Best bike for under £250

flubbub

hi
i would like to know what the best bike is for under £250!
i have been looking for a long time and i have seen the Viking Bikes, are they any good.

can people please look at the specs and see what the best road bike is under, or slightly over, that is. the cheaper the better!

thanks

Mettan

If you're on a budget - one possibility/idea - Saracen Tour 1: ~ £ 259

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SARACEN-TOUR-1-54 ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SARACEN-TOUR-1-51 ... dZViewItem

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

Perfectly useable starter Road bike - (it's a Double though) - the Shimano 2200 levers are actually 8-speed - they just call it a 7-speed as they've put a 7 speed cassette on - easy and cheap to chuck an 8-speed cassette on to make it an 8-speed bike. LBS would charge £ 5 - 10. for doing this - 8-speed Shimano cassette for ~ £ 12

If you're new to riding, personally I'd go for a Compact chainset bike - they tend to start at £350-400 though (from what I remember). All down to your budget though.

bompington

Got my old raleigh second hand for £120 a couple of years ago, (was £500-£600 in the mid 90s), done 6,000 miles so far, great value.

Monty Dog

For £250 you'll get a 2-3 year old bike that sold for £500 or an older, more expensive bike that's been well-maintained - I would strongly advise against the likes of Viking, they are use poor quality parts and are poorly constructed and don't even make a good basis for an upgrade - you'll throw good money after bad.

flubbub

thanks, but im very fussy about brakes and gears do you know what type they are?

thanks

Monowai

Get yourself on ebay or scour the classifieds and find a secondhand bike - will be much better than anything new for £250. At that price for a new bike, virtually everything on the bike will be unbranded, poorly made and very heavy.

If you are fussy about brakes and gears (which I presume means that you want them to actually work!) then you really need to spend a bit more- or like I said, find a decent secondhand bike.

Nuggs

flubbub wrote:

thanks, but im very fussy about brakes and gears do you know what type they are?

thanks

With £250 to spend, you shouldn't be too fussy.

STEFANOS4784

Despite £250 being a fair amount of cash this really is bottom of the barrell for a new road bike, MTB's seem much better value for some reason IMO. Go pre-loved 8)