Entry level bikes with good componentry?

portland_bill

I'm looking at getting my first road bike, and like my Cube Acid, I'm looking for something that's reasonably priced with good componentry.

What is the general comparisons with road bikes? I'm not overly keen on Giant, just because they're a little too common, nevertheless, if they are good value for money I would obviously consider one.

I don't really want to pay any more than £600 and from what I deduced the other day after a visit to my LBS, I'm looking for a 50cm or 51cm frame or Medium if the bike is so sized.

Your advice please...

Many thanks in advance!

Chip \'oyler

Always buy a bike with the best quality frame. The frame is the heart of a bike and this is the biggest factor in how the bike performs. Even if you end up getting a bike with inferior compenentry - you can always upgrade the parts afterwards.

rolf_f

Chip \'oyler wrote:

Always buy a bike with the best quality frame. The frame is the heart of a bike and this is the biggest factor in how the bike performs. Even if you end up getting a bike with inferior compenentry - you can always upgrade the parts afterwards.

Swings and roundabouts at this price point though I reckon - I seem to recall those Lidl or Aldi bikes cost barely more than the groupset so you might find something where it is the frame that could be upgraded later.

daviesee

Chip \'oyler wrote:

Always buy a bike with the best quality frame. The frame is the heart of a bike and this is the biggest factor in how the bike performs. Even if you end up getting a bike with inferior compenentry - you can always upgrade the parts afterwards.

+1

plowmar

Tbh guys this hasn't really helped Portland Bill as I think he was asking about make of bike.

I'm a numpty equivalent to the very old sexist joke about the woman choosing a car cos she likes the tyre pattern or car colour. That's how I bought my last bike cos of the colour. :oops: :oops: .

Hence I am no where near qualified to comment on frames but good things have been said about Boardman's and my wife likes Speacialized, and I like Giants.

Did your LBS give any suggestions?

portland_bill

Just what they had in obviously. I have two LBS, one really pushes Giant stuff and he's pretty popular in the locality, so there's a lot of people riding around on Giants, hence my modest will to try and steer away from Giant. The other LBS stocks Raleigh and Corratec and they were the shop I went to speak to first.

I'm a little confused though because he showed me a Raleigh and a different brand which I think from their website must have been a Corratec, both priced around the £500-600 mark, but when I look on their site, their cheapest Corratec is £950, so I might have to confirm that one.

I told him I would prefer something with a Carbon fork and a more compact geometry as I'm not too bothered about comfy leisurely rides and would prefer something that's easier to get a bit of power into while climbing since Northumberland isn't a particularly flat county and I'm out to get into proper riding and not swanking around looking at the countryside. Then he lost me coz he started comparing the componentry on the bikes and since I'm not familiar with road componentry anyway, I was struggling to keep up with him on what was what and which bike was which price etc.. I'm gonna ring them at 10 to ask what the bikes were again so I can do a little more research, but if it was a Corratec, I think I remember preferring that one to the Raleigh.

I did intend on visiting my other LBS on Saturday, but got bogged down with chores by the wife and completely forgot to go before it was too late, so I'll have to try and call in one night this week.

The benefit of my other LBS who push the Giant brand, is that they also run cycling clubs, and I figure it's probably wise to buy a bike from them and attend their clubs to not only get into road riding, but it means I'm using the bike while I'm with them so if there's any problems or concerns, they can answer them straight away. The owner is a pretty sound bloke too which makes a difference.

But yeah, brands, models and suggestions all welcome please. I understand I'm not going to get anything flash for the money I can afford, but it might still turn out that road riding isn't for me and I'd rather not waste my money until I'm sure about it.

jibberjim

Chip \'oyler wrote:

Always buy a bike with the best quality frame. The frame is the heart of a bike and this is the biggest factor in how the bike performs. Even if you end up getting a bike with inferior compenentry - you can always upgrade the parts afterwards.

You can always upgrade the frame too. And if you're planning on upgrading putting an 8 or 9 speed componentry on your frame makes little sense but that's what you'd have to do at the OP's price point to get any sort of decent frame - and even then it wouldn't be awesome.

850quid with 105 which is very doable makes a lot more sense than 850 quid with Sora even when you take account of what could be spent in a year.

Butterd2

daviesee wrote:

Chip \'oyler wrote:

Always buy a bike with the best quality frame. The frame is the heart of a bike and this is the biggest factor in how the bike performs. Even if you end up getting a bike with inferior compenentry - you can always upgrade the parts afterwards.

+1

+2

BigDonn

I've got to say that I've been very impressed with my Carrera Vanquish that I purchased for £450. Have to say that it was my 1st road bike and I couldn't afford any more that I paid but I've found it quick and comfortable to ride. I'm easily averaging 18-20mph on the flat.

You get Tiagra gearing (sora front mech) and a carbon fork. Bike's relatively light too - comparable to other bikes up to about £700.

Lots of people will have more expensive bikes, but so long as you find a bike which you're comfortable riding, with components that you like using, who cares!

One word of warning about Carrera bikes mind - get your LBS to set it up properly. Halfords servicing leaves a lot to be desired!

portland_bill

Apparently it was a Merida Road Ride 77 I tried out, not a Corratec. They just don't sell their Meridas online so that explains that one.

portland_bill

I didn't realise this would be such a difficult question...

CarlosDSanchez

Part of the problem is that entry level bikes tend not to have a particularly good spec. I have a mate wanting to spend £600 on his first road bike and it seems pretty deppressing what that will get you. If only a small budget I'd go for a cheap halfords jobbie as suggested above. If the budget is a bit higher then go for the entry Boardman. Failing that, scan the net for 2010 bikes going cheap.

night_porter

It isn't a difficult question but you have to choose what you want to do, buy a bike from an lbs or buy online.

