Is a road bike for around £400 / £500 any good?

Gav888

Hi,

Ive not had a bike for over 15yrs so ive been researching MTBs, Hybrids and Road bikes trying to work out whats what these days, and finally ive worked out that I want a MTB and a road bike. The other half and my mate both have MTBs so I want the MTB for going offroad with them at weekends, and the road bike for personal fun and fitness, and I want to get some SPEED!!!. I had considered a MTB with slicks and locked out suspension, but even that isnt as good as a road bike for speed and distance riding with loads of hills!

So, my budget is about £400 to £500 (not alot i know for a nice road bike) and ive been reading recommendations on this site and other sites with people on the same sort of budget, and its probably worth me going down the 2nd hand route and getting something nice like an Allez, Giant SCR or a Trek 1.0 etc.

Ive recently test ridden a new Raleigh Airlite 200 at my lbs and I really liked it for a road bike, I know its not that great compared to the Allez etc, but for me as a novice I did like it... I was considering buying it but to be fussy I dont like blue bikes... half the fun is about feeling and looking good on it (tart I know !!).

Ive spotted a new Saracen Tour 3 going for £520 and to me it looks nice and sounds like a good spec, im wondering if its worth getting being a newbie or should I keep an eye out for something else 2nd hand and a bit less so I can buy gear aswell, maybe even a cheapy Carrera or Viking . At present my mind is all over the place working out what to get for my budget, a 'cheapy' Airlite 200 for £300 was fun.... for me so do I need a better spec?

I plan to use the road bike a couple of times a week and at present only about 15 mile routes to build up my fitness, then add in longer runs once im fitter

Any advise on the Saracen would be great, or just some advise in general. Ive done searches but nothing much is coming up about the Tour 3.

Cheers

zanes

I've got a Saracen Aravis, old model one below yours in the saracen range I *think*. (Sora triple, steel fork)

Yeah it's not a bad bike, welding is a bit agricultural but gets the job done. Bit on the heavy side, but then for this sort of money you're not going to be buying a tour winning bike. I've put over 1,000 Bath miles (Ask any of us bathies about the roads round here :roll: ). And so far I've had to have the wheels retrued once. Got it booked in for some work at the LBS on tuesday though . Done commuting, training and a spot of touring on it, and it's generally done everything I've asked of it.

PS. Upgrade the tyres ASAP!

sicknote

If you are looking for a bike to start you off for a round £400, you could also look at this one and as the new 09's are also coming out soon you should also get a good deal on an 08.

Gav888

actually, just spotted these aswell for just over £400, looks are ok.... but how do they compare with the Saracen? Also, why is the Allez front wheel different to the rear???

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/1026471/Spe ... roogle.txt

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tre ... e-ec001627

Mettan

If it's your 1st Road bike, personally, I'd get a Compact or Triple - couple more ideas/options around your price range:

Orbea Fleche Bike (2008) - Triple

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2008


Saracen Tour 2 Bike (2008) - Compact

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2008


Giant SCR 3 (2008) - Triple (only 50 cm left)

http://www.ashcycles.com/power/index.ph ... urrency=BP

Giant SCR 4 (2008) - Compact

http://www.nationalcycles.co.uk/product ... s_id=38381

Focus Summit (2008) - Compact

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Focus ... 360032372/

sicknote

Have a look at the the Vanquish ( 08 ) as it have a better spec the the other two ( it must have been an 07 in that link ).
You get more for your money as it will have Tiagra shifters and not Sora which a lot on here say are better.

If you dont want Halfords to put it together, then get your LBS to do it

Onan

If you're prepared to put the time in on ebay, and look around all the internet retailers selling off their 2008 stock, you could drop on something really nice. The problem is going to be sizing. Having just bought my first road bike, I can tell you everything I sat on was different, and trawling through frame geometries by year trying to find something that matches something you've sat on is a nightmare.

You should do what I did: go to your LBS, sit on all the bikes you can and get an idea of what fits you best in a giant defy/scr, specialized allez, scott speedster, bianchi via nirone, or whatever they've got, then go bargain hunting on the internet.

If you find yourself looking at something you've not sat on, look up the frame geometry and compare it to something you have. Those sizes (large, 58, etc) are meaningless.

You could also have a look at the ribble, which start from around 30 notes out of your price range, but are available on deferred or standard credit.

I'm a road bike novice, but I did spend the last 3 weeks researching bikes non-stop, so I hope this helps you out.

Gav888

Thanks for the posts guys, the Orbea is a lovely looking bike, just red!! LOL maybe some racing stickers will help!

