Technically it wouldnt be my first but my first for decades.

What is out there that is fantastic value with a solid groupset? (Ultegra say).

Second hand is of course the way to go.
If you want plastic, then Planet X is the budget option.
Go for Ribble at your own risk.

I wouldn't go near Ribble unless you paid me.

Boardman

I bought a second hand Giant off the bay, which I use for commuting. It's not exotic, but their bike nice geometry and offer good value.

Horses for courses!

I wouldn't go near Ribble unless you paid me.

Ribble service seems to be quite good nowadays.

For budget I guess you mean around £1000? If so Focus from Wiggle would be a good start or Boardman.

Got my road bike from decathlon, good level of kit for the price, no issues yet in approx 1000miles, even threw in a pair of roadie shoes when I bought the bike.

Mines for campag mirage kit on, and I went for a triple up front as I'm a steady climber 😳

got a boardman. seems to do the job.

Choose a colour you like then put pictures of the final choices up on the wall and throw a dart at them and buy the one that it hit.

cheap speccy, trek or giant. bit like mtb's really. safe bets.

I honestly dont mind if its not a 'trendy' road brand as long as its lightish and good geometry etc.

Re Ribble. There is too much competition out there to be bothered with second chances.

I'll second/third the Boardman, Last year I got myself a new 2008 Boardman Pro for £999 !! Dura ace drive train WCS finishing kit all top end kit.

The only concern is you have to buy it through Halfords !!! I had quite a bit of hassle with them, took me 6 months to get a replacement set of wheels after the rear cassette fell apart and trashed the wheel on my first ride.

Will look up Boardman and Focus…

Budget at least £1000.

You can get a perfectly rideable road bike 2nd hand for £300. My £450 Trek 1200 has lasted well over 10,000km so far, with only chains, brake pads etc. needing to be changed (it was in pretty much brand new condition when I bought it), and still runs lovely and smoothly. I guess with the higher groupsets it might shift slightly nicer or weigh 50g less, but they are a lot more money for what seems like no increase in reliability.

I would go for a minimum of Tiagra – it is the first one that has sensible shift levers.

The Boardman bikes from Halfords are pretty good value if you're willing to put it together yourself.

Although having said that, I'd always go for something with mudguard mounts – a full on road bike with close clearances is nice in summer, but sucks if you ride in the rain, you can get clip on guards but they're not the same. As a bonus, you can change a bike with guard / rack mounts into a fast commuter easily if you don't get into road riding for fun.

Joe

Im with Joemarshall. I cant afford 1k!

if you want aluminium then cannondale caad9 is the only option worth looking at.

I suggest £1000 becauase if the bug bites (which most likely it will) then it will save you £s upgrading.

try merida. 901-18 road race. 650 notes-tiagra throughout. light and responsive.

oh yeah. and carbon forks too!

Hmm. The biggest upgrade will be wheels and if the bug bites you'll want a second set of wheels anyway.

Hmm. The biggest upgrade will be wheels and if the bug bites you'll want a second set of wheels anyway.

I manage on one set, although I don't race.

Whilst we are on the subject Hora is a big lad (16 stone as I recall), he'd be better off selling the factory wheels on most <£1000 road bikes straight away anyway and get some 32 spoke Open Pros laced up.

I suggest £1000 becauase if the bug bites (which most likely it will) then it will save you £s upgrading.

But the great thing about the road, is that unless you race seriously, there is no real need to upgrade. Once you get a basically okay bike with tiagra (so usable shifters), sort of thing you can pick up 2nd hand for £450 or so, all upgrading does is potentially make you slightly faster. It isn't like mountain biking where fancy parts can make a big difference to how possible it is to ride, due to breaking easily or whatever.

Yeah, sometimes I get dropped by people on £4000 super bikes, and maybe they are slightly faster, but to be honest, I've never felt that it was anything to do with what they were riding, I've overtaken people with much fancier bikes than mine, and been overtaken by some bugger on a fixy that couldn't have been worth more than £20.

I also did a good few miles on a 500NZD (about £150) 2nd hand road bike in New Zealand, and as long as it was maintained (oiled every so often), it was fine. The only thing that annoyed me was the funny Sora shifters. Cheap road bikes have got surprisingly good. You kind of notice the difference in a fancier bike, but really it isn't anywhere near as big as you'd think.

Joe

winter set/summer set. just getting a second set for mine im afraid! the man speaks the truth!

Budget + ultegra don't really mix unless your idea of budget is considerably different to mine.

I race (badly) and do sportives (reasonably) on 105 and it is absolutely fine – in fact, it is absoutely great. I also replaced my Ksyriums (a £600 wheelset) with some planet X model Bs when the braking surface started wearing(a £99 quid wheelset). Guess how much slower it makes me?

Just buy an Allez or a cheap boardman and see if you like it. It is quite hard work, and you can't really blame your kit like you do on the mtb, so you may not.

EDIT: like joemarshall says. Kit doesn't matter that much IMO unless you're super competitive and training enough to make it worthwhile.

