Bike advice

About to buy a road bike, only got about £350/400 to spend. Looking at Saracens, Trek seem a bit pricey for what they are. Somebody suggested looking at Decathlon bikes? Anything else worth checking out?

Comments

  • Give Planet Cycles in Derby a ring - they seem to have some good offers. Or look out for deals on the bottom of the range Specialized. I'll ask on a cycling forum and see what people suggest.

    You might consider the following though:
    - Alu or Steel - cheap steel may be a bit too heavy to enjoy riding it - cheap alu might be harsh.

    - Mudguard clearance? Do you want to ride through Winter - if so I'd go for a bike with guards or ask the shop if they'll fit and get them to fit a pair. Although I just ride my normal bike without them I do have to spend ages cleaning it and stripping the brakes to get the crap out. If you already have another bike then its less important.

    - Lights? Get some rechargeables and a couple of LEDs for the back. You can get lead acid smarts for 28 from Planet Cycles which are powerful. This will let you do proper training in the dark without resorting to lit roads - which tend to be the busy roads.

    - Gear - I'd get one high viz top to cycle in. That's about all you need. Again if you already have a bike you are probably sorted for gear.
  • Been told that you can get the Specialized Allez for £400 - Leisure Lakes in Breaston (derbyshire)had one the other week - well worth going for.
  • I ride a claud butler 'milano' which will fit into your price range. good quality parts fitted etc. Good time to buy too as it is now end of season. Have just competed in my first Tri in derby in september and there were loads of the milano's racked up so it appears to be very popular. no complaints from me on it and i've covered about 1000miles this summer on it.
  • Also worth looking at the second hand stuff in cycling weekly/220 - often some great bargains to be had there....Make sure you know what size frame you want though..
  • Matt are you still looking? Only I've been doing the rounds of the local bike shops looking for a winter trainer for around 5-600 pounds and have seen a few bargains.

    Sheffield Cycles in Burton on Trent have one last Trek1200 (road bike with mudguard eyes) for 500 - it is a 58cm centre to top (medium)probably suit someone 5'10-6 foot - quite a long top tube for the size so you could ride it with a lot of seat post if you are taller. If it had been a size larger I'd have gone for it.
  • While I'm on if anyone has something for sale - 5-600 pounds with mudguard eyes, quite light I want it for training not touring, let me know. I've got a spare set of 9 speed shimano wheels so minus wheels is no problem - or even if someone just has a frame and forks or a group set I'd be interested (if it's just a group set I'd prefer 105/daytona/centaur or better).
  • Try Edinburgh Bicycle Coop, I bought an aluminium road bike for less than £400 and it has eyes for mudguards if you need them.

    They make up their own from baranded parts, Shimano, Dawes, etc.., and excellent service. I will find the webby address.
  • I got the Edinburgh Continental £350, it only weighs 17lb
  • 17lbs ?? A Trek OCLV that costs around 2 grand would be around that weight ! Wow !
  • I know, they are an excellent company
  • I'd like to see their scales !
    Mate bought the top of the range Trek - he never got it near the weights that the cycling mags had it at !
  • Thinks for all the tips. I'd like to know what people think about the Edinburgh continental. It says it weighs 24lbs, not 17! (Got my mountain bike down to just over 19lbs once). What is the average weight of a raod bike? Am I better off buying a well known brand or at £350 won't this matter?
  • For that money I reckon that 24lbs isn't a bad weight. Are you sure you got your mountain bike down to 19lbs because that is what a fairly expensive road bike might weigh - but I don't know anything about mountain bikes.

    Looking at the kit on it it has Shimano Sora 8 speed - which is what most cheap road bikes have - the next step up would be Shimano Tiagra or (I'd say) anything campag, but there are plenty of bikes up to 5-600 still with Sora so no complaints for 350. Having mudguard eyes is important and I'd fit a set for Winter - it helps protect the bike as much as anything. The Cycling Plus review is a bit out of date but seems to think it is OK. The only question would be whether you could get an equivalent Raleigh or something in a sale and save a hundred pounds because ideally you will want a computer with avererage speed etc (say 15-20 pounds) and some clipless pedals - probably spds and some shoes (second hand pedals a tenner and shoes maybe 40 pounds). The other thing I'd want to know is top tube length - I prefer a longer top tube and it sounds like this is on the shorter side of road bikes (it says it suits recreational riding) - but many people prefer that.


  • I think I'd feel safer buying one from my local dealer. They can do me a Saracen Ventoux with Spds and shoes for £420ish. Does this sound good? forgot to ask for a computer but I'm sure I could get them to chuck one into the deal.
  • Sorry, lord knows where I got 17lb from, must be the frame and forks weight. Still, it is a good bike at that price.
  • Aww, and US Postal had just binned their Treks and had placed orders for these instead !
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