First road bike for around £400-£500

jamie_liverpool

Hi everyone,

Im looking to get my first road bike but due to me just buying my first house my budget isnt that great!! Im looking to get 1 for around £400-£500 and im just wondering if any1 has any recomendations?I would like to get some experience and then maybe join a club and do a few races. Iv been looking at the new Trek 1.1 which i have seen for £500 but on the halfords websiteiv seen the Carrera Limited Edition TDF Road Bike for £300. I understand you get what you pay for but this carrera bike looks ok to me but i dont really know?

Any help would be really appreciated

thank you

Matt the Tester

my advice to you my friend is go second hand you can pick up a fantastic bike for half the price! e.g.. you could buy a bike worth 1K and you only spend £500 but it would be a older model and not last years or this years unless

Cube's are good and please avoid Dawes as they are good bikes but i would of picked a trek if i known some are around the £430 price mark!

jamie_liverpool

thanks mate, do you know any good bike shops in the northwest that sell second hand road bikes?

Matt the Tester

err not a clue about them sorry but Ebay is very good but make sure it's not stolen most of these guys know a stolen bike when they see one!

rufus357rufus

I think the halfords carrera bikes are cracking 1st road bikes at around the £300 mark. Ive got a virtuoso and its brilliant for what it is.

1 - It works (no mucking about with things that are not quite right on a secondhand bike)
2 - Its set up for beginners http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/virtuoso-09-34691
3 - Its available now in the size you need
4 Its cheap

Of course it is not as good as £1000 bike but if you (like me) are new to road bikes you wont notice for a while and when you do you will know exactly what you want in your next more expensive bike.

I have been doing triathlons on mine so TT bike next!!

night_porter

Carrera make very good bikes, most people will have never considered or ridden one because the only place you can buy them is Halfords and most people on here dislike Halfords.

The main problems people have is that you get varying levels of service from Halfords because they have many branches and bikes are not their only source of revenue. Also they sell Appollo bikes and these are not well regarded by cyclists as they are considered to be cheap bike shaped objects.

If you can get past the shop selling the bike (they don't make them) you will get a very good bike for the money, read this review from this very site

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... o-09-34691

I own a Carrera Vanquish and I love it to pieces.

My advice is get the TDF you will not be disappointed and all of the components will be new and guaranteed whereas buying secondhand can be a minefield (especially Ebay) where you could get lucky or very unlucky.

Best suited to people with lots of experience of bikes and repairing them not (imho) newbies!

EDIT

ECHO!

unixnerd

+1 for second hand on ebay / gumtree.

I got a barely used 1200 quid Cannondale for 400 and love it to bits. Just go into ebay with your eyes open and wits about you. Don't buy the first thing you see, have patience.

mr_poll

I got mine on ebay for £90 - nothing fancy but will do till I can afford something better. Like the previous poster says was all about patience. There is a LBS in Liverpool that does reconditioned bikes - I see the van parked prob near the owners house near Maghull/Lydiate - damned if I can remember the name though.

Have a look at some the LBS's websites - there is one in Bootle that is discounting a few not sure whether they are what u want but might me be worth a look. LBS tend to give more attention service than Halfords - search the forums for comments about halfords.

Super Domestique

I have read this with interest as I am currently looking to purchase my first road bike within the same budget.

I did look at the TdF in Halfords too but soon dismissed it due to lacking a carbon fork. From what I have been told (I have been a MTBer since the mid-80's so have no knowledge of road bikes) they both save weight and take the sting out the road too so worth having.

For this reason and the lack of size options I dismissed the Dawes too. You can get those cheaper than the rrp of £430 though and I have seen them for £365. Also the Raleigh Airlite 100 is also online cheaper (rrp £500) at £390. The latter does come with a carbon fork.

Others I looked at were the Forme Rapide, Trek 1.1 and Claud Butler Roubaix which were in a recent group test I read. The winner, however, was a Specialized Allez.

