1st Road bike, decisions, decisions

deffler

Hi Guys

Never thought I would ever post in the roadie section (I normally hangout in the commuter/mtb sections) but here goes. Im seriousley considering purchasing my first road bike to use on my commute to work & also to rack up some miles in my sparetime. Im not into clubs, groups, races etc.

Im really looking for recommendations as to what to buy as theres so much choice Im struggling, plus I havent really got a clue as to what is good value for money. Budget wise my absolutely max price is £800 however the lower the price the better, 'value for money' is what Im looking for whether its the top of my budget or £3-400 bikes. Components that will last & have a good reputation are a must to. Also the lighter the better and finally a bike that looks good/has a nice colour scheme.

To start the ball rolling Ive seen this bike http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/ ... e-ec020908 which is very cheap & I like colour scheme however I have no idea if its decent/value for money.

Any help, recommendations with links will be muchly appreciated guys

danowat

You have to look pretty hard these days to find a "bad" bike, anything around the same price point from any of the large(r) makers will be good.

Just pick one you like the look of, and that fits you best to get you started.

bigbelly

Welcome. Glad you have decided to go roadie.

At the base of your budget the groupsets you'll generally find are Shimano 2300 or Sora based. Given there are a major differences in contact/control points between the various groupsets and manufacturers, you should try them out before buying. The main contention points are Sora and 2300 based control levers are 8 speed and use a small button to change to smaller cog which some people don't get along with.

If you go up a groupset to Tiagra, you get the standard STI style levers where you push to whole brake lever sideways to go up a cog (bigger) or the smaller lever (positioned behind the brake lever) to a smaller cog. This is the format for all the higher spec Shimano groupsets. Tiagra is also 9 speed so you get less of a jump between cogs.

The base level of the market will get you cheaper tyres, brake pads etc, but these are easy to upgrade when they wear out. You will also see lots of unbranded or own-brand components.

There is nothing wrong with any of the above, with regular maintenance/cleaning the bike and parts will last many years.

However, towards the to of your budget range you can get something like the

Boardman http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_comp.html
or
Virenti, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-kilmeston/,

In my opinion you get better value for money at the higher range of your budget which I believe you were after. You will get more branded components, better wheels, tyres, brakes etc.

There's a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to Halfords staff (main distributer of Boardman bikes) which is mainly pointed at their - ahem, "school holiday seasonal staff", but the bikes are top quality and known for incredible value for money,

Nothing wrong with the SRAM groupsets either. All pretty good, just different to Shimano.

There is the ubiquitous Campagnolo groupsets too, but they are generally more expensive that the equivalent Shimano or SRAM groupset. You may find Xenon groupset but as with all bikes and groupsets, it's a case of trying it out in your LBS or similar.

dabber

bigbelly wrote:

The main contention points are Sora and 2300 based control levers are 8 speed and use a small button to change to smaller cog which some people don't get along with.

Just a correction... I think you'll find most (all??) current bikes fitted with Sora will be the 9 speed version.

bigbelly

At the bottom of the budget range, there is 2010 Sora and newer stuff is 2011. 8 speed on last years stock and 9 on this years... well spotted

dabber

bigbelly wrote:

At the bottom of the budget range, there is 2010 Sora and newer stuff is 2011. 8 speed on last years stock and 9 on this years... well spotted

Sorry, but no... my 2010 Defy has 9 speed Sora. I think the 2009's were 9 speed as well. Sorry to sound pedantic.

captain_tiara

Traditional thinking is frame's most important, followed by wheels, followed by groupset & finishing kit. Make sure you don't buy a frame too big.

Wheels you can upgrade easy enough in the future, a decent frame should last indefinately.

You'll end up kicking yourself if you underspend & later realise how much nicer a bike you could have got for a few quid more.

I've ridden shimano for years, but now use SRAM rival & can't recommend it enough.

deffler

Thanks for the advice guys, muchly appreciated.

Ive decided im going to look at the Boardmans as I can get 12% discount at Halfords or use my cycle to work scheme which is through Halfords.

Once I have the bike I will just use my Lbs to take care of maintenance.

No doubt if I do commit and buy a road bike I'll be back on here asking for more advice.

MaxwellBygraves

Can't really beat the Boardman on value for money. Go for it!