Advice please - £350 to spend on 1st road bike

Super Saint

Can anyone recommend the best/most suitable bike from the wheelies site(have to use this, cycle to work scheme), for £350 max.

I want to use the bike for a 16 mile round trip to work, and also build up to bigger distances(20 mile plus trips) in the evening and weekend and maybe get in to racing at a later date.

The ones I have noticed up to now are

Giant SCR 4.0 2008 - only 16 gears, do I need more?
Giant FCR 3.0 2008 - no drop handle bars, does this mean upright riding position
Claud Butler Chinook 2008 - no drop handle bars, does this mean upright riding position
Ridgeback Flight T1 2008 - no drop handle bars, does this mean upright riding position

Thanks

hodsgod

£350 is on the low end for a true road bike, The cheapest I know is a Dawes Giro 300 for £280. I am not saying you should buy it, but I think your choices will be limited.

Second hand should get you a better bike.

cujo101

I had a similar problem a few weeks back and I bought a 2nd hand Scott bike for under £300, using the rest towards lights, helmet, gloves etc. I was tempted by a Claud Butler road bike that I saw for sale at Evans for £350

Claud Butler Roubaix 2007 Road Bike
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=71307

Super Saint

Thanks for your replies, but can anyone give their opinions on the 4 bikes I have listed.

Pros and cons, any that you would steer clear of.

Thanks

Gregore

I had the same problem in march, and opted for the SCR 4.
I use it for a 15 mile round trip on hilly terrain and find it more than suitable. I've have had no problems with it (so far touch wood) and would say it is a decent bike for getting started.
Hope this helps.

neeb

Giant SCR 4.0 2008 - only 16 gears, do I need more?

The number of gears isn't very important, but because the whole drivetrain is 8 speed (8 cogs at the back x2 at the front = 16) if you want to upgrade later (e.g. to Shimano 10 speed) you would probably need to replace everything at the same time, which would be quite expensive. But the reason you would want to upgrade is more likely to be because you want better quality components rather than because you want more gears.

If you want to go on longer trips and get into road cycling and have to get one of those bikes, then get the SCR 4.0. It will work fine and If you become really keen you'll soon want to get a more expensive bike anyway (this would probably be the case even if you spent £600 on your first bike, so arguably it is cheaper this way! )

Van_Heerden

I too have an SCR4.0 albeit modified now.

For £350 this is a good bike. The frame is the same from this bike up to the 1.0 which costs £850. This means it is definately upgradeable (bike radar reviewed the 3.0 and said pretty much the same). I'm not saying the wheels are great, but they put the same, hub, rim and tyre combination on the SCR up to the 1.5 (£650). The wheels are heavy but appear to be well built and taking the bumps of the roads around here pretty well and if you aren't racing immediately they are fine. If you are starting out with the mileage as you suggest and then maybe moving to racing then this is a fine bike alowing you to break a few pieces while you save a little extra to increase the spec.

The 16 gears haven't restriced me yet being on a compact double chainset you get a bit of a better range than standard double. Shifting with the Shimano 2200 isn't exactly TDF but it is solid and predictable and it never gave me a problem.

I had a small budget when I started and went for this due to it's upgrade potetnial. I now run Tiagra on it and its great. As I move to racing, i'm going to upgrade the wheels and a few more parts. The money saved initiall and then saved and spent on parts has enabled me to put on the bits I like and I will probably end up spending less than the 1.0 and having a nicer ride. It doesn't have carbon composite forks but many will tell you including myself that unless you are doing super long distance this isn't so bad and you can either then upgrade to carbon forks, or you can spend the money on the parts that really count and get a good saddle and extra bar wrap padding.

The bike has proved a horse and I have had no problems. If you could buy something not on cycle to work scheme, I agree with hodgod and look second hand on ebay. There are some great bikes to be had if you are a regular size and live in the midlands/south (not much for me at 6'5"). On line Edinburgh Bike Co-Op are doing their 2007 road bike with same spec as SCR 4.0 for £199. Not sure on how upgradable that frame is, but bikeradar review of the womens version suggested it could take some new bits to make a good improvement.

If you have any more specific questions then please post and I can try and answer on the SCR 4.0

Good Luck

Van

LeighB

I will second Van Heerden; I too have an SCR4 and have had no trouble so far. The only things I have done to the bike are fit new tyres and put some tape on the seat post sleeve to stop a slight noise. The tyres were not worn out, I changed them as a precaution as I had entered the Fred Whitton Challenge and did not want to risk punctures. I have completed a couple of Sportive's on this bike and any lack of speed is down to me not the bike. I am on a limited budget (house, children etc) and this bike offers good value with the option to upgrade as bits wear out.

killiekosmos

I've got an SCR 2.0 which has same frame as SCR 4. It can take proper mudguards which are useful for ommuting. Main diff is that SCR 2 has a triple with 9sp Tiagra.

I'm very happy with it after 1 year and 1000 miles.

I got mine last year for £420 from Tredz.

dombo6

Get the Giant SCR4. Another advantage over the other two brands is that they have a vast range of bikes all the way up to pro-level so there is some trickle down of tech advances etc, just like Trek, Specialized, Bianchi, Cannondale.
8 speed is plenty, and more hard wearing than 10