If you liked the Merida then you will probably like the Carrera mentioned earlier as they are made by Merida but have significantly better components than the Merida. If you are worried about Halfords building the bike then buy it online delivered in a box and build it yourself, it is an excellent bike for the money.

There is plenty of advice about component levels but here is a quick Shimano grade list

2200/2300 - 8 speed entry level road kit
Sora - 9 speed (older versions are 8 speed)
Tiagra - 9 speed (soon to change to 10 speed)
105 - 10 speed
Ultegra - 10 speed
Dura Ace 10 speed top of the range

The further down the list you go the more expensive it gets and to be honest you can pay up to £1,000 for bikes kitted with Tiagra so that makes the Carrera look good vfm.

mr_poll

Shopping around on eBay will unearth a decent deal I am sure.

If not BR just reviewed a Scott S55 for a little more than you were looking at that gets a tidy write up.

I bought one of these:

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Bikes/Road+Bikes/Merlin+Road+Bikes/Merlin+5600+Ltd+Edition+Bike_MERLIN-RB-ALLOY.htm

I will be honest and haven't fallen in love with it but value for money wise I struggle to recommend anything else (I suppose its a little like owning a practical honda whilst friends own expensive sporty two seaters) again it pushes your budget but with the VIP club (free) you can get it for £675.

unixnerd

600 will get a good used bike on ebay. I paid 400 for a used Cannondale with 105 groupset a few years ago. Add a 200 quid set of 1500g wheels and the thing is a real rocket, superb bike. My bike had been barely used by the previous owner who just never got into cycling and left it in the shed for two years.

Small frames seem to be hard to find. This is a 48 but it's a huge spec for 1000 quid, wheels alone must be 500:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cannondale-Six13- ... 3a67e6faad

drkawaszelong

or look here as opposed to ebay

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=40049

portland_bill

I should have pointed out I'm looking to get something through Cycle2work or similar so buying second hand isn't an option Im afraid.

I can't see me getting a Halfords as an option either since the nearest one is nearly 50 miles away from us.

I'll have a look at your suggestions in a bit though and see what they're like but the Carrera's definitely seem to be well spoken of which surprises me since they're a Halfords brand. Not that I have any evidence to suggest they're bad, I just expected them to be.

night_porter

Halfords don't make bikes, they sell them.

A lot of people think that any bike from Halfords is crap but that is simply not true. Both the Carreras and the Boardmans are excellent bikes and much better value for money than the mainstream manufacturers.

Most people who complain about them have probably never even ridden one but for anyone who is limited by budget or who wants to "dip" their toes into the water of road biking very little comes close.

portland_bill

No, nobody's even told me the bikes from Halfords are poor quality. It's purely an assumption based on the fact that most of what Halfords sell apart from branded consumables seems to be crap.

A mate of mine bought a Boardman Hybrid a couple of years back and as pointed out, the only problems he had was that it was built and setup by Halfords and he had nothing but problems with it until I told him to take it to the LBS that I bought my Cube Acid from and he's never had a problem since with it other than he now wishes he'd just bought an outright road bike rather than a Hybrid.

I'll certainly take them into consideration since the bikes definitely seem to hold such high regard on here apart from one thread I saw where someone asked how much their Carrera was worth to sell on and the first response was £20. Bit harsh...

Anyway, that Cannondale is a nice bike but I just haven't got the spare money to buy something like that hence I need to go through Cycle2Work. I'm liking the Scott S55 though. I'm kicking myself though because I used to work for a maintenance company and we looked after a set of units in Cramlington that was the base for a Scott Racing Support office. The gaffer always used to make me a cup of tea and stand and chat with me while I was working and I know for a fact if I'd shown an interest in Road bikes back then he could have sorted me something quite nice out for not very much.

I remember being there one day and they were literally hacking their way through a mountain of bike frames and wheels and stuff and chucking it all in a skip because they had to get rid of their stock. I was gobsmacked.

I digress, so what do you guys make of SunRace components? I can find plenty of info on Shimano stuff but nothing on this which is on the Merida bikes. Any ideas or advice?

Gonna have a look at some Cubes now.

In_the_big_ring

If its cycle to work you don't need to physically go to a shop to buy the bike. As long as your company hasn't stipulated a retailer you can use anyone, including buying online. Who you buy from though will need to be VAT registered for you to make the best savings. I got my bike through a C2W scheme and bought it online. All you need is the VAT receipt and for you to sign a few forms that acknowledge that you are willing to sacrifice your salary and that lays out the T&Cs. You can download sample forms from lots of online retailers. I got mine through Wiggle and just downloaded all the forms online. Bought the bike with the company credit card and that was that.

For your price range, Boardman's get rave reviews and have really good spec's for their price.

night_porter

As far as gearing is concerned the only part you need to worry about is the shifters.

I know most people won't agree with that statement but I feel it is the only real difference, I have bikes with mtb 8 & 9 speed and roadies with 9 & 10 speed ranging from Shimano Acera (cheapest) to SRAM Red (most expensive) and when I push the levers they all change gear it is as simple as that!

From Shimano I prefer the double levers of Tiagra and above and the thumb levers of Deore and above but it really makes no difference (to me) what the rest is because they all just work (providing they are setup properly of course).

Some people say that cheaper stuff needs "tweaking" more often but I don't find that to be the case so unless I change the cables or something they are set and forget. I ride about 700 miles a month so it is not because of lack of use either.

If you liked the feel of the Sunrace shifters then they should be fine although I have never actually used them myself.