Buy second hand or new???

OJ Hanmer

Hi,
I'm a beginner to road cycling, currently looking for my first road bike. What are your thoughts on the following.

1) A local shop are selling an old (15 yrs +) bike that has Columbus frame, 9 speed, CXP 30. £225. Any thoughts on this?

2) Another local dealer is selling a Boss bike. From what I've seen it's not a great bike. Sold in Littlewoods for around £300.

http://www.littlewoods.com/rf/p.do/spor ... 4609259002

He has recently had it upgraded, STI gears and new breaks, aluminium frame. £180.

What are your thoughts on these? Or would I be better off saving up?

Wooliferkins

I would keep your powder dry and save up for a bit. It is the end of the retail season now and a lot of deals will appear trying to clear 2009 stock over the next two months. You can often do well on second hand bikes as riders upgrade, watch the classifieds in C+ and cycling weekly. There are a lot of good deals out their. Set your budget and buy the best you can afford, if that means saving for a bit it will pay dividends in the long run.

maddog 2

of those two, go for the first one, but it all depends on fit and condition.

Everyone has their own ideas about this but for a new bike I'd always advise spending a minimum of £500, if possible. Below that the cost cutting becomes significant and the ride quality suffers, plus if you do any serious miles you'll end up replacing parts fairly soon. Buying cheap (new) bikes is a false ecomony - they're not very good and more often than not they end up sitting in the garage unused.

Ideally, you should pick up a good condition s/hand bike that was about 500-700 new for around 300ish, from someone who thought it was a good idea but then ended up realising you had to pedal the things :shock:

OJ Hanmer

Thanks for your help! Any thoughts on the Giant OCR4?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 744wt_1047