Ive been spending basically the same amount of time Onan researching, trying to pick up an 08 bargain, I dont mind research just as long as I get something nice with a good spec.

The Airlite I tested was a 58 frame and did fit nice, I didnt even think a 58 in another make would be a different size.... there are lbs around so I will pop in a few, although the bikes they stock are about the £700 mark

Mettan, what do you mean by Triple or Compact. Ive not heard of that before??

nferrar

Onan wrote:

IYou should do what I did: go to your LBS, sit on all the bikes you can and get an idea of what fits you best in a giant defy/scr, specialized allez, scott speedster, bianchi via nirone, or whatever they've got, then go bargain hunting on the internet.

Great idea unless you want your LBS to survive so they can sort your bike out in future I'm all for buying accessories from the Internet as most LBS just don't (can't) offer enough choice but not buying your bikes from them can be a false economy, especially for a new rider. At least give the LBS a chance to price match or offer some kind of deal with accessories & servicing before you go buying off the Internet.

Mettan

Gav888 wrote:

Mettan, what do you mean by Triple or Compact. Ive not heard of that before??

It refers to the type of chainset and number of chainrings:

Triple = 3
Compact = 2 - (34 or 36 tooth small ring)
Double = 2 - (typically 39 tooth small ring)

The rationale behind the issue relates to a New-ish rider on Hills in particular when you've already got mileage in the legs. This is brought into greater focus when you try and do a Sportive (as many riders on the forum do). Compacts and Triples give you access to easier lower gearing - this enables you to spin up hills, rather than stopping or even walking.

Just to echo what everyone else has said, take your time with your decision, mull all of the options over for a couple of weeks and then move forward.

Onan

nferrar wrote:

Onan wrote:

IYou should do what I did: go to your LBS, sit on all the bikes you can and get an idea of what fits you best in a giant defy/scr, specialized allez, scott speedster, bianchi via nirone, or whatever they've got, then go bargain hunting on the internet.

Great idea unless you want your LBS to survive so they can sort your bike out in future I'm all for buying accessories from the Internet as most LBS just don't (can't) offer enough choice but not buying your bikes from them can be a false economy, especially for a new rider. At least give the LBS a chance to price match or offer some kind of deal with accessories & servicing before you go buying off the Internet.

I checked all my LBS first in the hope of finding something I could afford, but like Gav, I was just on a really tight budget.

I should have offered them the chance to price match maybe, but unless they were prepared to knock more than 100 quid off their entry level bikes, they really just couldn't have competed.

I like my bike shop. My dad uses it all the time, and I will be for repairs, parts, accessories and everything else, so I don't feel too bad about it. The guy in the shop even said to me they wouldn't have anything in my price range so I should look around for second hand stuff.

Onan

Gav888 wrote:

Thanks for the posts guys, the Orbea is a lovely looking bike, just red!! LOL maybe some racing stickers will help!

Ive been spending basically the same amount of time Onan researching, trying to pick up an 08 bargain, I dont mind research just as long as I get something nice with a good spec.

The Airlite I tested was a 58 frame and did fit nice, I didnt even think a 58 in another make would be a different size.... there are lbs around so I will pop in a few, although the bikes they stock are about the £700 mark

Mettan, what do you mean by Triple or Compact. Ive not heard of that before??

The issue comes in where measurements are taken from, and how long top tubes are. Some 58s are 58cm seat tubes from centre to centre. Others are 58cm from centre to top. Some 58s have a 57cm top tube, some have a 59. Or anywhere in between.

It gets even more complicted with compacts, where the 58 might not correspond to any actual measurement at all, but is a sort of imaginary measure of where the seat tube would be if it was a conventional frame. Or it might be the actual seat tube measurement, meaning you would need a considerable smaller one. Likewise top tube measurements will be an imaginary line from the seat post to the head tube, and not the actual length of the top tube.

As you can see, it takes a lot of mental effort to be able to buy a bike without sitting on it, which is by far the easier way of getting the right size.

Gav888

Onan - Jesus, I didnt know it was that complicated!! LOL but thanks for the info, I will mull over all my options and hopefully pick something up this year, new or 2nd hand, or maybe in the sales in Jan??

Thanks again guys, sorry for the usual 'which bike' post, im sure you sick of them all by now.... but it has helped me alot. Bikeradar is by far the best website for bikers

Just an idea, maybe someone with loads of knowledge could write a post detailing everything about buying road bikes, new or 2nd hand, what spec to look for with plus and minus for each one etc etc, but in english so a complete novice can follow it when buying