How much should I spend on my first road bike?

joshchapman4

I'm looking to buy my first road bike, but I'm unsure on several things; primarily how much someone in my position should spend... I'm 17 years old and in full time education with a part time job at the weekend. I've never riden a road bike before (with the exception of my cousins which, whilst high end, was far too small), and I'm not sure if going to my LBS and trying a few out would be sufficient in giving me an idea as to what it is I'm buying? Through research, I've taken a particular liking to the Giant Defy 1, but at £995, I wonder if it's too much to 'risk' spending. However, I would not want to buy a 'cheap' bike before buying something serious, as the thought of spending money on two bikes, only to have to sell the first one after a few months, does not appeal to me. I'm looking for a bike that I'd be able to use for long recreational rides; to commute to college (8 miles away) and work (4.5 miles away) and perhaps enter local competitions and sponsored events. My current bike, a MTB with 2.35 inch tyres and 120mm forks, is not fit for use on the road over any significant distance but I live in rural England where it's very hilly and the roads are poorly maintained, so it would need to be lightweight and capable of absorbing some of the roads vibration (carbon forks?). Money is an issue, but my LBS offers interest free finance and because I have a regular income, £30 per month for 24 months would be affordable.

Can anyone say, given the circumstances above, whether £1,000 is too much of a 'risk' to take on my first road bike purchase? I've looked at cheaper models (i.e. the Defy 3), but I don't want to have to upgrade after a couple of years. Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

simon_masterson

There's nothing wrong with spending that money on your first bike (assuming new), and there's nothing wrong with spending £300 or £700 (also assuming new), or any of the various bikes old and new that you could get second hand.

However...

Allow in your budgeting for all of the other kit you'll need (clothing, tools, etc), and consider the fact that a £1000 bike probably won't be £300 better than a £700 one. Don't take the 'You'll need to upgrade this after x months/years' talk too seriously; it's peer pressure more than anything else. As any of us who can't - or at any point have been unable to - buy fancy kit can tell you, it's more than possible to enjoy cycling with very little, and the key to performance is you; for the vast majority of us it matters little what it is. You can also upgrade the bike; a new pair of wheels can make a huge difference - much more so than a slightly higher price tag and a couple of fancier components - and you can put them on another bike later if you so desire.

Also, forget about road vibration and weight. Carbon forks are a pretty recent invention, and you'll struggle to find an aluminium bike without one anyway. As for weight, ALL road bikes are 'light', even disregarding the fact that you are the majority weight contingent on the bike even if it is on the heavy side. If it's 12kg or less it is more than adequate, and weight is a minor factor in cycling anyway.

The main thing however is that you have to be comfortable with the bike, so go and try one out.

team47b

only you know if you are the sort of person that will not be happy without upgrading, if this is you then spend more now and get 105 and be content for longer, this level should keep you happy until you finish education then you will buy a second bike anyway,

either way, enjoy your new bike

smoggysteve

Simon Masterson wrote:

There's nothing wrong with spending that money on your first bike (assuming new), and there's nothing wrong with spending £300 or £700 (also assuming new), or any of the various bikes old and new that you could get second hand.

However...

Allow in your budgeting for all of the other kit you'll need (clothing, tools, etc), and consider the fact that a £1000 bike probably won't be £300 better than a £700 one. Don't take the 'You'll need to upgrade this after x months/years' talk too seriously; it's peer pressure more than anything else. As any of us who can't - or at any point have been unable to - buy fancy kit can tell you, it's more than possible to enjoy cycling with very little, and the key to performance is you; for the vast majority of us it matters little what it is. You can also upgrade the bike; a new pair of wheels can make a huge difference - much more so than a slightly higher price tag and a couple of fancier components - and you can put them on another bike later if you so desire.

Also, forget about road vibration and weight. Carbon forks are a pretty recent invention, and you'll struggle to find an aluminium bike without one anyway. As for weight, ALL road bikes are 'light', even disregarding the fact that you are the majority weight contingent on the bike even if it is on the heavy side. If it's 12kg or less it is more than adequate, and weight is a minor factor in cycling anyway.

The main thing however is that you have to be comfortable with the bike, so go and try one out.

