First road bike, under £350. Advise appreciated.

rlks1

Hi all,

Considering getting a road bike for an upcoming commute to uni and also for some fitness in my spare time. Not looking for sports or racing, just to burn a few extra calories. Being said full-time student, my buying options are limited and was hoping you could advise over the following bikes.

I know that many of you wouldn't recommend these in a million years, but a tight budget is a tight budget. If you could make any recommendations outside of this selection, but for £350 or less, I'm happy to hear them.

Wiggle Road
Carrera Zelos
Carrera Virutoso
Voodoo Limba - I know there is divided opinion on disk breaks, and further still on mechanical vs. hydraulic, and I'd rather use as little of my budget as possible, unless a very good case for the 'upgrade' was made.
Triban 500 SE

Probably the usual suspects for you all. Chances are I'd have it assembled by the seller where possible and then have it checked by a local bike shop, as there are some good ones available, and I'm aware that Halfords have a crappy rep for assembly, or at least consistency. We have two and even I trust one more than the other.

Any way, all help greatly appreciated.

mfin

Second hand. A £350 bike will be crap and heavy. £350 used will get you a typical £1000 bike from people who have hardly used them but bought them on Cycle to Work schemes.

(If you're going to Uni don't take English).

rlks1

I assume you refer to my crappy typing - my English is better than it seems, not that that is what I'm studying :P

My only concerns with buying second hand are:
1) not knowing enough about bikes to know if I'm getting a respectable deal or not, or if it's just more crap and my prior thinking was 'better the crap you know';
2) I'm quite short at 5'6", making the availability lower than typically sized bikes.

I'll give the second-hand stuff a look though and see if anything jumps out. Thanks.

londoncommuter

I kind of agree on the second hand as unless it is quite new you risk having to get a new chain, tyres etc which will soon add up.

Guessing you've looked through this:

http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/217 ... -%C2%A3500

The Decathlon bikes always get great reviews but personally I'd be put off by them having triple chainsets.

If you can hang on a couple of months you might get a one off bargain on something a bit nicer as 2018 bikes are released from July onwards.

Boring but remember to price in lights and some locks.

mfin

Keep an eye out on the classifieds on here too.

You can get good secondhand buys, if you can judge the kind of person who's selling and what they're like and get a feel of whether they know what they are on about it helps.

Only buy from people who are super helpful, communicate lots and don't mind giving you full details and opinions on wear and tear too. That should go some way to lower the risk of being sold something duff.

There are nice sellers out there. You can also look at the classifieds on here, and if you spot anything on eBay or Gumtree etc then come back here and ask what people think of it with a link.

You should find enough bikes around in a size that fits, you're not a midget, I met someone who was 5ft5" once.

londoncommuter

Bit small maybe?

https://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/prod ... _2014_Bike


Shops to watch but above budget at the moment:

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/ro ... ite_378394

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p66 ... TTAIN-2016

Moonbiker

Go over budget to get something decent:

https://www.merlincycles.com/felt-f95-r ... 93855.html

EDIT: forget that there 2 big :oops:

birdie23

Long term, buy a more expensive bike but right now, for what you want to do, I don't think you'd go far wrong with the Wiggle Road. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I saw one in the flesh with how good they are for the money.

davesnothere

The Carrera Virtuoso is on sale at the moment £260 - although it is heavy the specification is not bad for that money.

I'm considering one for my son for his first road bike as he has a birthday coming up although I think I may end up going second hand as i know a little more about what im looking for.

Reviews suggest the Triban 500SE is nice to ride for a budget bike

jlloyd

Easy, Triban.

smmjrr

mfin wrote:

Second hand. A £350 bike will be crap and heavy. £350 used will get you a typical £1000 bike from people who have hardly used them but bought them on Cycle to Work schemes.

(If you're going to Uni don't take English).

