road bike for the young at heart

melkirn
melkirn Posts: 3
edited March 2011 in Road buying advice
I used to be keen in my teens but now am 60 and told by the doc to get some excercise. Considering a used Bianchi San Remo / Novarra Randonee for gentle touring / going to the pub. What do you think for around £300 to £400? Inside leg is 34"

Comments

  • arlowood
    arlowood Posts: 2,561
    Hi melkirn

    Good to see you are getting back in the saddle again. I can give you nearly 7 years and I can vouch for the benefits of spinning those legs.

    For your needs it depends what you mean by "gentle touring"? If you mean travelling light and using a decent sized saddle bag plus maybe a rucksack, then you may be able to pick up a good second-hand road bike that will double as a sportive and fitness steed.

    If you are into more serious touring with the need for paniers to take camping gear and clothing for extended periods then you will need to look at more dedicated touring bikes that have the lugs and fittings to take rear and maybe also front paniers.

    A good place to start would be looking at 2nd hand bikes on Ebay. There are loads to choose from and your budget could get you a fairly decent spec bike in good condition.

    An examples of the first category I mentioned is listed below:-

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

    Reason I picked out this one is that I bought a new Secteur Elite last autumn and have now clocked up around 1200 miles on it over the winter. It's a great bike and has a more "relaxed" geometry that suits us "oldies".

    An example of the second category could be:-

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

    Claude Butler are a well respected brand and this type of bike might suit more hard core touring aspirations.

    Whatever you decide, don't procrastinate - get buying and pedalling!

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