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Road bike for. begi...
 

[Closed] Road bike for. beginner

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[#6043808]

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


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 4:04 pm
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Pretty sure the decathlon route is the one most will advice..
Triaban or something like?


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 4:18 pm
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Halfords seem to be selling the Carrera Zelos cheaply at the moment. Nothing wrong with it at that price point.


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 4:19 pm
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Cheers folks- good suggestions, i'll pass them onto him.


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 4:46 pm
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Teetosugars - Member
Pretty sure the decathlon route is the one most will advice..
Triaban or something like?

[url= http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-uk-id_8274036.html ]Yep, bang on budget as well...[/url]


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 4:53 pm
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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).


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 4:59 pm
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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.


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 6:41 pm
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A 'friend' eh, George?
Yeah, right..... 😉


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 7:40 pm
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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..... 😀


 
Posted : 17/03/2014 7:59 pm
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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?


 
Posted : 18/03/2014 10:30 am
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Ladders = ladders. Dam you spell check


 
Posted : 18/03/2014 11:59 am
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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? 😆


 
Posted : 18/03/2014 1:44 pm
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[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-54cm-cannondale-caad-8-sora ]CHeck the classifieds[/url]

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


 
Posted : 18/03/2014 2:52 pm
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Double dam spellcheck 😀

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


 
Posted : 18/03/2014 3:35 pm
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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.


 
Posted : 18/03/2014 3:56 pm
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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 [url= http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_991927_langId_-1_categoryId_165710 ]discounted at the mo.[/url].


 
Posted : 19/03/2014 6:06 pm
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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.


 
Posted : 19/03/2014 6:13 pm
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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).


 
Posted : 19/03/2014 6:14 pm
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+1 Triban


 
Posted : 19/03/2014 6:14 pm
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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.


 
Posted : 19/03/2014 6:15 pm
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Thks - I'm near a decathlon so can go and run the rule over the triban.


 
Posted : 19/03/2014 6:20 pm
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Teetosugars - Member
Pretty sure he mentioned it need to be a [b]54cm Johnny...[/b]

😯 Lordy!


 
Posted : 19/03/2014 6:25 pm