Newbie looking for a budget bike.

Jackal79

So the story goes like this, I brought a Mountain Bike a few months back but I've started getting some serious road mileage in away from the family now and been advised to get a road bike. I've been looking at a bike that will cost me around the £300 mark and the 2 that I've looked at the most at the moment are the Carrera TDF Ltd Edition and the Raleigh Team Sprint.

1. Are either of these any good and if so which one is better?
2. Raleigh was a good brand when I was a kid, is this still the case?
3. Any other bikes I should be looking at?

Any help would be greatly appreciated to be honest as I've owned nothing but Mountain Bikes for over 20 years now.

night_porter

Both of them look pretty good for starter bikes, they have similar componentry to bikes costing up to £500 from big names so no problems there.

The 2 questions you need to ask yourself are:

Which one feels best, try and get a test ride on both if you can then you may think one rides better than the other.

Or

If you cannot test ride them then which one do you think looks nicest?

I too have a soft spot for Raleigh's from my youth and despite them losing their way a little they are coming back to the fore recently. But I own a Carrera and they are exceptionally good value for money so they are equal in my opinion.

I think the Raleigh looks nicest but that is purely my view because the white looks better than the yellow.

Honestly whichever one you buy I am sure you will be happy with it.

adampeds

I bought the Raleigh a few weeks ago as my first road bike and I absolutely love it, well built and looks lush, same paint job as their 4 grand team bike

like the guy said previously Raleigh are making their way back to the market and because of this they are offering great value for your money.

Raleigh all the way....

marjorie dawes

i have a couple of freinds who have purchased carerras, the tdf and the virtuosso, they both measure up the same, fairly light-ish and nimble,
i think there excellent value for money,,

mouth

Hmm,

I gotta be honest upfront. I have a Carrera TdF and love the bones off it. My personal experience is that it has a little harsh a ride as it's quite stiff, but please bear in mind I am also putting 17 stone through it. I can comfortably ride 20+ miles with no real ill effect. Comes with Shimano 2300 kit, which is the same as the low end Spesh and Trek bikes.
The overall 'finish' of the Carrera could be better. For instance, I can see where the black paint has been laid over the yellow.

The Raleigh also comes with 2300 kit and to be fair it's quite smooth and has never skipped in my experience

Both frames are 6061 Ali tubing.

Both frames are drilled for panniers and guards, but is only important depending on which type of riding you will be doing

The first real difference I have come across so far is that the Sprint has 28mm tyres as delivered, which means it'll take CX tyres, so come winterthat could be a real advantage. TdF has skinny 23's.

The white looks good, but it will be forever dirty. If you're a proud man and have a cleanliness fetish, you're gonna be a busy boy.

Weight very similar.

Also want to say the Carrera has 2 more gears, but I really can't remember without going to the garage for a look.

I'm a Nottingham boy through and through and have owned several of both Raleigh and Carrera bikes in the past, but I gotta say, my money's on the TdF - if you can stomach the paint job, but it ain't too bad in the flesh.

The TdF has better kit than the Virtuoso at Halfords.

The real clincher might be customer service. If you can put up with Halfords then you'll be OK. You're not gonna get a great deal from either seller (Evans being the other one?) at this price point. No real room for manouvere.

unixnerd

I think you'd be better looking at used bikes on ebay or gumtree. A lot of folk buy bikes with good intentions then never use them - bargains to be had.

A Cannondale CAAD8 for 499 isn't to be passed up though:
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... &vid=10914
Excellent frame, worthy of upgrading later unlike most bikes in this price range.

jame58rown

I paid £400 and got a cannondale CAAD9 with tiagra, deffo worth looking second hand.

Jackal79

Thanks for all of the replies so far.

@Mouth - The Raleigh comes from my LBS which we've been using for many years and has excellent customer service. Are Halfords no good to deal with then?

@unixnerd & jame58rown - My friend suggested this to me also. The problem I have is that I don't quite know what I'm looking at with regards to good makes/models. I'll give the second hand market a look though before making a decission.

unixnerd

Are Halfords no good to deal with then?

