nOOb to roadie...whats this like?

The Northern Monkey

helo to you all to this side of the forum

I've seen a trek 1.2 in my new LBS (moved to a new flat for uni) and they have this bike on offer at £400..
now i'd be a noob on a road bike..dont really now much, but quite a keen MTB'er so i'm unsure if the deal is any good etc...however i cant find it at such low price anywhere on the net.
i'm interested in something as i have to commute to uni every day, and wouldn't mind something other than my MTB.

Also is there anything else you could reccomend me as a noob

the bike spec is here...http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/2008/road/1_series/12e/

cheers,


Ben

Eat My Dust

I would say if it's your first road bike, you'll be impressed with the difference from your mountain bike. Don't worry about the Sora gears, my first road bike had Sora and I did several thousand very happy miles on it.

CanterburyTailwind

It's okay, but the groupset is a mix of 2200 and Sora, which are bottom of the range. They work fine, but you could probably get more for your money by either going for a Specialized Allez or Giant SCR - or buying second hand. But, as always, go with what 'feels right': if the Trek suits you, go for it! It will also help that you buy it from an LBS, so that if there's any problems you can take it back or talk to them.

alfablue

My girlfriend bought the Trek 1.2 about 8 weeks ago for £500. She is thriled with it. I would have preferred that she spent more on higher spec components, but it all works fine. It also has mudguard clearance and fittings and she also toured on it with a rack and panniers. She is now getting good speed on the road and finds it comfy and fun to ride. It is a very versatile bike. For £400 it is good value IMHO.

jjojjas

Don't worry about the sora stuff, its fine. My commuter/tourer has done thousands of miles in all weather and everything worked as it should (well apart from a crack in the frame but thats a different storey).
I just picked up a Trek 1.5 and all I can say is its excellent. really good set up, easy to ride, not too "race" in design...so I can still walk after a ride etc.
It got 4.5 out of 5 in a recent review and its selling at £550 in evans at the moment.

One thing I will say is that I'm from a D/H MTB background with a bit of xc stuff prior to that. Apart from some touring (on a tourer) and longer local road rides I'm really quite suprised by how quick and light these road bikes are. I'm reasonably fit, so the ease at which you can get these road bikes up to speed is something new to me. You'll probably notice the same.
PS. This is my first (non-touring) road bike also.
Jas

redddraggon

2200/Sora is fine.....until you ride a better groupset and you can't go back.