I’m in the market for a very cheap road bike, most likely second-hand.

I’ve been looking on Retro-bike, Ebay and Pinkbike and reckon I’m only going to spend maybe £350 tops, perhaps less.

I think my plan is to buy a cheap bike now and if I take to it I will then start saving for a decent bike and hopefully retain the cheap one for maybe winter use or keep it on rollers in the garage or whatever.

I’ve never bought a second-hand bike before or even bought anything off Ebay at all, so wondering if there are any obvious pitfalls I should avoid and anything else I should especially look out for?

I’m aware the Triban’s and Carrera’s are often the go-to models for entry level road bikes and somebody at work is selling a relatively unused Carrera TdF for £150 which is slightly tempting but I’m thinking it’s probably better value to buy an older but higher-specced bike off Ebay?

But mainly any suggestions as to what should be avoided and/or sought-after would be great.

I’m beginning to realise how vain I must be as soon as I see a bike with a nice paint-job and trims etc I’m immediately tempted regardless of the spec 😕

Cheers
Duggan

EDIT- wrong thread somehow!

The less used the better.

Transmission wear can mean replacing chain etc costing £££ – you can measure the chain with a ruler. Corrosion in cables is another, bearing wear another.

I suspect there will be video guides? Hate to be negative but ive seen too many sh purchases cost hundreds to put right.

Cheers Cynic-Al. I think my mate has a chain-checker tool so I guess I can take that with me if I go to view anything.

From looking at Ebay I think I’m going to try for a second-hand but slightly higher specced bike- there seems to be a couple of machines that have been bought and hardly used so think I’ll see if I can get lucky with something being sold by a failed MAMIL perhaps.

size / fit is more important than spec for a road bike – invest in a session to get measured – then look for the bike to fit , great spec bad fit not good.

Check frame alignment to make sure it hasn’t had any accidents.

Your budget will get a nice steel bikewith Shimano 600 (ultegra). The seller is usually a good indicator of the bik. Lgfss is a good source for used. It is abit like here witha lot of self-regulation.

Depends how posh you want. My hack road bike cost me £100
It’s steel and has old campy 10 speed ( 5 rear and double front ring)
Still has down tube shifters etc but it rides very well and it fits me

I changed the tyres when I first got it and new cables and it’s been fine for the last 1000 or miles

But above all ride anything first