Advice on what level of spec I should go for?

Unknown
edited December 1969 in Road beginners
Hello all,

I am in the market for my first road bike, and as am in France at the mo on holiday, and intending to go to a Decathlon with a view to buying a Decathlon Sport 3 roadbike which works out at around œ370.

Yesterday I very narrowly nissed out on a Marin road bike on ebay, which was pretty much the same spec but for the Ultegra groupset it had fitted, it was 5 years old, but looke pretty much mint, he said it had only done 700 dry miles.

So my question is, should I buy the new bike with the Tiagra groupset, or am I better advised to wait for a 2nd hand option to come up with a 105 or higher groupset??

How good is the Tiagra groupset do you reckon?

Many thanks in advance

Dan

Comments

  • Hi DB,

    My first road bike is a Giant SCR2.0 with Tiagra groupset. I find this is really good, although I've nothing to compare it with.



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  • walkercp
    walkercp Posts: 1,012
    tiagra is ok to start with, and the difference to 10spd is not such a great difference to a newbie. go with the Tiagra (is it a triple or a double?) and pedal on with it. The only thing with the Tiagra from my experience is after about 2000-3000 miles some of it needs replacing as it can't cope any more

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  • Thanks very much for your replies,

    The Sport 3 is a triple ring, here's the link:
    http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/Product_ar ... index.html

    Click on technical information for the full spec.

    This is the thing my brother said to me, about not getting anything less than a 105 groupset, but what prices do 105 groupset bikes start at, around œ550?

    Thanks

    Dan
  • Assuming your ref is to the Marin that went for 343 quid, then IMHO that would have been a better deal at even 400 than the new Decathlon.

    I think that 2nd is always much better vfm than new - whoever first wheels 'em oit of the showroom takes the depreciation hit - nearly always at the very least 25% even if never ride it! And 33-40% within 12-18 months. Let someone else pay the VAT and the dealers margin is my view.

    d.j.
    "The Angels have my 'phone box."
  • Dave, yes alas that is the very bike :-(

    I've just been to Decathlon in nice, and they only had liited sizes, and I didn't fall in love with it shall we say.

    So 2nd hand is looking like a good option.

    Apart from the classifieds on here, and ebay, are there any other recommended sites to trawl for decent bikes??

    Many thanks

    Dan