New bike recommendations

Road Red
Road Red Posts: 232
edited January 2009 in Road beginners
Hi,

Friend of mine is looking for an entry level road bike. Budget c.£250. He is planning to do a triathlon in the summer (not long, 20k cycle). We live in on the north downs in Kent so most trianing will involve some short sharp hills. Triple needed?

Thanks

Comments

  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    Depends entirely on how experienced or strong he is. Some people do my local club run on fixed gear bikes, others can barely manage the hills on a full carbon bike with a triple chainset. He needs to give a triple and a double a try and work out for himself.

    If that's not possible and he's relatively inexperienced then perhaps he should go for a triple. A £250 bike is likely to be be fairly "chunky" shall we say, not exactly on the featherweight side, so he may need the extra gearing to lift it up the hills
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  • Mister W
    Mister W Posts: 791
    If it's for a first triathlon then he could do it on whatever bike he's got now. You'll see all sorts of bikes being ridden at short triathlons. MTBs, hybrids, I've even seen someone on a shopping bike with a basket.

    If he's desperate for a road bike then he's going to struggle to get anything new for £250 but he should be able to find something second hand. Start looking in the local papers, the forum "for sale" section and on eBay.

    As an alternative to a triple you could consider a compact double.

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