Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
  • cheapest road bike worth buying
  • retro83
    Free Member

    any good deals about? I’m thinking £300 or less as I will have to leave it locked outside my flat.

    There’s a Carrera in halfords, somewhat ironically named the TDF for £299 at the moment. Worth a punt?

    I’ve been watching ebay, but there doesn’t seem to be many bargains about (plus I dont really know what too look for)

    rob-jackson
    Free Member

    I built one up off here and ebay for £200ish, Ribble frame, shimano factory wheels, 8 spd sora/tiagra

    wombat
    Full Member

    Watching with intetrest, was just about to ask pretty much the same question.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    retro83
    Free Member

    rob jackson – Member

    I built one up off here and ebay for £200ish, Ribble frame, shimano factory wheels, 8 spd sora/tiagra

    yeah trouble is I don’t know what works with what, kit to look out for/avoid etc. I gather there are at least three makes/types of gearing which are incompatible?

    I just want something cheap I can ride without too much fanny arsing about.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    the halfords one will be fine.

    stuff will wear out more quickly, weigh more and not operate as smoothly as expenisve stuff but it’ll get you going and, as you say, minimum faff.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    I will have to leave it locked outside my flat

    I hope you live in a really safe area. I wouldn’t dream of doing this with any bike worth more than £20.

    retro83
    Free Member

    Also seen this. Again, no idea if it’s better than the carrera or not but it has a carbon fork which sounds like it should be a good thing…

    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html

    chakaping – Member

    I hope you live in a really safe area. I wouldn’t dream of doing this with any bike worth more than £20.

    no, not really. It’s actually in a bike lockup, but the local scummy little brats loveable darlings know the code and use it as a den. Besides you could easily climb into it, as there is a person sized gap between the top of the wall and the bottom of the roof. 🙄 Moat Housing in clueless design work shocker.

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    Worth a punt?

    Yes

    I took a punt on a £250 road bike 12 years ago and I’m still riding it today. Best value bike I have ever owned. It’s a bit heavy, but that’s what strong legs are for 🙂

    turbo1397
    Free Member

    I think ebay is your best bet.. maybe go into your local LBS and try a few for size then start trawling ebay..

    martymac
    Full Member

    lots of people seem to recommend the btwin bikes, so they must be ok at least.

    meehaja
    Free Member

    Rob jackson, change your name to bob for me and then you could ride your own bikes!

    Bargains are out there, it just depends how fussy you are. I built up a steel road bike with dura ace gears/ultegra wheels for £200 ish with some careful ebay watching.

    globalti
    Free Member

    The Decathlon BTwin bikes are astonishing value for money, I bought a Triban 3 for my son and when we got home, showed it to my neighbour who is a big roadie. He checked out the carbon fork, the gorgeous red paintwork on the 6061 ali frame, the Shimano 2300 groupset with a triple, then I challenged him to put a value on it. “£500!” he reckoned.

    Nope, £299.99!”

    It rides really nicely, all I’ve done is put some decent tyres on it and he’s the envy of the other kids in the street.Plus he rode it from Liverpool to Chester the other weekend without too much effort.

    The-Swedish-Chef
    Free Member

    I hired one of those btwin bikes earlier this year when on holiday. Rode 60km including 1600 meters of climbing. It performed very well, which is more than I did on the cat one climb I encountered.

    higgo
    Free Member

    Of the three, I’d have the Btwin – mainly for the carbon fork. I got back into road biking a few years ago with a Carerra Virtuoso with a metal fork and it was brutal on anything but the very smoothest of tarmac. I put a cheapo carbon fork on it and it transformed the ride.

    cozz
    Free Member

    latest issue of cycling active has a test on the btwin, against a £400, £500,bike, it came out best buy, they reckon its amazing value and rides well

    and 10 kg weight is pretty good at £299 !!!

    Edric64
    Free Member

    So going up the scale a bit has anyone got the one for a grand from decathlon ? Im thinking of the triple chainset one for hilly audax rides as my first foray into carbon

    tomd
    Free Member

    I would say £300 gets you a usable bike, but expect to have to repair / upgrade fairly quickly. I would go second hand, or stretch to £500 and try and get a good deal.

    My friend bought a £300/400 Halfords road bike recently as he had signed up for an event. He’s really enjoyed it and it has got him into cycling. I serviced it for him recently and I would have some doubts over the durability. It also wasn’t very well set up, with bizarre cable routing that really hindered the brakes and a few other niggles. The things I thought were good about it:

    – Gets you out for a low cost
    – Reasonable (usable) weight
    – Set up like a proper road bike

    Downs:

    – Double chainset. What on earth the majority of people buying a £300 road bike want with a double chainset is beyond me.
    – Some strange low rent shimano parts. You will need a spanner and socket set to assemble, put it that way.
    – Poor quality tyres
    – Wheels significantly out of true after 6 weeks use

    Edric64
    Free Member

    – Double chainset. What on earth the majority of people buying a £300 road bike want with a double chainset is beyond me.

    Are you suggesting more or less chainrings?

    Edric64
    Free Member

    Btwin do one at 500 quid with a Sora groupset as well

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Road bikes are simpler than mtbs so it’s easier to make a decent cheap one. The TDF and the Btwin are both well worth buying IMO.

    The TDF looks more expensive in the flesh, which might be a consideration if you’ll leave it outside. The Triban’s still nicely finished but looks a bit, well, boring- which could add up to a wee bit more theftproofing.

    headfirst
    Free Member

    Btwin have also been used on the TdF in recent years*, whereas carrerras have not!
    .
    .
    *Probably not the model featured

    bm0p700f
    Free Member

    The Btwin is probably O.K. For cheap and relaible and sub £300 I would always go with single speed, not a trendy on though so it won’t be a tempting to theives.

    globalti
    Free Member

    The BTwin Triban 3 WILL be tempting to thieves, it looks gorgeous.

    Their higer value carbon frames on the other hand look very strange. They have boxy sections almost like an Orange mountain bike.

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)

The topic ‘cheapest road bike worth buying’ is closed to new replies.