New to road riding and advice needed

dazza Cox
dazza Cox Posts: 4
edited April 2012 in Road beginners
Morning guys,

Hope you lot can help me as I am new to this.
I currently ride a TREK 2011 ex5 full susser mainly over cannock and the wyre forrest local to me. Recently me and a friend planned a weekend ride to north wales, Rhyl from Stourbridge with an weekend stay at the robin hood caravan park.
Now... we managed this in roughly 14 hours (118 miles) and although we enjoyed the ride it was exceptionaly hard work on the full bouncer as you can imagine. This has also made me want to go and buy a propper road machine as we will be doing this ride again in May.
This is where you lot come in........

I have roughly £350 to spend and have narrowed it down to 2 bikes at Halfrauds... Both carreras .

Carrere tdf @ £325 and slightly more expensive carrera virtuosa ltd edition.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PLPz1

and

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

Now while I would like a new bike with the benefit of a warranty etc I have been looking through the classifieds on here and come across this bike... viewtopic.php?f=40049&t=12846572.

What would you guys say is the better spec'd bike for the cash, new or second hand ?

What components should I stay away from at the budget end of the market and any more advice regards second hand. what should I be looking for and like wise avoiding.

Also if I do buy second hand being 5ft 8 I have been told that a 56" frame would be suitable.

Sorry for rambling on but any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for your advice

Daz Cox

Comments

  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    Hi there Daz, welcome across from the dark side. IMO, the Giant is the better bike for your money. The Sora groupset is Shimano's entry level into decent shifting and it works very well. The problem for you may be one of sizing. At 5'8" I would put you down as more likely being a 54cm (not inches) frame but it is hard to be precise because we are all made different and the proportion of one's bits and bobs can make a big difference, and a lot of frames can be different even in the same sizes... and that is before you get into swapping stems, etc. Why not pop down to your local bike shop and swing a leg over a few? You can be economical with the truth and if you go on and buy you cycling kit from the shop then they will probably make more margin over time...they might even convince you to spend, say, £550 on a nice Spesh, Giant or Trek, etc. Take your time and pick right...you will be spending a lot of hours on your new bike.

    Good luck, oh and you don't have to ignore waves from sussers just because you get a decent bike :)
  • rob21
    rob21 Posts: 284
    Carrere tdf @ £325 and slightly more expensive carrera virtuosa ltd edition.
    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PLPz1
    i bought the carrera last july,i use it as my winter bike.
    The kit on it is reasonable but serves me very well and have had no problems with it,i put a new set of tyres on it just out of personal choice.excellent bike for the money :D
  • sumosprintstar
    sumosprintstar Posts: 171
    rob21 wrote:
    Carrere tdf @ £325 and slightly more expensive carrera virtuosa ltd edition.
    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PLPz1
    i bought the carrera last july,i use it as my winter bike.
    The kit on it is reasonable but serves me very well and have had no problems with it,i put a new set of tyres on it just out of personal choice.excellent bike for the money :D


    +1
  • jga minton
    jga minton Posts: 2
    Has anyone seen radon road bikes from germany i am thinking of getting a radon rps midseason very good spec at £620 and light for the money 8.7kg you can see this bike on h & s bike discount just google it.
    Hope you can give me some info.

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