Im after a road bike for two purposes, the 18mile commute to work and for road riding for fitness.

I have no idea where to start, or what to look for so advice please.

Cheers

Whats your budget? Im kind on in the same boat, done a bit or research and i think Planet x/Ribble and Dolan bikes are by far the best value.

A budget.

Then do you want it to take mudguards and a rack?

Are you bothered about weight or do you want sturdy and long life?

Do you want it quick or comfortable?

Not all of these are mutually exclusive but you could have anything from a steel tourer with 32mm tyres through to a racing carbon frame with 23mm tyres. Both good but maybe not for what you want.

If you are happy to buy online they check out planet x and ribble. If not then go to a few shops and see what takes your fancy.

If its cheap and functional then ebay, go outdoors and wiggle have cheap Raleigh Airlites. Have mudguard clearance too.
Can’t go wrong for three hundred notes on the airlite 100.

As said before on many thread Btwin 3 from decathlon is the best budget for £299 new. Lot of bike for the money. From there on, there is plenty of options.

Tbh I want the best for less. Dont want to spend loads in case I hate it with a passion and dont want to carry on! But cheers for the responses.

Ash

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What he said, take a look in the cycling press it’s well regarded. I have bout one and it’s great.

Just seen that you got in before ai responded so here is my vote for the Btwin 3

Raleigh Airlite 100 or Decathlon Triban 3…

I bought a Raleigh Airlite 100 (through a bike shop mate), and it looked fab but I didn’t get to ride it as the courier dropped the box & borked the fork.
Could have got a replacement fork, but not in the same colour as Raleigh were out of stock, so the shop replaced it with a Carraro D’Aimez 915. Fancier bike overall, with better kit. But the tyre clearance is miniscule & the dropouts are an unconventional shape, so fitting mud guards like SKS raceblades will be a pain I think. Didn’t think about it at the time, and not a massive problem, but the Airlite had better clearance mudguard eyelets, although it didn’t look at fancy.

Merlin cycles have some offers on for road bikes at the moment.

I’ll be the first to say it, but what do your local bike shops sell?

Thing is with a road bike, it’s all very well buying out of a catalogue or off the internet, when you know exactly what size you need, and what equipment you want. But even more so than with Mountain Bikes, fit is EVERYTHING on a road bike, and it’s not something you will know is right unless you get to sit on the bikes and test them before buying in reality.

I could recommend any number of good starter bikes, but to be honest, buy one from a local shop that they will make sure fits you right. As long as it’s a good/reputable brand, if you don’t like it, you won’t lose much money on it selling it on ebay if you don’t get on with it anyway, as good starter bikes always hold their value pretty well.

This is what I got…

from here (although I paid a bit less) – only got 51 & 53cm left I think.

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/42237/Viking-Carraro-D-Ambiez-915SL-2012—Road-Bike.html

I am 5’6 with 30″ inside leg & got the 53. I reckon it would be OK for someone a couple of inches taller than me too…