I feel an un-natural pull towards purchasing a roadbike. Been thinking about it for a while, but after watching that Ride of My Life programme on BBC4, the pull gets stronger (although his colour choices were a bit of a dogs dinner)

So what’s a good normal looking road bike off the shelf? Not too expensive, but with gears and doesn’t look like it’s for Buck Rogers

What are you intending to use it for, whats your budget, what material do you prefer, how versatile do you want it to be?

road riding (i know, duh!!)
About £800
I prefer steel, but don’t mind aluminium
As versatile as it can be, not planning on any time trials

Those Saxo Bank Speacilized bikes are nice.

road riding (i know, duh!!)

Commuting? Touring? Fast road riding? Racing? Audax?
Or just ridin?

Genesis Aether:

lovely bike, very versatile, British company too.

(range of prices from ‘cheap’ to ‘why spend more?’ – colours vary with price)

+1 for Genesis. I have an Equilibrium (bought a frame for £230 and built it up myself). Lovely, lovely bike.

That’s more like it! Clean, simple, tidy looking bike. Not like one of those horrible logo-festooned abominations you see all over t’place.

Go to a decent road shop and ride a few and go with what you prefer.
I found Cannondale too long for me and Specialized spot on.
Try a carbon and steel and ally and decide for yourself which material you like. I love my carbon road bike – it’s so stiff but really comfortable. Worth looking at the Boardman carbon bikes IME

(getting towards being) too pricey, but might be worth considering:

singular osprey

“I found Cannondale too long for me and Specialized spot on.“

Weird – I’ve got one of each and the top tubes are precisely the same length 🙂

“As versatile as it can be“

Oh.

Surly Cross Check.

[shameless plug mode] I’m selling my Lemond Sarthe frameset, 54cm, True Temper Platinum OX steel, hand made in USA etc etc. It’s orange, pretty light at 2.3kg frame, fork, headset and seatclamp.

Email in profile if interested. Lovely frame, builds up as a 9kg bike pretty easy (this build weights 9.1kg, Ultegra 9sp, Luciano wheels and mid range finishing kit). Will take a full mudguard at the back with 23c tyre, 25c tyres without mudguards for extra comfort.

About £800
I prefer steel, but don’t mind aluminium
As versatile as it can be, not planning on any time trials

Was EXACTLY the same criteria I had a few months ago… I was close to saving up some more pennies, and going and splashing out on a Genesis Equilibrium 10 at £999, I tried a Genesis Aether out but wasn’t so impressed by its Aluminium frame (and I worked out I definitely needed a 54 not the 56 I was trying out), ended up getting one of these…

Bought in the sale as it was a 2010 bike for £700 (down from £825) and I don’t regret it. For Aluminium it’s very forgiving, it’s lighter than just about everything else I looked at, it’s very versatile (can put racks on it if you must!), has room for guards and up to 28c tyres, and is generally quite a nice bike to spend a few hours on.