Yes as above I picked up an as new year old bike which had only been used for 20 miles, was 850-900 range when new got it for 350 and honestly it could have passed for new, be patient and they will pop up in the FS section,ebay or gumtree good luck finding one

shewy

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500- ... 79069.html

Don't be put off by the triple chain ring, I've got one on my road bike and it's absolutely fine, the other bike has 2x10 Tiagra and I actually prefer the triple as it gives a better spread of gears, you won't find a better bike than this at this price.

ps small frame will be perfect as I'm 5 7 and fits me fine

mpatts

Honestly, get a bike from the classifieds on here. My tips for purchasing success. I'm really not joking either!

In the photo the chain should be in the big ring at the front, the little at the back
The cranks should be lined up with the down tube
The tyre logos should line up with the valve caps

All of the above denote an owner who knows his onions and has taken quite a bit of care and attention over his steed.

rlks1

Thanks for the advice everyone - I really appreciate it.

I've had a look at gumtree, comparing to retail versions of the same bikes and it does make sense that 2nd hand is the way forward. I will also likely hold off for a month for the 2018 models to be released and try and buy from someone upgrading - even though I'd like to get on it asap to shed some pounds!

Again, thanks, and keep the advice coming if there is more to be had.

Moonbiker

The Carrera Virtuoso is on sale at the moment £260

I'd get that as its a good price for a claris bike alu frame etc


Steel fork not carbon but still not bad....

Merlin is good value also:

https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-per ... 0wod6YsLMw

londoncommuter

Have you done this uni commute before? Which one are you off to and are you in halls or a house? How far will you be riding? It's easy for us to carried away on here but a £50 piece of rubbish might be a much better idea as it will get nicked all the time and you might want something you don't care about leaving out in the rain all the time.

rlks1

Honestly, get a bike from the classifieds on here.

The main issue here is that nearly every ad doesn't have the asking price nor location in the subject (shouldn't this be a rule?), which makes browsing incredibly difficult when everything I click on ending up over 2 grand! Solid advice on what to look for though, wouldn't have known to consider any of that.

Merlin is good value also

Unfortunately, upping it to the 53" frame I think I'd need and it goes over budget. Not by much, but I need to keep costs to a minimum.

Have you done this uni commute before? Which one are you off to and are you in halls or a house? How far will you be riding? It's easy for us to carried away on here but a £50 piece of rubbish might be a much better idea as it will get nicked all the time and you might want something you don't care about leaving out in the rain all the time.

My commutes are 4.8 miles 3 days a week and (3.8 miles + possible 5.0 miles) x 2 over 2 days.

Not sure of the storage facilities available at the uni, but I'm sure there are some secure sheds available - still not full proof but better than full al fresco parking. The bike would be kept indoors at night. Access to very secure lock ups at work.

http://www.unicycles.uk.com/

had found some of their items on eBay. The GT looks like a good fit for what I'm after.

I was quite interested in this Mekk Carbon But most size guides suggest I need something around 53/54cm, and although the seller is taller than me, the frame is 50cm. But otherwise seemed like a good price for a full carbon bike. The fact the seller got the brand of the bike wrong in the ad raises an eyebrow, however.

This Focus also looked ok at a glance, but the ad wasn't very forthcoming with information.

Gumtree considerations include
Forme Plateau
Felt z95
Wilier Lavaredo
Giant Rapid 4 2015
GT Grade 2016.

This is super tough but appreciate the continued support. Gotta start somewhere I guess.

jdee84

rlks1 wrote:

] But most size guides suggest I need something around 53/54cm, and although the seller is taller than me

You would really need to try the bike out before buying at 5'6 a 54cm frame sounds like it would be a bit big

JSBR

B'Twin Triban are great bikes on a budget and look good too.

I used my for 2 years before upgrading and was happily cycling 30-40 miles a ride. It never let me down - 1 puncture and that was it.

I did upgrade my wheels though when I could afford to.

cld531c

I went to Decathlon today to look at the Triban 500 and 500SE. If anyone is considering these (I couldnt see what you got for the £50 extra other than a different paint job) it is worth noting the smaller sizes of the SE (£299) come with 650 not 700 wheels. All sizes of the 500 have 700c wheels. They dont appear to mention this on the website and their 'cycle expert' didnt know this until I made him look at the tyres!