Reliable road bike on a tiny budget

rockmonkeysc
rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
edited April 2013 in Road buying advice
I need a road bike but don't want to spend much. It will be purely for commuting through the city. 4 miles down hill to work and a 4 mile climb back up (possibly with an extra 15 miles each way on a Friday) so I will need gears. Rack mounts would be nice and I want to use mountain bike SPD pedals.
I don't really want to spend more than £600 and reliability is more important to me than weight.
What would be the top things to look out for when buying and does anyone have any good suggestions?
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Comments

  • edhornby
    edhornby Posts: 1,741
    Decathlon Triban 3
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
    --Jens Voight
  • gabriel959
    gabriel959 Posts: 4,227
    AS above, it is only £299 and leaves you plenty of room to buy some decent kit and some pedals.
    x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
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  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    That really is cheap. I'm surprised you can get a carbon fork at this price. Is the Shimano 2300 transmission any good?
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  • goonz
    goonz Posts: 3,106
    Look second hand too, for that price you can pick up something very respectable.
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  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    I would consider used but I know absolutely nothing about road bikes and I'm worried I would get distracted and buy another mountain bike. So for now I think it has to be used.
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  • zx6man
    zx6man Posts: 1,092
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    That really is cheap. I'm surprised you can get a carbon fork at this price. Is the Shimano 2300 transmission any good?

    2300 works for me...
  • elderone
    elderone Posts: 1,410
    I use 2300 and its never missed a beat..been superb really.
    Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    Excellent. That's £399 for the road bike which leaves me £201 for a new set of cranks for my downhill bike :D
    Thanks for the help. I'm off to Decathlon tomorrow.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • lc1981
    lc1981 Posts: 820
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    Excellent. That's £399 for the road bike which leaves me £201 for a new set of cranks for my downhill bike :D
    Thanks for the help. I'm off to Decathlon tomorrow.

    It's £299!
  • whitestar1
    whitestar1 Posts: 530
    RockmonkeySC wrote:
    Excellent. That's £399 for the road bike which leaves me £201 for a new set of cranks for my downhill bike :D
    Thanks for the help. I'm off to Decathlon tomorrow.
    Or he could mean the new Triban 5A which is £399 and a better bike than the Triban 3 due to the full Sora groupset. Either bike is great value and way within buget. Actual he could check the Triban 7 because its £599 and is a wonderful investment with the full Tiagra groupset and carbon seat stays to go with the carbon fork - something that the nearest brand name will cost £850 all the way to £1000.
    Ride Safe! Keep Safe!
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