Getting into cycling - newbie questions

chegu07

So I'm looking at buying a road bike, but being a full time student I only have £275 to spend. Are there any websites that do half decent bikes for that sort of price or would it be a case of trawling through ebay for a good deal?

I know absolutely nothing about bike brands or anything and I've seen that Viking bikes are all really cheap; 1) what are downtube shifters? (many of those seem to have them and ive only ever seen the gear shifters you get on the handlebars from my mountain bikes as a kid) and 2) would it be worth buying one of those?

How long can I expect a bike in this sort of price range to last me? And how much should I expect to spend to get a decent upgrade after that?

And finally, are you allowed to cycle on A roads? I'm at uni in Lincoln and come back to Nottingham almost every weekend so I'd try and bike it but I wasn't sure if riding on A roads/dual carriage ways was legal/wise as some parts of the road don't have pavements. Or would it be a better idea to find a route through country roads and avoid the main roads?

charlie_potatoes

Just a little above your price range but the Triban 3 gets good reviews on here.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html#more_infos

lc1981

The current cheap bike of choice seems to be the B’Twin Triban 3, after it got a really good review in Cycling Active. You can read the review (part of a group test) via the links here. From what I've seen of Viking bikes, I would steer clear of them. Downtube shifters went out of fashion in the 1990s and they're only really used on very cheap road bikes these days (and perhaps retro-style road bikes further up the price scale).

How long it will last depends on how well you look after it. Aluminium isn't going to corrode so the frame should last you a good while. Components will wear out and have to be replaced, but that's true regardless of how much you spend, and you can always use this as an opportunity to upgrade over time (though a point will come where a new, more expensive bike will make more sense than adding expensive components to a cheap frame).

Yes, you can ride on A roads. You'd probably struggle to get about if you couldn't! As far as I know, the only roads you can't cycle on are motorways. I hate cycling on dual carriageways, so would avoid them if at all possible. Details on where you can and can't cycle are here. CycleStreets is a good free tool for planning routes that avoid busy roads where possible.

Pross

Yes, you can cycle on A roads and dual carriageway unless it is specifically prohibitted (sign showing a black bike on a white background in a red circle). I'm not sure I'd fancy the A46 from Lincoln to Nottingham much though. That said there should be plenty of other quite routes and I'm not sure if they have put in any cycle lanes since they have built the new section of road (I think in some places the old road remains and would offer a good alternative route). Just to potentially save you a fine, although it is unlikely, it is actually illegal to ride on 'pavements' unless there are signs showing they are shared use (blue round sign with bike and person symbol).

chegu07

Ahh awesome, I shall have to see if I can squeeze some money out of my dad then Thanks very much for the help.

simon_masterson

Downtube shifters are fine. Not as nice as brifters perhaps, but you can't expect miracles if the bike costs slightly more than the cost of a new pair of STI levers! My favourite bike is 30 years old and has downtube friction shifters. If I could opt for brifters, would I? Yes. Do the downtube shifters work just fine? Yes.

For that money you would be best to look for a secondhand bike. It's not that a new bike for that money is INADEQUATE, as no road bike is for a beginner, but very cheap new road bikes tend to have very cheap components; this I would personally want to avoid.

A decent secondhand road bike within your budget would last you as long as you like, really. It takes a lot of hard work to be convincingly held back by your equipment. However, when upgrading you will fall into diminishing returns; you could upgrade a £300 bike with a £900 bike, but you won't get £600 more bike for your money. It will be a little bit lighter and have nicer parts and wheels, but that's about it; don't expect miracles. I wouldn't buy such a bike; I'd rather have a £1500 basic carbon bike that's worth upgrading than a cheaper higher end alloy bike that isn't. If you wanted to sell the alloy bike, you'd also make a loss.

I'm aware that I'm biased as I love my old steel bikes, but I think you'd be best to get a nice old steel racer, leaving you with enough money for all of the other stuff you need (clothing, tools, etc). You don't want an old banger that will cost a bomb in knackered old parts (speaking from bitter experience!), but there are some great old bikes out there that can be had for little money. Steel isn't cool anymore among many impressionable beginner cyclists.

If you've got other funds for that stuff though, you're probably best off with the Triban; I haven't yet read a bad review of that bike...