OK, it is top end of the budget at £500 but a stunning bike imho (I looked at one today in a lbs and think it will be the one I buy tbh). I love the red finish, which is a surprise as I have never been a fan of red bikes or Speccy either if honest, although it also comes in subtle silver of you prefer.

datpat64

Second hand is defo the way to go guys !

e-bay or Gumtree are great and keep an eye on some of the local Bike Shops which are all over the internet now. I got a Specialized Tarmac Expert with Ultegra and Mavic Krysiums, unmarked (I thought they'd sent a new bike in error).

It was a 2007 model and had been upgraded by last owner. Spent just under £1000 for a £2800 bike in 2010 model.

PeeDee

Hi Jamie,

If you know an experienced roadie then get them to help you with choosing a 2nd hand bike from ebay.

Otherwise I would go for the Halfords option.

The downside of the 'entry level' Carrera that if you get in with a local club then will probably want to buy a better bike next year. However, by this time you will have plenty of friends to help you pick a good 2nd hand bargain. If you sell on your old Carrera you might get half what you paid for it.

Good luck with your purchase whatever it is!

datpat64

look at this for example

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TREK-1-5-ROAD-BIK ... 483ad53f7f

fastbatard

I was in the same position a couple of months ago and opted for Decathlon's B'Twin Sport 1 over the Carrera Virtuoso mainly because I preferred the look of it. The TDF looks great value though with the current deal.
I would recommend the Sport 1, it's a great starter bike and has quickly got me hooked.
My work has just introduced the cycle to work scheme and I've just ordered a Specialized Allez Elite, that's how addictive it is!!
Have fun with whatever you decide to go for
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/sport-1-54-57-69567468/

jamie_liverpool

Thank for all the advice everyone. Iv been leaning towards the trek 1.1 but interesting to see what Super Domestique had to say about specialized allez and im defo going to have a look at that.

But i think for me second hand will be the best option its just finding one!

Thanks for all your advice everyone

jamlala

Hi Jamie

I was in a similar position 6 months ago, and am now the proud owner of a 2009 Trek 1.2, hardly ridden, got different wheels and a far better saddle than it was originally supplied with. All for the princely sum of £365 from ebay. An extremely friendly chap from N Yorks, who also sold me a pair of shoes as i'd never used clips before for £35. Retailing at £70 normally.

So there are some bargains out there. But don't hesitate, get on them and 'Buy it Now' straight away as they get snapped up as I found to my cost. I missed a 2009 Trek 1.2 for £299 because I thought about it as I went to the supermarket, when I came back it had gone.

Oh and I ferkin love my Trek, and would hightly recommend it!!

jamlala

How about this one?!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trek-1-5-Road-Bik ... 41502c40ef

I'd buy it if I had the money......... :twisted:

jamie_liverpool

Been looking at the trek 1.2 you got quite a deal there mate! how you finding your bike?

Thanks for the help mate

jamlala

Bloody love it!!

mr_poll

Well if a trek 1.2 is of interest Evans are having a big sale:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/12-c-2009-road-bike-ec023251

Not sure what size u need, but this seems to fit JamLala's recommendation and your budget.

jamie_liverpool

Funny you should say that just been looking at that exact bike on evens website!! only problem is im 6' so i think i need a 58cm frame so this will be to small!!gutted

Unclemonty121

I would say 2nd hand is the way to go, although if you do go for the TDF, which was my first road bike, the Haldfords on the Wirral, esp the one at Brombrough are execellant and know their stuff.

jamie_liverpool

is the TDF worth getting mate? Im trying to find a second hand but its quite difficult gettin the right bike with right size frame etc im 6' so think i need a 58cm frame? thinking about getting the trek 1.1 from birkenhead cycles which is £500 which is top end of my budget so mrs wont be happy haha

Buckled_Rims

mr_poll wrote:

Well if a trek 1.2 is of interest Evans are having a big sale:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/trek/12-c-2009-road-bike-ec023251

Not sure what size u need, but this seems to fit JamLala's recommendation and your budget.

