Afternoon guys,

I know we’ve been down the road bike discussion previously, but i’m sorry to say we’re here again LOL. I’m using the Giant 29er on the road more and more due to the bloody mud, soaked trails and ridiculous weather.
So, due to a motorbike sale i’m going to finally jump onto a road bike for winter.

So i’ve got a few things on the current list…

A new Wilier Escape, http://www.awcycles.co.uk/special-offers/wilier-escape-xenon-2010-large.html

A Bianchi used
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230880330214?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

A Carrera used
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281022485085?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

The Bianchi can be picked up for £350… the Carrera i’ve not discussed with the owner, but £220 is a lot less than the Wilier.

Now, generally i’d advocate new in MTB’s due to drivetrain/wear issues, but i’m guessing it’s less of a factor on the road bikes…

So… what say the forum masses.

(You’ve got till 3.30pm as i may go to AW cycles and buy the Wilier later on).

I’d probably buy the Wilier of those frankly. AW are good too, they’ll get the fit right and what not.

yeah i bought my Giant from them, good lads.

Assuming a budget of <£1000 for a relative newbie (complete newbie actually) to the road, would you pick something else or would that be appropriate anyway ?

I can’t open the links at work, but I would say that if you’re planning on using through the winter then you would really benefit from the ability to fit full length mudguards.

As for new or second hand, you’re right, drivetrain wear is much less of an issue on road bikes than MTB, but it still happens so still check carefully for worn parts. The fit is the most important factor though, so buying from a shop where you can try different sizes might be a safer option if you haven’t done much road riding before.

Some guy in the classifieds has been trying to sell his roadie for months. 56cm IIRC. Might be worth a look if it’s your size.

57cm
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/for-sale-orbea-starter-road-bike

I got lucky and bought a 2010 Giant Defy Adavanced 3 last year via ebay for £750.It was literally like new ,complete with manuals,warranty card,etc save for a tiny mark to the drop out.

There`s some bargains to be had if you go down the used route and are patient.

I would certainly reccomend looking at a Defy,new or used.

That said the Bianchi looks good.
Are you near Chichester?

(I see you’re not – I am, so would be happy to check the Bianchi out for you)

70 miles from Chichester so no, not too far.

see edit above 🙂

Wiler, the Bianchi has the seatpost far to far out of the bike for a road bike + it’s been crashed.

Carrera, this has some bad setup, this could indicate no care or maintenance.

Both have Sora shifters, which are pretty universally regarded as bad, no warranty on either, FSA cranks, which have poor chainring life

Wiler has warranty, and Campagnolo Xenon is’t the greatest, but would rather have this than pre 2013 Sora

Good points, well made there ^^

Go used, but get a good one. With £500 to spend you can almost be picky! My Cannondale cost me £300 s/h almost 8 years ago, and it’d still go for about that on ebay if it was standard (and i’d still say that was a good buy).

Read some reviews of ~£1000 bikes and look for some of the good ones, if in doubt buy a cannondale, try and find someone thats all the gear, no idea, who’s meticulously maintained it and barely ridden it. But buy on condition not age, a friend bought a similar cannondale to mine arroudnthe same time for the same price and recently sold it for £230, even he admited it was utterly s**ged whereas mine could pass for new (a lot of it is apart from the frame!) in a good light.

I bought new because:

A: it was in the specialized sale with £400 off
B: I got 18months interest free finance on it.

Sadly i’m stuck on the sofa working instead of at AW Cycles. Having some trouble with an SSL/SFTP Certificate. Also my lad has just got in from school and fallen asleep so todays adventure is on hold.

If anyone is happy to search and find something not a gazillion miles from Berks within budget that looks too good to miss then please do so… i’m very vague on these road things.

First bike – go to AW Cycles tomorrow. They’ll see you right for fit and usage. I bet you don’t come away with the Willier though 😉

Having said that, I’ve just bought a 2007 Giant TCR zero ALUXX for race duties, so the bling bike can be laid up and not crashed. I’ve also bought a used Boardman Comp this year for Son1. Knowing fit and usage helps immensely when looking used.

I’ve just brought my first drop-barred bike (it was a cyclocross bike but think it’s still relevant) I found getting the right size a lot more difficult than a mountain bike and for that reason unless your’re fairly confident of your size I’d always go to a shop to try before you buy, I ended up with a size smaller than internet said I would.

