Poll: how much did you spend on your first adult road bike?

lotus49

As a result of a discussion in another thread about what constitutes an "entry level" bike these days I have created this poll because I am curious to know how much BikeRadar readers actually spent on their first adult road bike.

If you bought your first bike a long time ago, please try to estimate how much the modern day equivalent would be (I appreciate that for some of the more long-standing cyclists that may be difficult but please have a go).

chrisaonabike

Mine was only just under the £1k - £999, reduced from £1249 since it was last year's model. However, I wouldn't have considered it if it hadn't been close to the 800-900 ones I'd been looking at, so probably have voted in the right range.

CyclingNewb

Specialized Allez Sport 2013 £652.50

lotus49

CyclingNewb wrote:

Specialized Allez Sport 2013 £652.50

That was on my shortlist of two, the other being the Giant Defy 3 that I actually bought. They are both decent bikes for the money (that's a good price BTW, I bought my bike through Cycle2Work and was quote £725 for the Allez Sport) but I opted for a bit of comfort over sportiness. I'm pleased with my Defy 3 but I am sure I would have been happy with the Allez Sport as well. Are you enjoying it?

stinger53

my ribble evo pro carbon with campag components was £690

simon_masterson

I don't know; it was bought for me. Definitely under 200, almost certainly under 100.

It's just an old Raleigh leisure bike from the '80s: cheap gas pipe frame, flat bars, fat tyres on steel rims, kick stand (no, I didn't keep it on...), cheap bits all round. I think it was kept in a garage for most of its life; it came to me in near mint condition including what I'd assume to be the original tyres. It came to me from the same shop that originally sold out, too. I'm very fond of it; it carried me for many miles as my only bike, and I recorded my first vaguely notable speed on it (circa 18 miles in 43 mins) too. At some point it'll return to active service as my main commuter, with a new set of wheels, fixed gear and the drop bars I always wanted it to have...

My second is my favourite. It was my dad's (I found an excuse for him to dump it on me; he replaced it long ago and had left it at the back of the shed), and because it's daddy's bike it is still the coolest bike in the world. It nearly killed me with dysfunctional brakes and a wheel axle that snapped going into a bend, but it's still priceless. She's worth every penny I've spent on her so far, and will be getting some nice 700c wheels, 7 speed gearing and a colour matched respray with replica decals and braze ons; amongst other things.

bompington

£120, second hand. Still going strong 10,000 odd miles later but all running gear (with the exception of the front mech) has been replaced by now.

prhymeate

£250... thank god, I had no idea how much I'd be spending on all the extra gear at the time.

Hoopdriver

I spent quite a lot, but then I bought my first 'adult' road bike after years of riding everywhere as a kid and loving cycling. Having adult money for the first time to buy an adult bicycle was a thrill so I spent like a sailor of shore leave. It wasn't like I was buying into the sport on spec. I knew I liked cycling and couldn't wait to get a serious bike. And so I dropped over $ US1000 in 1980 buying a Trek Road bike with Super Record - not to race but for the thrill if riding fast through the mountains where I grew up.

thescouselander

Yes, good poll. The first road bike I had was a Carrera Virtuoso which I bought from Halfords for a measly £200 as they were changing the model and I bought the display bike. It was pretty good although the metal fork made for a harsh ride.

Someone who my wife works with bought a Cube Agree GTC SL as their first bike - they paid full price too! Hence my comment that some people have more money than sense in the other thread. Nice bike though.

tetley10

Cube Peloton, bought fairly recently. Got mine on the cycle to work scheme. Got mine price matched by the LBS as I'd seen it for £690 on a German website.

ademort

In 1979 i bought a Mercian King Of Mercia for £329.46
Ademort

Bozman

£849 on a Raleigh Dyno Tech 725ti in roughly 1993, I was using a hand-me-down Mercian before that.
It had been sitting in the garage but my mate used the bike to commute for a couple of years, i finally sold the Dyno Tech frame a couple of years ago after the original 105 gave up, the only thing I changed on that bike was the seatpost, the bar tape, tyres n tubes. 30+ k at least on the same chain, cassette and chainset.