+1

You are not going to have to spend a fortune to get a good bike. But, as mentioned, be aware that other things apart form the bike may need to be purchased also. Cycling can be as expensive as you let it be. As a newbie to road bikes you should buy something thats affordable , maybe try looking at a used bike as you could get a better spec for the cash and you are not going to take such a big hit in the pocket if you later decide you want to sell it.

Mikey41

I agree with the above. However, also consider where you can leave the bike if you are riding it to College. A £1k bike is a tempting target for thieves. I know I would not leave my Giant locked up in public, I could not be sure it would still be there when I got back.

Only you can decide how much is too risky to spend, however, I would hesitate to buy a £1k bike on finance in your situation. If it gets stolen, (or crashed beyond repair) you will still have to pay the finance off as well as replace the bike. I would be more tempted to go for a cheaper bike that you can buy outright.

Taking the Defy 3 vs Defy 1 as an example. The frame is the same, carbon fork is the same, wheels are the same, 25mm tyre instead of 23mm, Sora instead of 105. Not a whole lot of difference. Other than having 2 gears less, would I really be able to tell the difference? I doubt it.

Here's some more food for thought though. I did my first sportive last week. There were loads of different bike makes present, Giant, Trek, Colnago, De Rosa, Bianchi.... but I also saw at least 3 riders on £300 Triban 3's. They had no problems at all and the bike looked like it handled well. Nothing wrong with starting on something like the Triban and letting that see you through College. It would leave you more cash spare for buying the other stuff you will need. Once through College, go for something more expensive and keep the Triban for commuting.

I got my Defy 2 as I got an end-of-season discount on it and it was what I could afford. Couldn't be happier with it TBH.

supermurph09

As mentioned above the Triban 3 at £299 seems a great entry level bike. An idea might be to try and save £300 to make that purchase, see how you get on, if you get hooked then you could use the £1000 finance to purchase something better in 4-5 months time. Then you'd have two bikes, one you would be a little more inclined to leave at Uni and one for your best bike. It'd also double up as a winter / turbo bike if you feel you needed it.

Jim C

The big issue is here is locking a £1k bike up at college. That's asking for trouble, even with a seriously expensive lock. U should b able to pick up a college bike, IE old mtb or clunker doe 20 quid.

Then buy something U like

VTech

This is going to come as a shock to most but as I'm never asked and rather moaned at I've never mentioned it but....

I own a couple of bikes, an AR4 carbon and a BTwin Triban 3 from decathlon which costs £299 and I have to say that I like the triban slightly more, maybe it's because I'm new to cycling but it suits me. It feels good and is fast on the road although I use it as a turbo bike.
If your a student I don't think you can better the triban as you have a warranty from a reliable source and unles it's stolen or crashed will be trouble free for as long as you need it.
Good luck in your quest. I'm new to cycling but I really do find it therapeutic now.

dowtcha

I was looking at a defy 3 as my first bike, went a bit extra and bought a defy 2. Now thinking I should of got a defy 1 but isn't that always be the way with bikes. My bike will never the locked on the streets, thieves know what your bike is worth and yours will be stolen with in a week. There is a gang going around our town with heavy duty cutters picking the local universities clean off bikes of any worth.

VTech

I think stealing bikes should be on the same line as auto theft, after all it is transport and with harsh penalties maybe some people would think twice ?

s800byj

Go for the Decathlon Triban 3 but make sure it is the 2012 SPEC as the 2013 has changed a lot. No Carbon Forks and a microshift gear lever.
Scooby

Juantwothreefour

I'm a beginner as well and I went with a £600 to get me going and now I can see myself either upgrading the bike part by part or upgrading completely. I'm not sure I'd want to splash 1k on a bike before really knowing if I would commit to the sport long-term. I know you said you didn't like the idea of going for a cheaper bike first, but perhaps 2-3 years down the line you'll be hooked and want to spend that sort of money. I'd also be wary of spending that kind of money and locking it up at college....

Bozman

Whatever you spend you'll only end up wishing you'd spent more, you do tend to get hooked but just enjoy whatever you get.

zoltansocrates

Bozman wrote:

Whatever you spend you'll only end up wishing you'd spent more, you do tend to get hooked but just enjoy whatever you get.