Been bored and having a wee search.
This looks quite good if you can get it for under £500 and it’s close enough.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specialized-Secteur-Elite-2011-Road-Bike-/251183693489?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3a7bb6feb1

The gearing is quite generous as well, often find when new to road bikes they are often geared too tightly for hills.

I’d be looking for Boardmans, Specialized Allezs and Giant Defys popping up on ebay/classifieds.

Though saying that, the Willier does look really quite nice.

thanks all, forgive me for lack of responses etc my boy is sleeping on top of me lol

Giant Defy 2 here , you will not go wrong If you buy one . My one was £649 for a 2012 Defy 2 . The frame geometry seems really comfy for all day riding and even I can do 75 miles without feeling uncomfy.

how tall are you?

6′

Go try some bikes at your LBS, then look at ebay etc and buy secondhand.. you can get a lot of bike for your money when it comes to roadbikes..and they generally dont see the same abuse as a mountain bike.

weeksy
I ask because I have a specialized allez frame which is about 10 years old and have ridden until now (just bought a new frame). Debating whether to keep and use on the turbo or sell. If I sell it will be cheap but is a really decent frame (IMHO). It’s a 58cm so I think it may be too big for you but there must be others out there with something similar. Buy something like this and do a build – great fun, you learn about bikes and it will be cheap.

Go try some bikes at your LBS, then look at ebay etc and buy secondhand.

:frowny:

Buy something like this and do a build – great fun, you learn about bikes and it will be cheap.

I’m pretty good at building mate. No major issues on that side, hence one of my other options being either a Yelli Screamy frame or a Titus Fireline Ti frame and running a 2nd 29er, then converting the Giant slightly to a rigid with lightweight carbon forks.

@scaredypants.. why frowny? im all up for supporting your lbs, but if you can get a bike no far off new condition for 1/2 the price, why not?

That Carrera is quite a bit too expensive- you could get something better, new, from Halfords today for not much more. Think your budget is too low for the Boardman range but there’s some good solid performers in the Carrera range- Vanquish maybe?

See also Decathlon.

Order a Sensa Romagna from Merlin – £700 and you get 105. New company to UK so a bit like Boardmans when they first came out.

New or used?
Like a woman – if its for keeps, then new. If its just a short term thing through winter, then used.
Used will be cheaper but you will always know somebody else rode the newness out of it ..

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40090&t=12890591

I bought the Wilier.

Good choice, now go find a local road club, and try a club run tomorrow morning 😀

I have a run out with two clubbies at 9am tomorrow. I’m going to make one of them puke lol. I’m not sure if I’m excited or scared about my first ever try on a road bike

Very nice. Love my Sunday morning road rides 8)

Looks nice , enjoy . Im rarely on a mtb these days and much prefer road riding.

Turbo1397 – it’s ok looking but we get a air few that want help sizing and then go buy a bike on the internet and get huffy when we aren’t to keen spending an hour fitting a bike they bought elsewhere.

People expect a lot of help from LBS without buying much from them, shops need to make a profit and we like to foster a relationship with our customers which often starts by fitting them correctly onto a bike and giving honest opinions as to the correct make and model.

So the debut ride is done and dusted. Bike performed perfectly apart from a minor adjustment on front mech tension as it was rubbing in a couple
Of gears.

Riding position is very very alien to me still, although after an hour I got a bit more used to it. I don’t usually ride close to others so that was hard to get used to as well. I think I got a little better as the side progressed.
It was tough at times as I was losing so much ground to the lads on the downs, so having to kill myself to make it up again on the uphill bits. So really need to work on that as when you lose 20 bike lengths it seems a lot to make up compared to on the trails.

Nice workout though and totally destroyed myself on the last sprint climb ha ha.

Well had a wee ride today.. Have to say i was a little disappointed with my overall average speed.

Average was 16.5mph for the ride… i was expecting better in all honesty.

I did notice that a couple of the hills are on the limit of my gearing.. i was in little front, big rear and struggling on 2 of them. Not killing me, but i did see a max heart rate of 184bpm which is VERY high for me.

My downhill speed and bike control is still very much lacking, i’m all over the bloody place at times, especially as it is VERY windy out there today. Along with very wet… well, that’s all the excuses out of the way 😉 but i was expecting closer to 18mph for this ride. I’ll take it that the hills and wind slowed me 😉

Record it in kmh, it will look better, and it’s the right thing to do (rule #24) 🙂