Best bike for £500? really stuck!

Jonny Spencer

Hi, this is my first post after trawling the internet trying to find advice which doesn't really seem to be out there. Basically, I'm sick of my clunky MTB which has broken on me so much i want to switch to a nice light road bike. I'm interested in trying some long distance cycling but haven't had the chance to borrow a bike yet! obviously, this being my first road bike I don't want to blow a tonne of money on it, i've set my budget at the very max of £500 really, but i have three bikes in mind currently from Halfords as my brother works there and i will get 15% discount on the bike:

Carrera Virtuoso £339 (£280ish with my 15% discount)
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

Carrera Vanquish £479 (£407ish with my 15% discount)
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

Boardman Road Bike Comp SC £499 (£425ish with my 15% discount)
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

The Halfords store in Burton-Upon-Trent seems to have gotten pretty good reviews and i know several people who work there personally so I'm not too worried about the servicing/set-up. i was going to buy second hand but thinking about it i'd rather have the brand new parts and a 12month warranty if i take this stuff more seriously.
any help would be appreciated and any recommendations are welcome!
thanks a million

Jonny

John.T

Are you aware that the Boardman Comp SC is a single speed bike. That is only one gear.

morrisje

If you go to the Bikes and Gear section of this website then select 0 - £500 price range there are a load of reviews.

Jonny Spencer

No I didn't know it was a single speed =/ i am very new to the different bikes so i really do know nothing about what i'm meant to be looking for... guess thats the boardman off the list! cheers morrisje i'll check it out

alp777

Evans Pinnacle range are worth a look. I bought this one for winter training :-

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/sentinal-10-2009-road-bike-ec018113

Also had a decent review :-


http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/road/product/sentinal-10-09-34877

smeev

I would thoroughly look thorugh any sales online or LBS before making your purchase. From past experience, it is worth doing a couple of weeks just looking round for the best deals, especially now, in the sales period.
For instance, i popped into my local decathlon shop to get some tights & they were doing the Btwinn sport 3 bike for £500, which has compag all round i think & carbon front & rear & quick fetching in yellow & white.
Also have a look at what wiggle has got on offer, i know they are doing a Raleigh U6 specd bike for £600 reduced from a grand & i looks pretty damn good tbf.
I wish i wanted now for christmas sales, i only brought my spesh about 6 weeks ago, gutted.
Any body want 2 buy a spesh allez double silver for £600, lol.

S0rin

smeev wrote:

For instance, i popped into my local decathlon shop to get some tights & they were doing the Btwinn sport 3 bike for £500, which has compag all round i think & carbon front & rear & quick fetching in yellow & white..

When and what store was this? I've been waiting for the deals at Decathlon, my local store doesn't seem to have this deal though.

mattward1979

You will get a hundred different answers to this question im afraid, as people all have their favorites and dislikes when it comes to brands etc!

the Boardman range gets very good reviews, however the build and service of halfords is usually enough to put people off (no offence intended to your Bro!)

My reccomendation around the £500 mark would be the Specialized allez 24:
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDeta ... ctID=21399

but im sure you can find better in a new year sale with a better groupset

kingrollo

the otherday somebody got a nice raleigh from wiggle for £599 - good spec as well

smeev

S0rin wrote:

smeev wrote:

For instance, i popped into my local decathlon shop to get some tights & they were doing the Btwinn sport 3 bike for £500, which has compag all round i think & carbon front & rear & quick fetching in yellow & white..

When and what store was this? I've been waiting for the deals at Decathlon, my local store doesn't seem to have this deal though.

Was at my local store at the merry hill centre. The sport 3 model was £500, in which they had 2 left, 1 in 57" the other in 63". They also had a couple of 57" sport 2's for £400, which dont look that bad either, has got full spec tiagra or sora on it cant remember.

STEFANOS4784

This seems a good buy, over budget and a different retailer but ya know........


http://www.questbikes.co.uk/acatalog/Qu ... ducts.html

smeev

i would go with the vanquish, it has quite decent spec tbf, with the shimano wheels. Plus with the price that you are paying for it, the spare money will get you the necessary "add-ons" that you need. I think, from past experience, that beginners should 100% look at forums like this before making that "1st" purchase. myself included, in which i had a £500 buget, spent £499 on my spesh & when you get into & you WILL, the list of extras to get is absolutely endless.

bigricky

Trek 1.2 not a bad bike, might be able to get the 09 model on knock down price

rake

you could pick a boardman comp 9 speed up on ebay secondhand for that sort of money. better than the carrera which arent bad bikes for beginning. heres a team in your budget.£800 new.sram rival which is very good. some of these must be impulse purchases and dont get any use.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Boardman-Team-200 ... 2a03aed8cd

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/produc ... rtno=33604

Tricross Singlecross for 350... Just bought one as my new commuter, barely heavier than my Felt F5C which retails for three (3) times the price. Only one gear, but 63 gear inches feels fine on such a light steed!

andyrr

Harcross offer is just the 56cm frame - I was close to snapping one of these up but after sizing up the same frame on a different Tricross model I now know I need a 54.5 which is a darn shame as I can't find that size elsewhere for close to that price.