The difference between £550-£699 bikes

TRbike
TRbike Posts: 27
edited March 2011 in Road buying advice
Im looking to buy my first bike but dont have a massive budget.

I had been looking at the Giant defy 3 but had been wondering if you got alot more for your money or a much better bike by paying a little bit more, say a Cannondale Synapse Sora 2011 or Felt z100?


Any advice would be great.

Comments

  • Matt the Tester
    Matt the Tester Posts: 1,261
    i would highly suggest buying second hand! you can get a bike WAAAAY BETTER for that price!

    try ebay. have a really good look!
    Coveryourcar.co.uk RT Tester
    north west of england.
  • tremayne
    tremayne Posts: 378
    If you can't find second hand - any of course you may just want to have something new, and who would blame you. How about looking at a 2010 bike? Evans/Wiggle/ChainR all still have something or other which might meet your criteria. Other than those guys, then I'd say £1k is about where you start to get something seriously and quantifiably better/stiffer/lighter/etc.

    Planet X , Ribble or Boardman all have something at £1k which could easily compare with offerings from most big-time brands at £1250-£1400. Just a thought.
  • unixnerd
    unixnerd Posts: 2,864
    Look for 2010 models, you'll get a 2010 Cannondale CAAD8 for 449, a Synapse for not much more.That's a superb bit of kit for the money. Two years ago I paid 400 for a used CAAD5 with a decent spec. Some of the deals you can get on new 2010 models are almost as good as used prices.

    It's not just Cannondale either, I've seen Secteurs for silly money too. Just go onto google, enter the bike name and press Shopping on the left menu.
    http://www.strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible Price.
    Specialized Roubaix SL3 Expert 2012, Cannondale CAAD5,
    Marin Mount Vision (1997), Edinburgh Country tourer, 3 cats!
  • Wheelie Bin
    Wheelie Bin Posts: 162
    You should be able to find a Defy 3 for less than your budget and they are nice bikes. I think the 3 has a Tiagra groupset with Sora brakes (my wife had one). Nothing wrong with Tiagra, but I wouldn't want a bike with Sora throughout.

    You've got the budget for a GREAT used bike - and there are loads of hardly used ones on eBay - many bought by people who like the idea of getting into cycling and then the bug wears off.

    Good luck.
    I'm at that difficult age... somewhere between birth and death.
  • Gav888
    Gav888 Posts: 946
    steady rider wrote:
    i would highly suggest buying second hand! you can get a bike WAAAAY BETTER for that price!

    try ebay. have a really good look!

    +1 there are some real bargains for the money you want to spend.
    Cycling never gets any easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond

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