Yes I know this is supposed to be a MTB forum, but I’m too lazy to go to road.cc or whatever it is..

Basically, I’ve agreed to do a 500 mile charity ride (in 5 days) from Edinburgh to Richmond in the summer. I have one quite significant problem, and that is I don’t actually own a road bike. I have had a look online, and there seems to be so much out there, and I just don’t really know what I’m looking for with road bikes.

My budget is around £800, so relatively limited I suppose. I think my main objective is to have the best possible frame that £800 can buy – then I have the option of upgrading bits as and when I can/they wear out. I’ll be 100% honest and also admit that I’m quite shallow, and want the thing to look quite nice too 🙂

If anyone could provide any advice/links it would be muchly appreciated!

You’ll find advice on here through the search function

A couple of points though

Fit is important, so I’d try a test ride if you can

I’d probably go for a ‘sportive’ type frame, I have a giant defy, but there are lots of others.

Good luck with the ride

The most important thing is work out your size, it’s very important with Road bikes. There a various calculators you can find with google which will educate you as to watch measurements you need to take.

Ideally after that go to a bike shop and try some, fit is everything.

Thisus a typical bargain you could look out for once you know what you want: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-cannondale-caad-10-road-bike-56cm or google biks on sale.

Giant Defy or Specialized allez. Dont get caught up on the old groupset stuff at that price. Decent LBS purchase and upgrade bits later. Frame fit is the single most important aspect.

There are loads of web deals but try to avoid them, lots of people get hung up on looking at the components for the price.

Ribble have some decent bikes even lower than youn budget – if you call them they are usually very good at giving advice according to your needs. For example:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sed/road-track-bike/ribble-7005-audax-winter-training-shimano-equipped?part=SERIBB7005WINTERSHIM&sub=conf_SERC

If you’re going from nothing to a 500-mile week in 6 months, get fitted. It really doesn’t matter what bike you buy (especially at that price – they’ll almost all be perfectly workable but nothing special) but it really does matter that you can sit down and pedal the thing 8 hours a day for 5 days on the trot – without getting a crippled neck, dead ulnar nerves, buggered hips, cramping hamstrings, stiff achilles tendons, sore feet, strained knees, aching shoulders or an infected arse.

Get fitted, get some miles in, buy whatever bike is your favourite colour and meets your fit requirements easily (ie with room to adjust in all directions, notably towards a longer/lower position as you adapt to road riding).

Leave a few quid over to try out a few different saddle sizes and fit; the standard saddle may not suit you; you may also prefer pedals with a larger/smaller base so try out a few different types. Buy the shorts/jersey now that you will want to use and get use to it; no splashing out on new shorts the night before! I’d agree with everything here; 800squid should see you OK. Good luck!

What sort of group are you riding with, and how are they going to approach it? If it is a reasonably relaxed, all day 100 miles, an alternative might be to just fit narrow slicks to your MTB. One of my friends does winter training group rides on an old rigid. If you are planning to push on a bit and need to keep up with a competitive group, the road bike makes sense.

Giant Defy 2
Flat top profiled bars
Nice bar tape
Stem to fit reach
Fitting from a Giant shop
Schwalbe Durano S tyres
Look KEO pedals
Pair of road shoes

Should be just within budget. The Defy frame is worthy of a bike costing twice the price (same frame came top in Cycling Plus budget AND intermediate sportive bike test). If money is tight I’d take a Defy 3 with sora over the higher spec Tiagra groupset on another bike, as the frame won’t be anything like as nice.

Thanks for all the tips so far 🙂

Those ribble bikes look really good value – anyone got any experiences of them?

With regards to overall fitness, am doing approx 150 miles a week on the MTB, so have a relatively good base – just need to build it up gradually now to being able to do 100 miles a day for 5 days.

Sadly the ride organisers are insisting on road bikes only – because I’m so comfortable on the MTB I would have been tempted to try and use it!

buy whatever bike is your favourite colour

^ my favourite advice so far 🙂 hehe

Thanks TiRed. Can I just ask why I should get road shoes? I was just going to use my MTB Sidi’s – will I die? 🙂

“With regards to overall fitness, am doing approx 150 miles a week on the MTB, so have a relatively good base – just need to build it up gradually now to being able to do 100 miles a day for 5 days.“

That’s good – but don’t forget it’s not just fitness. Road bikes are a different shape altogether, and the discomfort you can get from 500 road miles on a not-quite-right riding position can be significant.

Bigger platform for your feet, more rigid sole, means less pressure. 100 miles a day is 7-8 hours pressing down on the pedals, so you want to avoid hotspots. Get some Sidi road shoes if the shape fits (same last). They aren’t a cheap option, however.

EDIT: and if you don’t get the Giant, get a red bike. Red bikes are faster. FACT!

Decathlon Triban 5 for £499, Pair of decent tyres is the only thing needing changing and you have money for shoes, clothes, hydration, computer etc etc…………

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-cannondale-caad-10-road-bike-56cm
(nothing to do with me)

Should be just within budget. The Defy frame is worthy of a bike costing twice the price (same frame came top in Cycling Plus budget AND intermediate sportive bike test). If money is tight I’d take a Defy 3 with sora over the higher spec Tiagra groupset on another bike, as the frame won’t be anything like as nice.

