can anyone point me in the direction of a good value womens road bike?
Need one for the other half for a 3 day 4 country charity ride in 2 weeks time and i am struggling to find anything, have all but exhausted the 2nd hand search and i am struggling to find anything worthwhile for decent money new.
We were looking at spending no more than £300 2nd hand but that buys utter crap new, so it seems…
Any recommendations or nods to shops doing good deals would be very much appreciated, otherwise she will be slogging out the 280 miles on her mtb
thanks all…

what size are you looking for and whereabout are you ? there are lots of racing club fora out there

Is she a short arse.?

she is indeed a short arse,5’3″ (although she claims to be 5’4″) i have trawled a few of the forums but no joy yet.
Cant bring myself to buy a heavy cheap bike, like the raleigh team sprint, its just not right!
oh, in cornwall by the way

Why not go for a small 48/50cm “mens”.?

yep been looking at mens too, in that size range but still nothing yet. couple on ebay but long wait until auction ends, be good to get something sooner so she has time to get used to it

there’s a few specialized dolce’s on eBay. I claim to be 5ft 4 as well, I take a 51cm. theres a red 51 at 195quid just now. its probably sora, which might need faffing about with.

its not mine that’s for sale but can you tell where my user name comes from….

yep seen it and made them an offer but no reply
dolce looks like a well sorted bike

I might be able to help you find a road bike, if you can help me find a cheap woman. My other half costs a bloody fortune! 😀

a giant is a good option…

i started out looking on ebay for a giant or specialised and then ended up building my own from scratch using a sub 1kg (actual weight) ambrosio frame with carbon fork bought off fleabay for a song…

the £300 budget ended up at a whisker beneath £600, but aside from the frame/fork and the wheelset (taken from my spares box), all the parts were brand new and everything was 100% tuned for my missus (ie. stem length, bar width, saddle, carbon seatpost, sti brake lever shims, spd pedals, triple chainset etc etc)

it was hugely satisfying to build and the missus (who is 5’2″ by the way) is absolutely in love with it. i am never allowed to sell it apparently, which is a shame, as i suspect it is worth slightly more than i paid to build it!

either way, to give you a little inspiration on what can be achieved, below are some pics:-

Thanks for the pics,
Thats a lovely looking bike, so i had better not show the other half…
I unfortunately do not have the time to source all the parts and get a bike built up, its got to be a ready made.
if only we hadn’t decided to join this charity ride at the last minute!

For that kind of money, you could see if your local Halfords has any old 2009/2010 stock which isn’t online. I got a Carrera Valour (no longer made) for about half the list price and whilst the frame is heavy, the groupset is fine. And for less than £200 (and considering I don’t exactly look after it!) its done me well for commuting.

Mrs Tubs always found her road bike brakes a bit far from the bars so she got some Cinelli Little wings that close the gap up a bit. Just a shame they’re not shallow drops. (Levers were too old for shims)