Newbie, Looking for advice

tbturbo

Hi All,

I found this site a couple of days ago, its brilliant! I have been scouting the forum for a couple of days now trying to use the knowledge here to help me trying to purchase my first road bike.

I have entered a Sprint Triathlon in september and now I need to source a road bike for the bike leg.

Budget is tight, Max £600, I would prefer a new bike but would consider second hand from genuine source.

So far I have narrowed my options down to the following

Carrera TDF Road Bike 2012 £329.00 the cheapest so leaves money for decent accessories
Boardman Road Race Bike £649 (£585 if i buy this weekend)
Specialized Allez 16 £575
Trek 1.1 C H2 2012 £550

I really don't know enough about road bikes and I don't want to waste money purchasing the wrong bike.

Can anyone offer any advice?

Thanks in advance

ducknumber1

Hi, happy first post, welcome.

For me, the difference between the Carrera and the others would be, can you get a decent wheel set in for the difference?

I've got a Carrera in my dungeon (trainer in the cellar) and it was great out on the road. Then I got hooked, road bikes must be more addictive than <insert your poison here>

tbturbo

ducknumber1 wrote:

Hi, happy first post, welcome.

For me, the difference between the Carrera and the others would be, can you get a decent wheel set in for the difference?

I've got a Carrera in my dungeon (trainer in the cellar) and it was great out on the road. Then I got hooked, road bikes must be more addictive than <insert your poison here>

I'm leaning towards the Carrera, it has good reviews and at that price its not a huge investment to replace later.

Could you recommend a wheel set? I'm a complete newb!

ducknumber1

No pressure like, as a relative newby myself, however I have seen recommended Fulcrum Racing 5 Wheels, which you can get for less than £200, and should (allegedly) set you on your way.

If this is in anyway useful, follow my sig when you win Liege–Bastogne–Liege (although any monument will suffice)

alwaystoohot

Why upgrade the wheels when tehy cost 30% of the bike, why not buy an 800 quid bike straight off?

Or, enjoy the 600 quid bike and set yourself a 12 month trial period where if you're still enjoying it/motivated you will allocate a bigger sum and go buy a better bike.

I went for option 2 and used it as motivation to get stuck in then rewarded himself with a 1,500 quid bike after showing myself it's become a medium/long term hobby.

I'm doing 2 x Olympic distance tri's this summr by the way.

ducknumber1

Mmm, I wonder, have you tried any of the bikes for size/feel?

Each to his (her) own (bike) and all that,

No likey, no bikey

rob21

i bought the carrea TDF last june,i have used it all winter.
for the money you cant go wrong...

tbturbo

Thank you for your advice, I'm off to my local bike store to try the specialized and then to try the Boardmand and Carrera.

I'm leaning towards the Carrera unless one of the others feels a lot better to ride.

rozzer32

Also look at the forums for second hand bikes. Naturally you'll get more for your money then if you bought new.

tbturbo

Thank you everyone for your advice, I've gone with the Carrera as it felt as nice to ride as the others, collect tomorrow :-)

Hector10

I couldn't get comfortable on Carrera, plus the spec of kit wasn't a patch on the Specialized. Love the Allez so far. So comfortable and responsive.

rob21

tbturbo wrote:

Thank you everyone for your advice, I've gone with the Carrera as it felt as nice to ride as the others, collect tomorrow :-)

good choice it may not have the kit that the Specialized and other more expensive bikes have.but you wont go wrong with the carrera..

unixnerd

Why upgrade the wheels when tehy cost 30% of the bike, why not buy an 800 quid bike straight off?

Because even some 2000 quid bikes come with fairly heavy wheels. Manufacturers love skimping on wheels.

I'd get a used bike with a decent frame that's worth upgrading and a ten speed 105 groupset then spend 300 quid on some nice light wheels around the 1500g mark. Should be able to do that for under a grand if you're lucky. Something like a used Cannondale CAAD8/9/10 or Specialized Allez - doesn't have to be carbon to be a good bike. My CAAD5 is under 8kg these days and it only cost me 400 three years ago.