Bike for £350

rstaniforth1
rstaniforth1 Posts: 12
edited September 2011 in Road beginners
Hi all

Im looking to get a road bike as im wanting to take part in some triathlons next year. I do a lot of running and swimming so this seems like a good event.

As im also getting married next year so i cant be spending too much, £350 is my maximum. I've done some mountain biking in the past but know very little about whats good and whats bad when it comes to road bikes.

Two i've seen are below and seen pretty good but like i said i dont know much!!!!!

Atala SLR 150

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2010

Raleigh 100

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/24614/Ral ... Bike-.html

Any help and advice would be very appriciated!!

Thanks Ryan

Comments

  • Ringo 68
    Ringo 68 Posts: 441
    If you are happy buying 2nd hand you will get far more for your money.

    If you don't like the idea than this is also worth a look and gets good reviews in your price range.

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710
    Cube Agree GTC Pro
    Boardman Comp
    Carrera Subway Hybrid
  • night_porter
    night_porter Posts: 888
    If I was you I would choose either the Raleigh or the Carrera that Ringo has linked to.

    They are both reputable makes and should give you years of riding pleasure for your budget.

    I wouldn't recommend buying 2nd hand unless you know exactly what you are looking for (size, geometry, etc.) and the risks involved in buying bikes that may need expensive repairs to be safe and usable.
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    I don't really agree with the Night Porter post above re: the pitfalls of buying secondhand.

    If you are able to give the bike a ride and the frame is sound, the wheels true and the gears shifting ok, there's not a great deal left that would be considered to be major that can go wrong that's going to cost the earth to repair.

    Bikes are pretty straightforward mechanical stuff on the whole and £350 secondhand might get you a decent Spesh Allez or similar. Many people have bought bikes with the idea of cycling regularly and then go off the idea, so occasionally the secondhand bike may have had very little use.
  • rstaniforth1
    rstaniforth1 Posts: 12
    Hi all,

    Thanks for all the advice so far. I hadnt really considered 2nd hand but i am keeping my eye out now as well as looking for good deals on new ones.

    If any one else has got other surgestions that would be great, need all the advice i can get!!
  • outcastjack
    outcastjack Posts: 237
    build your own?
    If you go second hand on the groupset then you can get a fairly decent setup with everything else brand new inside your budget.
  • snowley
    snowley Posts: 149
    I would go second hand. I picked up a used 2010 Specialized Secteur for £230 which was a bit of a bargain I think.

    If you wait, you will get a bargain. Keep an eye on gumtree and ebay,
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    ^^^^ Yeh right - I'd love to see that version for £350.

    What price would you expect to pick up a groupset for? I think building your own (with the suggested new parts) will lead to one thing only - an overspend on initial budget! Don't get me wrong I love building bikes and it can be cost-effective, but I suspect that it would not beat looking out for a complete bike at a good price at the OP's budget.
  • outcastjack
    outcastjack Posts: 237
    nochekmate wrote:
    ^^^^ Yeh right - I'd love to see that version for £350.

    What price would you expect to pick up a groupset for? I think building your own (with the suggested new parts) will lead to one thing only - an overspend on initial budget! Don't get me wrong I love building bikes and it can be cost-effective, but I suspect that it would not beat looking out for a complete bike at a good price at the OP's budget.

    This is my £300 build =D http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... =#17024641

    You can get a better bike for the money if you go second hand but the amount you learn about bike maintainence just by bolting it all together is in my opinion priceless.
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    outcastjack wrote:
    nochekmate wrote:
    ^^^^ Yeh right - I'd love to see that version for £350.

    What price would you expect to pick up a groupset for? I think building your own (with the suggested new parts) will lead to one thing only - an overspend on initial budget! Don't get me wrong I love building bikes and it can be cost-effective, but I suspect that it would not beat looking out for a complete bike at a good price at the OP's budget.

    This is my £300 build =D http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... =#17024641

    You can get a better bike for the money if you go second hand but the amount you learn about bike maintainence just by bolting it all together is in my opinion priceless.

