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New or Ebay?

LevensteinLevenstein Posts: 23
edited July 2013 in Road buying advice
Hello, I'm looking at purchasing a road bike and to get into road riding.

I currently own a 2012 Cube Acid which I've hardly used and am looking to sell and put the funds towards a roadie.

I tested the HOY bikes the other evening which were both very nice but I'm not sure I can stretch to 1k for the mid range.

Let's say I have £500-600 to play with I could look at new:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/ventura-sport-2013-road-bike-ec041509
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/ventura-comp-2013-road-bike-ec041507
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_875985_langId_-1_categoryId_165710

Or do I look for second hand Boardmans, Bianchis etc?

Any input apprectiated, ta.

Posts

  • ducksonduckson Posts: 961
    I went for the latter last year.
    Boardman Team Carbon with SRAM Rival, good all round condition and within your budget, there are quite alot on ebay usually.
    Cheers, Stu
  • sloppyschleckondssloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    There is a HOY on ebay...
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • chadders81chadders81 Posts: 744
    You'll get a decent bike on here or ebay for that but make sure you budget £100 for a service. May well need new chain and cassette and cables straight off, plus a saddle if you don't get on with it.
  • seanbosworthseanbosworth Posts: 4
    it all depends what you are after, of course you can get a slighter better spec bike on the used market for the money but it won't have that nice new bike feel to it, and more than likey it will have worn parts on it i.e chain, chainring, brake pads, tyres which may need replacing, costing even more money. if you go for new bike, at your price range i would look at ribblecycles.com and build a bike, which start at £579. or even look at a specialized allez starting at £550, i did read some artical recently that really rated the cboardman road sports bike and theres £100 off at halfords at the moment so in at £499 thats cheap.
  • nochekmatenochekmate Posts: 3,460
    Chadders81 wrote:
    You'll get a decent bike on here or ebay for that but make sure you budget £100 for a service. May well need new chain and cassette and cables straight off, plus a saddle if you don't get on with it.

    £100 for a service on a £500 secondhand bike?
    Learn to service it yourself and replacement cost (if any) can then be done very cheaply.
  • ducksonduckson Posts: 961
    No parts needing replacing on my Boardman, there is plenty out there that havent seen a great deal of use.

    eg
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boardman-Team ... 35c9335c5e
    Cheers, Stu
  • jamesesjameses Posts: 653
    Probably not the best value for money in the short term, but unless you're up to speed with sizing (which is a fair bit different from mtb) and maintainance I would go with a new bike from your LBS. That way you will get the correct size, should have a free basic fitting thrown in, start to build a good relationship with people more knowledgable about bikes than yourself and get an idea of what good condition parts look/feel like.

    If you're anything like 99% of the people on here, chances are you will be looking to upgrade in a year or so anyway, by which point you will have a much better idea of what to be looking for in a second hand bike.
  • LevensteinLevenstein Posts: 23
    What do people think to this?

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_789253_langId_-1_categoryId_165710

    £585 with the 10% off.
  • seanbosworthseanbosworth Posts: 4
    Levenstein wrote:
    What do people think to this?

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_789253_langId_-1_categoryId_165710

    £585 with the 10% off.


    looks good and great value for money, i don't think you can go wrong with a cboardman
  • jamesesjameses Posts: 653
    Check whether the shifters are 2013 sora or an older version - the pic looks like it has the older style with the thumb shifters. 2013 sora has a paddle shifter behind the brake lever (same as higher up the shimano range) which is far preferable.
    Otherwise, about par for the course at that price point as far as spec is concerned. They're supposed to be pretty decent frames, though.
  • LevensteinLevenstein Posts: 23
    James, I checked instore today and they don't have the thumb shifter. It was lever to shift one way and the whole brake lever to shift other.
  • unixnerdunixnerd Posts: 2,864
    Learn to service it yourself and replacement cost (if any) can then be done very cheaply.

    Agreed.

    Buying used can be a great idea, but only if you can sort any faults yourself and know a duff bike when you see one (or have a friend who does).
    http://www.strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible Price.
    Specialized Roubaix SL3 Expert 2012, Cannondale CAAD5,
    Marin Mount Vision (1997), Edinburgh Country tourer, 3 cats!
  • LevensteinLevenstein Posts: 23
    Compared to the Boardman at 650, how does this compare?

    http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/ventura-comp-2013-road-bike-ec041507
  • jamesesjameses Posts: 653
    Spec wise, they're much of a muchness. The Jamis has slightly more relaxed geometry, although neither are out and out race bikes. Your best bet would be to take a test ride on both and see which you prefer the look and feel of.
  • LevensteinLevenstein Posts: 23
    Yeah fair enough, and then what about comparing that to ebay then? I'm alright when it comes to bike maintenance so should be alright.
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