoy.

Posted 1 year ago #
binners - Member

That Dawes does indeed look very nice indeed for that type of money. Might pp and have a look at a tdf later. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Posted 1 year ago #
ourmaninthenorth - Member

Thank god for that, binners. I can stand down the grandmothers shielding the eyes of young children when you ride by.

I ride a Giant SCR2 as my commuter/winter road bike. Get one of those or an SCR3 off ebay for within your budget.

You'd prob fit a large size (but poss med - can't recall how tall you are).

Posted 1 year ago #
CharlieMungus - Member

yeah, but, the TdF for £280!!!

Posted 1 year ago #
carbon337 - Member

The vanquish is only 399 now too.

Posted 1 year ago #
Ro5ey - Member

What ever you decide on.... get the right size.

It makes a really big difference in road bikes, much more so than mountain bikes, and may well be the difference from you loving the road bike or just getting on with it.

Posted 1 year ago #
epicyclo - Member

Get one with a hubgear. Then you can neglect it like a singlespeed.

Posted 1 year ago #
binners - Member

Thanks for all the advice folks. There are a good few Carrerra TDF's, Claud Butler Giro's, Giant OCRs on fleabay. However, it looks like I'm sorted

It came from the most unlikely of sources. Actually asking my mates, who between them own more bikes than Halfords, if anyone had a roadbike that is presently surplus to requirements. They had. And right on budget too

Ro5ey - the frame is the right size. I'd been told its pretty critical on a road bike. Photos to follow shortly, once I've picked it up and christened it

Darkside - here we come

Posted 1 year ago #
mieszko - Member

We can now make bets how long till You get hooked up and end up with a pimped out road bike.
i thought I loved mtb but got my first road bike and then it started. Now the mtb ht is rarely used.

As for experiences with budget road bikes my first onote was a 7sp Sora Raleigh for £200 then a Crosslight cx with Veloce 9sp for 250, Trek 1200 for 240, after that I spent a bit more and ended up with what is my good weather only bike and I commute on a slicked up Marin. £300 is a great budget, Tiagra equipped road bikes with a good brand frame. £400 is kind of between imo, very nice road bikes start from £500 second hand.

Enjoy Your new purchase, make sure You adjust to the braking distance on road brakes coming from disc brakes

Posted 1 year ago #
tonyd - Member

Glad you found something binners, enjoy the road! I wonder how long it'll be before you start taking the longer route home?

Posted 1 year ago #
epicsteve - Member

My first roadbike was a Giant OCR3T, bought new in the sales for £330. Here it is in it's commuter guise:

It was mostly Sora which seemed to work well, even with a triple up front. I think the only problem I ever had with it was a broken spoke on the back wheel, and that was due to a stick kicking up into the wheels.

It's been replaced by a Roadrat for commuting and a carbon Boardman for roadie stuff, but if you saw one 2nd hand I'd still recommend it.

Posted 1 year ago #

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