Pross

Simon Masterson wrote:

Downtube shifters are fine. Not as nice as brifters perhaps, but you can't expect miracles if the bike costs slightly more than the cost of a new pair of STI levers! My favourite bike is 30 years old and has downtube friction shifters. If I could opt for brifters, would I? Yes. Do the downtube shifters work just fine? Yes.

For that money you would be best to look for a secondhand bike. It's not that a new bike for that money is INADEQUATE, as no road bike is for a beginner, but very cheap new road bikes tend to have very cheap components; this I would personally want to avoid.

A decent secondhand road bike within your budget would last you as long as you like, really. It takes a lot of hard work to be convincingly held back by your equipment. However, when upgrading you will fall into diminishing returns; you could upgrade a £300 bike with a £900 bike, but you won't get £600 more bike for your money. It will be a little bit lighter and have nicer parts and wheels, but that's about it; don't expect miracles. I wouldn't buy such a bike; I'd rather have a £1500 basic carbon bike that's worth upgrading than a cheaper higher end alloy bike that isn't. If you wanted to sell the alloy bike, you'd also make a loss.

I'm aware that I'm biased as I love my old steel bikes, but I think you'd be best to get a nice old steel racer, leaving you with enough money for all of the other stuff you need (clothing, tools, etc). You don't want an old banger that will cost a bomb in knackered old parts (speaking from bitter experience!), but there are some great old bikes out there that can be had for little money. Steel isn't cool anymore among many impressionable beginner cyclists.

If you've got other funds for that stuff though, you're probably best off with the Triban; I haven't yet read a bad review of that bike...

+1 to all of this. I still use a 20 year old steel bike with downtube shifters as my winter bike. IMHO the original components on that bike (Ultegra 600) are better quality than their modern equivalent. The only thing I slightly disagree with is steel not being cool anymore - I think it is cool with hipster types but not in the main stream. I still think a good quality steel alloy frame is the best overall material out there.

simon_masterson

Pross wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

Downtube shifters are fine. Not as nice as brifters perhaps, but you can't expect miracles if the bike costs slightly more than the cost of a new pair of STI levers! My favourite bike is 30 years old and has downtube friction shifters. If I could opt for brifters, would I? Yes. Do the downtube shifters work just fine? Yes.

For that money you would be best to look for a secondhand bike. It's not that a new bike for that money is INADEQUATE, as no road bike is for a beginner, but very cheap new road bikes tend to have very cheap components; this I would personally want to avoid.

A decent secondhand road bike within your budget would last you as long as you like, really. It takes a lot of hard work to be convincingly held back by your equipment. However, when upgrading you will fall into diminishing returns; you could upgrade a £300 bike with a £900 bike, but you won't get £600 more bike for your money. It will be a little bit lighter and have nicer parts and wheels, but that's about it; don't expect miracles. I wouldn't buy such a bike; I'd rather have a £1500 basic carbon bike that's worth upgrading than a cheaper higher end alloy bike that isn't. If you wanted to sell the alloy bike, you'd also make a loss.

I'm aware that I'm biased as I love my old steel bikes, but I think you'd be best to get a nice old steel racer, leaving you with enough money for all of the other stuff you need (clothing, tools, etc). You don't want an old banger that will cost a bomb in knackered old parts (speaking from bitter experience!), but there are some great old bikes out there that can be had for little money. Steel isn't cool anymore among many impressionable beginner cyclists.

If you've got other funds for that stuff though, you're probably best off with the Triban; I haven't yet read a bad review of that bike...

+1 to all of this. I still use a 20 year old steel bike with downtube shifters as my winter bike. IMHO the original components on that bike (Ultegra 600) are better quality than their modern equivalent. The only thing I slightly disagree with is steel not being cool anymore - I think it is cool with hipster types but not in the main stream. I still think a good quality steel alloy frame is the best overall material out there.

Nice! Mine has Shimano 600. It mostly works really nicely. Both derailleurs are a little bit worse for wear, but my dad (whose bike it originally was) has never been much of a 'cyclist', and not into fastidious bike maintenance.

And yes, I had that thought with my comment on steel frames as well. I was thinking of the sort of cyclists that frequent forums like this one; the ones that think that one's first bike can't cost under a grand, that 'MTB'-branded anything can't be worthy of road cycling, that cheaper or older road bikes are 'heavy', that clips and straps aren't good enough for them, etc etc etc.

But I agree on steel being the best overall. I'd love to have a really high end steel racer one day...