Beginner, new road bike - £700 budget

tomo13

Hi,

I'm looking to join my colleagues who cycle regulary, I have a budget of £700 to buy a road bike - any recommedations? Also is it better to buy from a shop or internet?

Thx.

Marcosplace

Giant Defy 2

GavH

Have you also factored in the cost of kit, such as helmet, decent shorts, jersey perhaps, shoes if you get into it and want to go clipless (recommended) plus other consumable such as puncture repair kits, spare inners etc etc?

I personally wouldn't spend too much money on it until you know it's for you. Something around the £300 mark will get you on the road and could be readily upgraded with the surplus cash you had available. Failing that, it could still be flogged off as second hand for £150-200 if it's not your cup of tea.

zedders

Welcome to the forum. I can honestly say you'll get some great tips and advice from here. Just take what "some" say with a pinch of salt!
I only started out 2 yrs ago, and IMO you should: Have a good look around and go to several LBS if you can. Pick a bike "you" think looks great! One that say ride me to you. Get measured up, shortlist one or two and try and have a couple of test rides.
Before you buy your bike factor in the cost of all the other kit you need. (Lights, helmet and clothing just for starters) I can honestly say I spent £100's within a month or two after buying my first bike.
Unless someone has brought or used every bike out there everyone will favour their fav bike! So I wouldn't worry to much with specific reccommendations. Just buy one from a well known company, such as Giant, trek, bianchi etc and you can't go to far wrong.
If you really get into it you'll be wanting another bike soon enough and then you'll know exactly what you want.
happy hunting.

tomo13

thanks for the comments guys, I'll check out some LBS tomorrow [I have considered the kit needed, £700 is my limit for a bike....i've got a couple of hundred in reserve for the kit, srry should have put this on the orginal post]

FOAD

Help your budget by not contemplating lights now, unless you will be riding before 5.30am or after 8pm.

martinwitnam

The thing that people have mentioned is kit. Aldi from this Thursday have cycling gear. For about forty of your english pounds you could get yourself shorts, shirt, socks, gloves, glasses and a jacket. If you're not gonna be into the whole skintight shorts thing you can get cycling underwear which I personally use for mountain biking with baggies over the top.

whydoesitalwaysrainonme

this is value for money (with proper under lever shifters)
[/url]http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Variado_Compact_2009/5360037598/
or personally i would splash the extra £80 and buy this

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Wilier_La_Triestina-Lampre_Road_Bike/5360040042/[url][/url]

mattsy666

i'd stick with something cheap and cheerful but sellable until you work out a) if you like road cycling/bikes and b) you find a size/geometry that works for you ...

pick up a £500 trek/speccy in the sale for about £400 ... spend around £50 on a saddle, £50 on tyres and keep £20 or so to allwo you to experiment with stems (your lbs/friends might help with this) ... when you do end up liking it (you will) you will also have an idea of how much you ride, what terrain for gearing, size for frame/bars stem etc ... at that point you can sell your £400 bike for about £250 and just put teh out of the box saddle etc back on it and keep your other stuff for the new toy ... ok it'll cost you about £150 -200 in total but then you can go online knowing exactly what you need and find a bargain ...