    Agree wholeheartedly with the latter part of your statement and I'm sure that you enjoyed putting your bike together (something that I have enjoyed learning about too).

    Just feel that secondhand complete bike is the best way forward for the OP. Specialized Allez range, earlier Trek models perhaps (or 1.5 at an absolute push, 1.2 definitely available for OP money). Bianchi Via Nirone (bought one off eBay the other week for £99 - it was a 61cm!! Bought another from a clubmate for my brother for £275) all possible purchases for £350.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    per your other thread, this is the ebay link I had set up

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=- ... m270.l1313
  • cooper.michael1
    cooper.michael1 Posts: 1,787
    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html

    £299, and bette quality than the two bikes you mentioned - Carbon fork, Latest Shimano basic Groupset, decent basic wheels with eyeletted rim etc...
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    or this http://tinyurl.com/6l3oye6

    for neatness
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    Quite a nice Principia Ellipse SX in Cycling Weekly this week for £325 - Ultegra throughout and Bontrager wheelset. Much underrated brand and good bike for the money - think it's a 54cm so don't know if size suits.
  • pmacd
    pmacd Posts: 1
    cooper.michael1 wrote:
    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html

    £299, and bette quality than the two bikes you mentioned - Carbon fork, Latest Shimano basic Groupset, decent basic wheels with eyeletted rim etc...

    wondering if anyone can help, i'm looking towards buying this bike quoted, although would prefer thicker tyres for use on less than perfect surfaces. Is there any way of telling whether these rims will fit thicker tyres?
  • drahcir
    drahcir Posts: 7
    I've just purchased a second hand Giant Defy 4 from triuk for £350.

    They rent bikes out to triathletes/cyclists and sell them on at the end of the season. Mine only arrived today and I've only been out on it once but so far so good.

    I'm completly new to road cycling and procastinated for ages before finding this and deciding to take a bit of a gamble. Apart from a few paint chips I can't really see anything wrong with it! It probably doesn't look too much different to how it would if I brought it new 6 months ago!

    Here is the link to it...

    http://triuk.com/product/giant-2011-ex-hire-defy-4

    Richard

    [url][/url][url][/url]
  • rstaniforth1
    rstaniforth1 Posts: 12
    Hi all thanks for all your advice.

    My work has just announced that its running a cycle to work scheme so im going to be getting one through that now so will be spending a bit more than planned but paying over 12-18 months so will be good.

    Its running through halfords so think im going to get the boardman road race now.

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

    This plus a decent lock, helmet and lights will take me close to the £1000 limit
  • Ringo 68
    Ringo 68 Posts: 441
    I think the Boardman Road Race is a very good choice in your price range. I went for the Comp which is basically the Race with a slightly better fork and Sram Apex instead of Shimano Sora. I am made up with it.

    I don't think you will be disappointed.
    Cube Agree GTC Pro
    Boardman Comp
    Carrera Subway Hybrid
  • drahcir
    drahcir Posts: 7
    If I could have persuaded work to do the c2w scheme I'd have gone for a Boardman too!

    Unfortunately for various reasons that wasn't possible, I also wasn't too sure I'd stay in my job for another year or so which did put me off the scheme a bit.

    The Boardman's look fantastic bikes!

    Richard
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    To the OP - don't know your size but £300 for a Trek 1.2

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trek-1-2-Road ... 2567c8f936

    I think it'll sell quickly as it's good value for that money IMO
  • rstaniforth1
    rstaniforth1 Posts: 12
    Just got my bike!!! managed to get the boardman road comp as it had 10% off yesterday so got it for £720 before any bike to work savings

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PDPz1

    Thanks for all your advice really happy with this.

    Im not sure of the pedals tho, think these might need changing, not sure what to tho?
  • esudfu
    esudfu Posts: 35
    Ha. Gotta love cycling. A topic called "bike for £350" ends up with £720 spent. May as well start as you mean to go on :D

    Enjoy the bike!

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