Hora is a big lad (16 stone as I recall),

I'd look at Defys. I had to race a SCR (predessesor of the Defy) for one season and it was fine. Slightly relaxed, not an out and out race machine, but a bike that'll do well all year round and not too precious.

Planet X SL Aluminium version upping the budget.

Though folding will buy something nice second hand.

Decent first road bike can be bought for around £250-300. This got me a nice and near new condition Trek 1200 with Tiagra/105 drivetrain. Go for Tiagra shifters or up, much better than Sora I had before. I never had a 10sp newer shimano groupsets but 9sp does the job well enough and cassettes and chains are cheaper. Recently I got a stell Lemond with full Ultegra 9sp and just put my nicer wheels. All in cost me just over £400 as I had to put new cables, bar tape, chain etc. This bike should be a keeper as the True Temper OX steel frame rides beautifuly while the bike weights just over 9kg. Check the likes of Trek 1200, very good frame with mudguard mounts on the frame and carbon fork, great if You want to use it all year round. Check Gumtree for nice road bikes, that's where I found my Trek, first owner used it twice to ride to the train station and then moved closer to work. I sold it not long ago and good more modern road bikes hold it value really well (I got same I paid a year before). If You wieght 16st then don't go silly light and put wider tyres. There is a nice Cannondale on Edinburgh Gumtree, 58cm, full 105 9sp for £350. Frame colour matches Your lycra shorts… 😉 Buying a reasonable road bike rather than bottom line Sora equpped one will save You cash in the long run as You won't have to upgrade as much bits. Also go for good frame and fork combo with good wheels and Tiagra or up STI, rest can be upgraded as You go and will not be as costly.

Decent first road bike can be bought for around £250-300. This got me a nice and near new condition Trek 1200 with Tiagra/105 drivetrain

That would be perfect for me.

Ps. Your old watch is sat on my desk infront of me in its box!

Ask oldgit if he is upgrading. The giant I bought off him is the best £250 I ever spent ( well on bike stuff anyway)

planet X model Bs when the braking surface started wearing(a £99 quid wheelset). Guess how much slower it makes me?

To be fair those Model Bs are outstanding value and a very good weight they shall be my replacements soon.

If you're not bothered about image how about one of these:

Can be had for £529 HERE

I've got the race version with full ultegra and plenty of carbon, but this has some strong wheels and full Tiagra

The Genesis Equilibrium is getting good write ups, as is the Cannondale CAAD 8 or 9. They are the two tempting me at the moment.

I could do you a good deal on one of these built up with Campag Centaur, compact chainset, ITM kit and Campag proton wheels

http://archive.giant-bicycles.com/uk/030.000.000/030.010.000.asp?year=2006&model=10317

I've a Planet X Superlight (Aluminiuim frame, full carbon forks) and really can't fault it. Have a better set of Fulcrum 5 Evo wheels now than the Reynolds ones that came with it, but everything else is fine. Only problem I have is that the rear brake caliper gets seized up quickly, but that's due to no mudguards and being directy sprayed with road sh**e rather than it being the Tiagra groupset being poor quality.

Decent road bikes are so fast and responsive compared to MTB's they can be quite addictive.

why not consider a CX bike (if you don't already have one)? swop the tyres or have another set of wheels on for it

@hora and geoffj: what are your issues with Ribble? I ask as a person about to make the plunge on a ribble 'sportive racing'. Is it to do with the frame/build quality or poor customer service or both??? Or something else?? You've got me worried.

headfirst. My experience is only my experience however its time waiting and customer service. I only had one experience of them and it was my last.

hora – Member

Ps. Your old watch is sat on my desk infront of me in its box!

Is that good or bad? 😉

Using a CX bike as a road bike isn't perfect. I did that for some time. First thing my Crosslight didn't have bottle cage bosses. Geometry was different and didn't feel as fast and stable as Trek 1200 that it was replaced with, felt a bit like a mountain bike with drops. Than is the drivetrain. My had a 39/48 front chainrings, 48 wasn't enough when run with a wide range cassette. And finally I don't think I ever used it as a proper CX bike.

Go for the second hand way but choose carefully as if You buy a bike that needs some tlc it may cost more and You'll spend time doing that.

I just love the speed and acceleration, longer distances just fly by, but need to keep an eye out for potholes as the tyres are not high volume mtb tyres and there is no suspension, brakes are ok when dry but not that good when wet.

I ride the road bike more often than the mtb now…

Cheers for response hora, puts my mind at rest, of sorts!?! I know there will be a long wait after i've ordered it, but I'm still waiting since before Xmas for my work to get their act together with the cycle to work scheme, so I'm kin of used to it… 😐

A CX bike isn't too bad an idea, though if you want to go for reasonably quickish rides throughout the summer you'll always be wondering if a sports bike would have been more fun on the tarmac. And pointless if you aren't venturing off road. Also they don't seem to be as good VFM. That said I'm doing a 'sort of 100k sportive' on my cross bike soon.

I will say that not being able to fit mudguards on a road bike soon becomes an issue over winter.

Good. Its a nice watch.

CX is actually a good idea- strong and if I wanted to explore more off road on it.