Hi STW I need a wee bit of advice on a road bike for a mate who’s wanting to take up cycling to get fit. I tried to steer him down the MTB route, but he’s adamant that he wants a road bike- which I know sod all about. His budget is ‘as low as possible’ which roughly means £250 but he says he’s flexible.

Any recommendations for a road bike to suit.

thanks

http://www.tweekscycles.com/bikes/road-bikes/trofeo-imola-road-bike

Pretty sure the decathlon route is the one most will advice..
Triaban or something like?

Halfords seem to be selling the Carrera Zelos cheaply at the moment. Nothing wrong with it at that price point.

Cheers folks- good suggestions, i’ll pass them onto him.

Teetosugars – Member
Pretty sure the decathlon route is the one most will advice..
Triaban or something like?

Yep, bang on budget as well…

2nd hand on ebay.

My advice would be anything cannondale, that fits, that looks lightly used, and has tigraor 105 bits.

He’d get a much better bike than buying new, and lose no money when he inevitably gets bored and sells (or gets bitten by the bug and buys an expensive bike).

A used Triban 3 sold by Decathlon. The latest model is not as good value. It is still a fine bike though. If you are small, the post above links to a few of the remaining red stock with carbon forks. This was an astounding deal.

A ‘friend’ eh, George?
Yeah, right….. 😉

The Sanity Assassin – Member
A ‘friend’ eh, George?
Yeah, right…..

Pretty sure he mentioned it need to be a 54cm Johnny…

Which I’m guessing may be a wee bit ‘compact’ for George….. 😀

definitely a friend ladders. I’ve already got enough bikes that I don’t ride.
😳
Just realised who teetosugars is. How’s it going fellas?

Ladders = ladders. Dam you spell check

Just realised who teetosugars is. How’s it going fellas?

*Waves*

All good fella, all good… 😀

Must catch up soon eh?

Ladders = ladders. Dam you spell check

Errrm…. 😳 Ludders? 😆

CHeck the classifieds

Wee bit more, but a decent bike. Not mine nor do I know the seller.

Double dam spellcheck 😀

Yes I’ll need to get back on my bike this year and catch up

Got one of them red Triban 3’s myself just after Xmas and I’ve got to say, I’m really impressed with it.

For less than I paid for a set of forks for the MTB it’s a fully functioning, lighter / faster than anything I’m used to road bike.

Oh, and with a warranty too – can’t really see how you can go far wrong tbh.

My sister has just asked me the same question – she would be completely new to cycling. Is there anything in it between the triban and the carrera zelos would you reckon? The zelos seems to be discounted at the mo..

Garry_Lager – Member

My sister has just asked me the same question – would be completely new to cycling. Is there anything in it between the triban and the carrera zelos would you reckon? The zelos seems to be discounted at the mo..

I doubt that they’d ever sell any of those Carreras at full price since the spec looks worse in every way than the Boardman.

The red triban has a better fork (carbon) compared to the Carrera (steel). Otherwise they look broadly similar. I had a Triban 3 and thought it was very good.

On the very flimsy basis that my brother had a Carrera that weighed a ton and Triban 3’s comparatively light, I’d go for the Triban. Could do with having one of each side by side to see if there’s a difference (not sure what model his Carerra it was – twas a yellow thing with some kind of TdF related branding).

+1 Triban

The red triban has a better fork (carbon) compared to the Carrera (steel). Otherwise they look broadly similar. I had a Triban 3 and thought it was very good.

Do check that it still has the carbon fork – I was looking for one last spring and couldn’t get one for love nor money, they’d started to replace them with a steel-forked version.

Thks – I’m near a decathlon so can go and run the rule over the triban.

Teetosugars – Member
Pretty sure he mentioned it need to be a 54cm Johnny…

😯 Lordy!