I didn't know they had a sale on. Just saw the Kona Honk Tonk for £550 :shock: That's a great bargain if you like retro downtube shifters which are Dura-ace in themselves! If it was in my size, out wouldn've come the credit-card :P

rick_chasey

http://www.gumtree.com/london/40/60132240.html :O

jamlala

I'm 5'11" Jamie and mine is a 56cm, so you SHOULD get away with either 56 or 58.

Second is the way to go, but you might have be patient though as the right bike takes a while to materialise......

Headhuunter

If you can push to £570, I think these are hard to beat...

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/specialed ... ERA&bike=1

but second hand will probably net you an even better bargain if you're willing to trawl ebay and 2nd hand shops etc

Super Domestique

The Speccy I tried yesterday was a 56cm and it felt perfect. I am just under 6'

wasi1984

Some great bikes all mentioned.

Ribble have a 5 week waiting list at the moment which is abit annoying, shows they do top bikes mind.

My budget was £500 and I went for the Giant Defy 3.5 mate, love it to bits.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/bik ... 861/38961/


If you can stretch to £625 the Specialized Allez Sport is a cracker.

http://www.pendlecyclespadiham.co.uk/prods/168.html

night_porter

You have to love a forum where you ask about a £300 bike and lots of people recommend bikes costing twice that (when you add the pedals on) saying that they are better! Go figure.....!

Bike sizing via the internet is okay as long as you know what size bike you need and have comfortably ridden the exact same bike you are buying or you are sufficiently knowledgable on how to tweak fit.

On an earlier note I have owned bikes with Carbon, Steel and Aluminium forks and the only ones that give a slightly harsher ride are the Aluminium ones. Not surprising when you consider that all off the best touring (aka all day long rides) bikes are steel. All steels have the same "flex" but more expensive Reynolds steels are lighter for the same strength.

I still believe you will not go wrong with the TDF for that price! Also if you look at Ebay and see how much a 2nd hand TDF or Virtuoso would be and that is the maximum you could lose if things didn't work out. Of course less reason for it not to work out if you have sat on the bike you buy and know it fits you.

Headhuunter

wasi1984 wrote:

Some great bikes all mentioned.

Ribble have a 5 week waiting list at the moment which is abit annoying, shows they do top bikes mind.

My budget was £500 and I went for the Giant Defy 3.5 mate, love it to bits.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-GB/bik ... 861/38961/


If you can stretch to £625 the Specialized Allez Sport is a cracker.

http://www.pendlecyclespadiham.co.uk/prods/168.html

Mine arrived in about 4 weeks, you just have to be patient! I thought about that Specialized, I was going to go for the double rather than triple. It was number 2 on my list.

Super Domestique

night_porter wrote:

You have to love a forum where you ask about a £300 bike and lots of people recommend bikes costing twice that (when you add the pedals on) saying that they are better! Go figure.....!

Bike sizing via the internet is okay as long as you know what size bike you need and have comfortably ridden the exact same bike you are buying or you are sufficiently knowledgable on how to tweak fit.

On an earlier note I have owned bikes with Carbon, Steel and Aluminium forks and the only ones that give a slightly harsher ride are the Aluminium ones. Not surprising when you consider that all off the best touring (aka all day long rides) bikes are steel. All steels have the same "flex" but more expensive Reynolds steels are lighter for the same strength.

I still believe you will not go wrong with the TDF for that price! Also if you look at Ebay and see how much a 2nd hand TDF or Virtuoso would be and that is the maximum you could lose if things didn't work out. Of course less reason for it not to work out if you have sat on the big you buy and know it fits you.

Thats is interesting what you say regarding the forks. I was commenting on purely on what I had been informed. I am used to a few inches of travel in a fork being an offroad type so it was all news to me!

Btw, the thread title did leave a bit of 'room' for bikes above £300