It's pot luck. Some have good staff and some don't.

night_porter

Jackal79

As I said before there is little to choose between the Raleigh and the Carrera (apart from the colour) but if you factor in your comment about your local bike shop that you know and trust then my advice is definitely go for the Raleigh.

While Unixnerd is correct about buying used being better value this only applies if you know what you want and need and have the skills/knowledge/inclination to put right anything that may be worn out or broken.

A good lbs is worth its weight in gold so get this bike from there and learn all you can from them.

PS
Don't forget to post some piccies when you get it.

Hals1967

+1 what NP says.

I use a Virtuoso for commuting and I have to say it gets the job done, no fuss and has ample room for mudguards. Ride is a little harsh due to the alu forks but I've double-wrapped the bar-tape - this and a good pair of mitts takes most of the buzz out.

It takes a fair bit of hammer from poor roads too but for the sole purpose I use it for it's good enough.

zn533

For the same money, you can get a carbon fork...

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/triban-3-173178017/

I haven't ridden any of these bikes but my experience of Decathlon has been really good.

Also, as other people have mentioned, the second hand market is worth a gander if you're sure you not buying something stolen.

Sorry to make your decision harder. To put your mind at ease though, you'll feel about 10 times faster on pretty much any road bike than you would on a mountain bike!

Jackal79

I've been pointed in the direction of this one by a friend:-

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo ... 8wIwAzgA#p

The thing is, as far as I can see its the same spec as the Team Sprint. However, I can't find anything else on it, not even from the main Raleigh site. Does this mean its an old model or something like that?

bobones

The B-Twin Triban 3 from Decathlon is a far superior bike: much lighter and with a carbon fork.It easily the best £300 road bike out there at the moment other than second hand.

night_porter

I would love to know how the Triban 3 is "far superior"?

I have ridden bikes with steel forks, alu forks and carbon forks and they make little or no difference to the ride of the bikes and the weight difference is negligible too.

Have you ridden the other bikes the OP is looking at or do you just think red bikes are superior?

bobones

night_porter wrote:

I would love to know how the Triban 3 is "far superior"?

I have ridden bikes with steel forks, alu forks and carbon forks and they make little or no difference to the ride of the bikes and the weight difference is negligible too.

Have you ridden the other bikes the OP is looking at or do you just think red bikes are superior?

Actually, the Triban 3 is pretty average looks-wise, and I'm not a big fan of red bikes, but I think it's superior in terms of value for money, frame and components: you'd pay £500 for a similarly spec'd bike from one of the major manufacturors. The Raleigh Team Sprint is quoted at 12kg which is 1.5kg more than the B-Twin. I have bikes with steel and carbon forks and I notice a big difference in ride smoothness. What's the next cheapest road bike wth a carbon fork? I like the look of the TDF and at 10.9kg, it's fairly light, but at the same price I'd always go for the lighter bike with the carbon fork. Decathlon have a great repution for service too. The Triban 3 is a triple if that makes any difference.

merak

bobones wrote:

I have bikes with steel and carbon forks and I notice a big difference in ride smoothness.

So do I. My race bike has carbon forks and the front end is stiff and I can feel most of the road through the bars. Whereas my audax bike has steel forks and it's an absolute armchair. There is a lot more in play in determining whether the front of a bike will be smooth, pleasingly stiff or merely harsh than the material of the forks; eg the design and construction of the forks, the fork rake, the head geometry, the number of and type of spokes, the depth of the wheel rim, the width of the tyre, the TPI of the tyre, the pressure in the tyre etc. I'm not saying that the fork material plays no part, but it's far from being the only, or even the most important factor.

BTW, I would not have cheap carbon forks on any bike.

Phill B

Not sure what price you are looking at paying for the raleigh sprint or what size you are after but have a look at this from rutland cycles.
looks like a good price for a first bike as well as being a nice looking bike.

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/28851/Ral ... Bike-.html

Finlab6

There's a spesh allez sport for sale in classifieds for £400. I have this bike and have been happy with it

Jackal79

@finlab6 - I'm a little on the short side so I think I'm looking at a 19-21" frame maybe? My inside leg measurement is 29". Thanks for keeping a look out all the same.