thescouselander

Bozman wrote:

£849 on a Raleigh Dyno Tech 725ti in roughly 1993, I was using a hand-me-down Mercian before that.
It had been sitting in the garage but my mate used the bike to commute for a couple of years, i finally sold the Dyno Tech frame a couple of years ago after the original 105 gave up, the only thing I changed on that bike was the seatpost, the bar tape, tyres n tubes. 30+ k at least on the same chain, cassette and chainset.

I guess to make the poll realistic you should take account of inflation. For example £849 in 1993 is worth about £1380 in today's money.

ademort's bike from 1979 would be nearly £1500 in today's money.

There's a calculator here:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bill ... -1900.html

lostboysaint

Ex photoshoot Wilier Escape with Campag Veloce gruppo and Ambrosio wheels - £650. Did for a few thousand km before being exported to Ireland where it's just done 3.5k km in the last 12 months.

displacedaussie

My 2004 Specialized Allez Elite cost £510 three years ago on eBay, bought by work on a cycle to work scheme.

15,000km later, one season of racing, and it's still great (although I'm going to buy a new race bike soon).

ademort

thescouselander wrote:

Bozman wrote:

£849 on a Raleigh Dyno Tech 725ti in roughly 1993, I was using a hand-me-down Mercian before that.
It had been sitting in the garage but my mate used the bike to commute for a couple of years, i finally sold the Dyno Tech frame a couple of years ago after the original 105 gave up, the only thing I changed on that bike was the seatpost, the bar tape, tyres n tubes. 30+ k at least on the same chain, cassette and chainset.

I guess to make the poll realistic you should take account of inflation. For example £849 in 1993 is worth about £1380 in today's money.

ademort's bike from 1979 would be nearly £1500 in today's money.

There's a calculator here:

Wow £1500 i,m surprised. I had a clubmate who had just bought a Dave Lloyd with super record etc and he paid nearly £ 800 in 1980 thats over £3500 now.
Ademort

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bill ... -1900.html

fish156

bompington wrote:

£120, second hand. Still going strong 10,000 odd miles later but all running gear (with the exception of the front mech) has been replaced by now.

Not quite like Trigger's broom then: 17 new heads and 14 new handles, but still the same broom ;-)

Me? Basic Allez ~£400 in the sales a fair few years ago.

CyclingNewb

lotus49 wrote:

CyclingNewb wrote:

Specialized Allez Sport 2013 £652.50

That was on my shortlist of two, the other being the Giant Defy 3 that I actually bought. They are both decent bikes for the money (that's a good price BTW, I bought my bike through Cycle2Work and was quote £725 for the Allez Sport) but I opted for a bit of comfort over sportiness. I'm pleased with my Defy 3 but I am sure I would have been happy with the Allez Sport as well. Are you enjoying it?

I'm new to cycling and waiting for the bike to arrive. Unfortunately it doesn't arrive until Feb!

The bike I wanted wasn't in stock so he offered me a better bike for a discount.

lotus49

CyclingNewb wrote:

I'm new to cycling and waiting for the bike to arrive. Unfortunately it doesn't arrive until Feb!

The bike I wanted wasn't in stock so he offered me a better bike for a discount.

I ordered my bike at the beginning of October. For two and a bit months I waited and almost every day (or so it seems to me) I woke up, looked outside and said to my wife what a lovely day it would be to go for a ride (cold, bright and dry). Then the weather turned nasty and I got a bad chest cold. Sure enough my bike turned up and since then the weather has been awful . I must be getting soft in my old age but riding through sleet just isn't very inviting.