Defy’s are great (I’ve owned one, loved it) but that’s over egging the pudding slightly. The Defy is a good example of a very well thought out, high quality bike, from an enormous manufacturer with lots of experience doing this sort of thing. Plenty of other bikes out there are almost, if not quite as good as, the Defy for the money.

What Bez said is important though. If you have to spend hours on the bike, day in day out, fit really is the most important factor. For £800, you’re likely to be looking at ally framed bikes with perhaps a Carbon fork, Sora or Tiagra groupset (or very possibly Campag Xenon), and a 9-9.5kg bike weight most likely. A Giant Defy is only the best bike if it suits you best. A Specialized, or Trek, or any host of others could well suit you just as well.

Oh, and if £800 is the all up budget, save £100 or so off the price of the bike readily and buy yourself some top notch comfortable clothing to wear on the ride. Your MTB pedals and shoes will be perfectly OK for now, so spend the money on quality padded shorts in particular, and a saddle that you can spend days on happily.

FWIW, groupset wise, now Sora has gone to the “proper” STI shifters rather than how it used to be with the smaller lever on the top, inside of the unit like on Campag, it’s actually pretty good quality stuff. In fact it’s pretty much the same kit as 9spd Tiagra was, just with a makeover, and if anything it’s probably more reliable than the 10spd Tiagra is as I’ve encountered a few problems with reliability on newer Tiagra (older 9spd stuff was solid as a rock). Just my own experience, but worth considering perhaps.

Oh, and personally wouldn’t spend money on a Ribble or Planet X, but that’s cos I have hang ups about cheap carbon frames. That said, both brands do make ally frames that have a reasonably good reputation too, so may be worth considering, if slightly dull to look at.

Merlin Malt R, budget for pedals and shoes, jobs a good un

MOST IMPORTANTLY get some good quality bibshorts from Prendas – don’t do it in baggies your a*s will get cut to shreds

Your shoes will be fine, I’ve done long days and long weeks with MTB shoes and pedals just fine. Buying road shoes and cleats will eat £100 of your budget, and if you’re going to use up £100 on upgrades then IMO the places to do it are saddle and tyres.

Oh, and I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it yet but if you’re doing 5 days on the trot don’t even think about leaving home without a pot of minty arse lard. You can either get over the stigma of smearing cream on your backside and bollocks before you set off, or on day 3 you can deal with the stigma of picking scabs off your battered catflap before breakfast and not being able to sit down for the first 5 miles. I learned the hard way; I would suggest you don’t do likewise.

Post of the year so far Bez! 😆

If you happen to be about 5’10” you could do worse than to buy the nearly £1000 Bianchi Nirone C2C, which I am selling in almost new condition for £700. This bike is designed for the sportiff and sponsored rider, a non-cycling colleague of Mrs Gti bought it to do London-Paris then decided to sell it so it’s done about 400 miles. Groupset is 9-speed Tiagra and frame size is 55cm, it has an alloy frame and carbon fork. It’s designed for comfort over long distances (hence the C2C label). Condition is new except the rear tyre is a little worn and there are few small blemishes on the paintwork. PM for more photos.

This Ribble sportive will suit you sir
Ribble Sportive

Pedals for around town i use Shimano 520’s good strong pedal and cheap

Use your MTB shoes I’ve done many a mile using mine including 6 days riding of which 3 were a multi day sportive. Fact with a lot of top end mtb and road shoes is the shoes are the same, with the MTB one having a moulded rubber sole added.

There are loads of web deals but try to avoid them, lots of people get hung up on looking at the components for the price.

hmmm. Not sure why getting a last-years bike at up to 40% off is a bad idea? Get a £1k+ bike for your £800, or get an £800 bike for £500.

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b65s6p4335

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b65s6p4330

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b0s6p3598

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b0s6p2764

Fit is most important, but plenty of deals that get you a nice bike for youre money.

The Synapse crashtest links to is a pretty comfortable bike. I’ve got a carbon one and it’s far more comfy for long rides over possibly dubious roads than my Fuji which is a bit more brutal. They’ve done clever things with the seat stays and the seatpost to take some of the worst road feedback out and I find even the road vibration is slightly removed. It’s the one I’m riding the Roubaix challenge on without a doubt.

In combination with the rse lard get some really good bib shorts, which probably means Assos they really are worth it. Wash and dry them every night during the ride.

Thanks for all the tips, muchos appreciated!

With regards to the (shameless 😉 ) plug globalti – that is a stunning looking bike, however I just dont have the cash available, and will probably go down the 0% finance route to be honest!

So far, I’m most tempted with the cannondale from Pauls Cycles or a Ribble special.

Also LOVING the rse lard tips too 🙂

The Cannondale is just dandy. The wheels and tyres will be a worthwhile upgrade at some point, as will (less importantly) the brakes, but other than that it’s a winner.

Hi.

The Cannondale is mine, and as I said, I have shoes, pedals, helmet and other stuff to sell as well.

If you’re interested then you can contact me on my email which is in my profile, more than happy to chat and maybe give advise if you need any.

May get confusing though, as we share the same name 🙂

Cheers

(I meant the one from that Paul’s link, BTW.)