My first road bike advice - Fuji

fraseross

Hello, i am a complete novice to the road bike world, apart from a ss/fixie and a Specialized hardrock mountain bike.

Having read that its worthwhile investing in a good bike in order to properly fall in love with the sport I've looked at Specialized, Giant, Trek and Boardman and Fuji. Couple questions on Fuji - why do they all seem to be discounted and is this bike (link below) a good start point - managed to find one locally for £350 new.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuj ... e-ec041874

My Budget is £550-600, very willing to stay in this price bracket.

any advice/opinions/tips would be greatly appreciated,

thanks very much,
Fraser

imposter2.0

Nothing wrong with the Fuji as a first bike, especially if you can get it for £350. Half the battle is actually liking what you buy, so if you like the look of it and the spec seems reasonable, then spend the rest of what you save on kit...

KonkyWonky

Nothing wrong with it for a first bike but personally I would prefer to spend a little more and get slightly better components/wheelset.

This Moser Speed Sora looks great value if you are comfortable buying online.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moser-bikes-speed-sora-2013/?referid=affwin&utm_source=affiliate-window&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_campaign=www.hotukdeals.com

Sora groupset, Fulcrum 7's, carbon forks and FSA finishing kit & chainset for under £500. Not rode one myself but on paper it looks a cracking buy.

fraseross

Thanks very much for getting back, im sure these posts come up every hour. With it being my first bike im keen to be able to see it in person and try it out for size etc.

Regardless of the price of the Fuji, would looking at the Specialized or any other bike in that price bracket be worth going for?
If looking at 2nd hand bikes is there anything to look out for?
And lastly, how important is it to get a bike with carbon forks?

Fraser

Totem

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/b ... -2013.html

This is close to top of budget, but has the better groupset.

jotko

105, half decent wheels, carbon fork for £650?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/battaglin-s11-105-2013/

jotko

There are some good deals on Ridleys at CRC as well.

fraseross

Being a novice on picking out what components are best, is there any of the Ridley bikes you could pin point as being the best buy out the lot? Great looking bikes, thanks for the tip-off Jotko.

Managed to find a Felt F85 2011 model that has been in storage since bought.. Is that a decent bike, havent considered any as most out of budget. With all the suggestions, I've been swamped researching.

Thanks for all the help, great forum!

jotko

fraseross wrote:

Being a novice on picking out what components are best, is there any of the Ridley bikes you could pin point as being the best buy out the lot? Great looking bikes, thanks for the tip-off Jotko.

Managed to find a Felt F85 2011 model that has been in storage since bought.. Is that a decent bike, havent considered any as most out of budget. With all the suggestions, I've been swamped researching.

Thanks for all the help, great forum!

I like Ridleys, I nearly bought an Orion but went for a Cinelli Saetta in the end. I would look for Tiagra 9 speed as a minimum - this one looks pretty good for £675

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... lID=104905

I doubt it has ever been expensive as the RRP on CRC though so the discount is slightly exagerated.

Most important thing is getting a bike that fits, but I guess you should have a good idea what works if you have a fixie.

£350 for the Fuji looks a good deal as well though, not sure the Ridley is twice as good.

fraseross

Sorry, should have been more specific with my question. The best pick out the ones at £600 on CRC. Couldn't afford to stretch my budget any further. The Cinelli Saetta is a brilliant looking bike!

The Fuji is looking an iffy purchase, seller unsure on size etc..possibly too good to be true!

jotko

fraseross wrote:

Sorry, should have been more specific with my question. The best pick out the ones at £600 on CRC. Couldn't afford to stretch my budget any further. The Cinelli Saetta is a brilliant looking bike!

The Fuji is looking an iffy purchase, seller unsure on size etc..possibly too good to be true!

The £499 Ridleys are all specced the same - 8 speed Shimano 2300 - nothing wrong with it, but could probably do better for the money.

This is definitely the best value I can find for ~600 - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/battaglin-s11-105-2013/

Its 10 speed mostly 105 which is excellent at this price and it has decent wheels - the wheels and groupset would probably cost £500 bought seperately.

Wiggle will probably have some sort of discount code coming out to coincide with the TDF so you might be able to sneak it under your £600 limit....