Beginner - £350 budget - Which Road Racing Bike Do You Rec?

jordanf

Hey folks,

I am planning my first ever bike purchase.

I want to ride on roads. I have a budget of £350.

I have NO idea about bike frames, components etc.
But I am learning as I go...

I see that the Edinburgh Co-Op get mentioned fairly
often when there is a low budget involved. With that
in mind, I see they do the Revolution Continental:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c002912

And funnily enough, it comes out at £350...

Any thoughts on this bike and/or recommended alternatives
would be great to read.

Thanks for your time,

Jordan

daz51

Jordan.......Welcome to the world of road cycling.

I am not goin to give you any advice on which road bike but more advice on your purchase.

Be very careful purchasing bike at this time of year. Next years bikes start to filter through soon so hence this years bikes will get a reduction in cost, i.e. you get a better bike for your money.

so look out for good deals on 2008 bikes.

volvine

with your budget i would seriously look on ebay or local bike shop far a second hand model i bought a bianchi at a local bike shop paid about £400 for it was in mint condition and i could not find anything like it spec wise (brand new).

neiltween

I, like Jordan, am planning on getting out on the roads and hills (well, I live in Cambridge so the hills are pretty easy...).

I'd like to be able to stretch to £350, and like the recommendations below, but I'm quite keen to get a decent starter road machine for something less than that: I've seen this bike (Giant FCR 3: http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2008) which doesn't seem too pricey and looks quite a good starter bike.

If anyone has any thoughts then I'd definitely appreciate them as I plan to use this bike to train on before getting something a little more professional next year.

Thanks in advance,
Neil

acorn_user

The Giant FCR 3 looks a lot like a flat-barred SCR model, so should be nice. The components are all ok as well. One thing is that flat bars do not offer the range of hand positions that drop bars do, and the conversion is very expensive because you need to buy new shifters. However, it would be a nice bike for riding around and commuting.

Dex

Get onto Ribble!

jordanf

I can't figure Ribble out. Their website does not show any
bikes for me, in either firefox or seamonkey browsers
and I am not running a windows machine..

But who are ribble anyway? Are they like Edinburgh Co-Op
in that they build their own versions of bikes to sale using
other manufacturers parts?

Thanks to all the replies so far. Nothing to say about the
continental bike then?..

andy_wrx

Ribble buy frames in and stick their logo on them, fit the components to build bikes up.
You can either use the Bike Builder optio to spec one up yourself or take one off the peg from their Special Edition bikes.

Try http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/SpecialEditionBikes.asp
That work in FF ?

redddraggon

The ribble site is rather dodgy if you don't use IE, it won't with Opera or Firefox.

jordanf

Less sales for ribble then...

idaviesmoore

volvine wrote:

with your budget i would seriously look on ebay or local bike shop far a second hand model i bought a bianchi at a local bike shop paid about £400 for it was in mint condition and i could not find anything like it spec wise (brand new).

Deffo consider second hand. Devaluation can be as harsh on bikes as it is on cars. Just make sure it fits or it won't be such a bargain when you're spending the money you saved on chiropractic treatment :shock:

jordanf

idaviesmoore wrote:

volvine wrote:

with your budget i would seriously look on ebay or local bike shop far a second hand model i bought a bianchi at a local bike shop paid about £400 for it was in mint condition and i could not find anything like it spec wise (brand new).

Deffo consider second hand. Devaluation can be as harsh on bikes as it is on cars. Just make sure it fits or it won't be such a bargain when you're spending the money you saved on chiropractic treatment :shock:

I am a bit hesitant to go second hand for my first bike as I have no idea how to be sure of the mechanical saftey of it. I am an idiot you see :shock:

Having said that, I can see the logic of grabbing a cheap second hand bike to see how I get on and to have a reference point to work from. After all, I have not sat on a bike in over 10 years. I just hope it's true that you never forget to ride a bike...

3leggeddog

As Daz51 said earlier, hang on if you can. Late summer/early autumn brings in bikes in next years colours, you can usually save around a third. This puts £500 bikes in your price range. I bought a cracking felt last year for the missus in your price range. alu frame with cf top tube(dont know why) cf froks, tiagra/sora kit. absolute bargain

virtuoso

That Edinburgh co-op bike is a rip off, my Carrera Virtuoso has an identical spec (other than a steel fork) and weight and I paid £220 and got a £20 voucher for accessories. Not sure how much they are now but do not overlook halfords for a cheap value for money bike.

thexvw

I would look for a used allez (ebay) plenty come up all the time. Its a great entry level bike. It will also give you more options in the future. If you want to upgrade you will have a good frame which is worth upgrading. If you decide you want something better in the future you can easily sell it on and not lose much money on it.

I was in your position last year and was considering a cheap new bike and this is what I did. I am so glad in hindsight I did this.

I would also agree with the comments about the 2009 bikes coming out soon. I suspect with all the economic factors and the awful weather there will be a lot of unsold 2008 bikes in shops (same happened last year) I think there will be a lot of deals around in a month or so and an extra £100 on your budget will get you a much better bike.

jordanf

Thanks for the tip, Daz51 and 3leggeddog. That is well worth knowing. I think I will definately wait and see what price reductions occur.

Thanks also viruoso for the comparison with your halfords bike.


This is a pretty cool forum. My favorite threads at the moment have got to be the ones on why you should/n't wear a helmet... I am a sucker for a good argument 8)

idaviesmoore

jordanf wrote:

idaviesmoore wrote:

volvine wrote:

with your budget i would seriously look on ebay or local bike shop far a second hand model i bought a bianchi at a local bike shop paid about £400 for it was in mint condition and i could not find anything like it spec wise (brand new).

Deffo consider second hand. Devaluation can be as harsh on bikes as it is on cars. Just make sure it fits or it won't be such a bargain when you're spending the money you saved on chiropractic treatment :shock:

I am a bit hesitant to go second hand for my first bike as I have no idea how to be sure of the mechanical saftey of it. I am an idiot you see :shock:

Having said that, I can see the logic of grabbing a cheap second hand bike to see how I get on and to have a reference point to work from. After all, I have not sat on a bike in over 10 years. I just hope it's true that you never forget to ride a bike...

You're not an idiot and it's a fair point you're making. Sometimes your LBS will have good deals and they'll ensure a good fit/mechanical soundness (if that's a word) of the bike in question.

jordanf

Thanks THEXVW (such a common name) for the suggestion of a used allez. I understand specialized is a pretty top name.

Thanks also to IDAVIES for claiming I am not an idiot. I won't argue with you :P

I guess as I am completely new to this, and everything is pretty much unknown to me, I will probably change my mind daily on what the best course of action for me to take is.

For example, I never heard of a Bianche until a few days ago. And I didn't know what 700C meant until a week ago. Actually, I still am not entirely sure, other than it is a bigger wheel than what mountain bikes roll with...

Cheers o7

bripick

Hi i;m new to it also;just bought from Halfords my first bike;a carrera virtouso;the comments about 2009 bikes coming out are spot on;got 2008 model for £260 after a lot of bargaining and persuasion;i;m really chuffed with it and it has great reviews;go out and do some bargaining especially with new 2009 bikes on the horizon;i would recoomend this as a great starter bike;and i think the more experienced people may agree

CheeseyJoe

Chain reaction cycles will have some bikes to fit your budget:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Cate ... goryID=862

redddraggon

CheeseyJoe wrote:

Chain reaction cycles will have some bikes to fit your budget:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Cate ... goryID=862

Unfortunately they have a habit of doing a lot of squeaking.....