I hope for your sake that the weather starts to improve and at least you will have spring to look forward to. I must admit that I found getting back on a bike a little intimidating having only ridden about 40 miles in the last 30 years but I have really enjoyed myself so far. The one great surprise has been how polite the drivers are around here. No-one has been remotely aggressive to me yet and almost everyone passes at a safe distance. Long may that continue.

CyclingNewb

lotus49 wrote:

CyclingNewb wrote:

I'm new to cycling and waiting for the bike to arrive. Unfortunately it doesn't arrive until Feb!

The bike I wanted wasn't in stock so he offered me a better bike for a discount.

I ordered my bike at the beginning of October. For two and a bit months I waited and almost every day (or so it seems to me) I woke up, looked outside and said to my wife what a lovely day it would be to go for a ride (cold, bright and dry). Then the weather turned nasty and I got a bad chest cold. Sure enough my bike turned up and since then the weather has been awful . I must be getting soft in my old age but riding through sleet just isn't very inviting.

I hope for your sake that the weather starts to improve and at least you will have spring to look forward to. I must admit that I found getting back on a bike a little intimidating having only ridden about 40 miles in the last 30 years but I have really enjoyed myself so far. The one great surprise has been how polite the drivers are around here. No-one has been remotely aggressive to me yet and almost everyone passes at a safe distance. Long may that continue.

I was thinking that the other day, I saw so many cyclists out and I was jealous to say the least. My time will come...

Thankfully I don't have to worry about the weather in the UK as I am moving to Cyprus in March so cycling will be a 24/7 365 days a year hobby. 8)

Pituophis

£100 on a 2nd/3rd hand Surosa, then very quickly about £500 upgrading and replacing just about everything that was knackered.
It's a proper "Triggers broom" job now though, as within 6 months of getting it, and yet another £500 or so, I've just put all the original parts back together, and when I get a seat for it, I'm gonna pass it on as I'll have 2 full bikes???? :oops: :roll:

nawty

Hmm, well my bike was reduced to £1700 but as I got it through the Ride2work scheme I'm only paying ~£850 for it so not sure what to put..?

I certainly wouldn't have spent £1700 on my first bike!

edit: so I guess in the context of the poll I'll put £500-1000 as that is what my budget was, I'm just lucky we've got a good R2W scheme.

greasedscotsman

First "proper" bike as a Specialized Allez Epic which I got in '91 for around £600 (adjusted to £1074 using Thescouselande's link). Very much like this...



Still got it, so much for people thinking carbon is fragile.

Mikey41

Technically this is the first proper road bike I've bought with my own money, which cost me £640.

jane90

I started cycling six months ago and spent £300 on a Triban 3. It was the perfect starter bike for me; I've enjoyed the experience so much that I'm now buying a carbon bike. If I'd gone straight for something in the carbon price range when I started I probably wouldn't have known enough to be able to choose something suitable - quite apart from the whole issue of not knowing whether I'd enjoy the sport.

keef66

I spent £600 on a well specced mtb back in 1998 but in less than 10 years I'd got bored with getting muddy and had put slicks in it for road use.

So when I got round to spending adult money on a road bike I knew what I wanted. Lively geometry but room / mounts for proper mudguards and 25-28mm tyres so I could ride it all year round.
£1100 on a Racelight Tk / 105 triple groupset / RS10's and Conti 4 Seasons. Been good VFM; I do ride it all year round, and in 5 years it's had a new tyre, 3 chains and a gear cable.

elderone

£349 on a whim at halfords for a carerra virtuoso ltd.To be fair,the best smiles per miles i,ve ever spent.

sjireland

£700 on a merida ride lite 91 does the job

Mikey23

£600 on a giant defy 4 last year. Done 3000 miles on it and love it to bits. But just purchased a spec roubaix comp which I think is more.where I am at now. Will still take the defy on holiday because it has a topeak arm and box which I can't fit to a carbon post

Leemerlin

£400 for a 2010 giant defy 2 off eBay last year. young lad had it bought for him by his roadie dad, however he preferred to stick with his mtb. Still had the knobbly bits on the tyres!