^^^^ - hes right in all aspects and for that reason i would reckon that your FIRST road bike be something like a triban 3
look at it this way, you arent sure, yet, that you like road bikes but you probably will and when the bug kicks in what happens is you tend to tart the bike up over say three or four years - and that bit is fun IMO - and by the time that has happened youll defo know if you are serious, serious or not - and thats when you look to spend big

youll be using the bike for commuting to college - for me, this is a big consideration when purchasing a bike of any kind, assuming that it will be locked up for a few hours of the day anything too fancy will attract attention of grubby hands etc and thered be nothing worse than returning to your bike after a crap day studying to find someone has bent your cosmic carbone rims or worse stolen them, or the bike etc etc and for that reason keep the cost low- unfortunate but bike crime is majorly on the rise in recession hit great britain

and when you first buy a bike like this you very quickly realise your budget was too short, shoes, jackets, pedals, mitts, helmets, computers, maintainence gear, co2/pumps, even bottle cages - it all adds up and ramming all your cash on the bike alone could potentially make your first few commutes pretty miserable - and you WILL spend money rectifying that

anyway thats my tuppence, hope you get a good yin whatever you do, its more addictive than heroin :shock:

feemackenzie

I bought my first road bike in January, Felt Z95 2013. Bike price £600 and then have spent close on the same again on incidentals, totally critical cycling items - new road pedals and shoes, new bib shorts (mine HAD worn out), Edge 500, a new bidon, the list goes on. So budget for the bike, the incidentals and develop your excuses for getting 'lost' when out.

You'll love it.

chuckla

feemackenzie wrote:

I bought my first road bike in January, Felt Z95 2013. Bike price £600 and then have spent close on the same again on incidentals, totally critical cycling items - new road pedals and shoes, new bib shorts (mine HAD worn out), Edge 500, a new bidon, the list goes on. So budget for the bike, the incidentals and develop your excuses for getting 'lost' when out.

You'll love it.

I was trying to get a Felt Z95 from my LBS but they couldn't get one! Apparently they couldn't get one until April! So I got the next one up, the Z85! Have to be honest I'm so glad I did! It's my first road bike and its spot on! The components are 105 and it looks beautiful!

List price is £925 but I paid a bit less as its the 3rd bike I've bought since August (hybrid, now sold and a hard tail MTB) so they looked after me!

I now think that if had bought a Z95, I'd be wanting more! As it stands, the next Z bike is the Z6, it's carbon fibre, but components are Sora and wold only save just a couple of kg in weight, I'm 19s so if I was to save weight, I just have to diet! ;D

I'd say spend as much as you can afford or youll just be wanting, but whatever u get, enjoy! Love mine!

feemackenzie

Z85 was a dream too far, but love the black stealth of the Z95. Agree, the LBS had one left in January and have had none back in.

Just get out and pedal.

pinkteapot

Security depends on what the cycle parking facilities are like at your college.

I have a bike worth £650 (though I got it for less in a sale ahead of the next year's model coming out - recommended approach for buying!) and lock it up at the university where I work. There's a large bike park which is under the campus so sheltered from the elements. It's on a road on campus that anyone can get to but it's in the area where trucks deliver to, rubbish is picked up from, etc, so there's often people about during the day. I got an Abus Granit 54 X-Plus lock after reading that it takes almost five minutes with a professional angle grinder to get through it. Given the nature of the site where I park, I'm reasonably confident the lock is enough of a deterrent to pro thieves who might target the place.

If on the other hand you're going to have to chain your bike to railings in the street, don't do it with a good bike!

I feel like my lock is OTT for the value of my bike. It's SoldSecure gold rated and insurers only insist on a silver rating for my value of bike (not that mine is insured). So I like to think that with the work involved in cracking my lock, the thieves won't bother for my particular bike. Especially as most bikes at the uni (including some reasonably nice ones) are using really cheap rubbish locks. They could probably get ten other bikes in the time it would take them to take mine. That's the theory anyway!

laurentian

£300 could probably get you a decent second hand Allez . . .