Cheap holidays bike recommendation

drhaggis

Hi,

Due to work, holidays and a variety of reasons, I'll be spending some time in northern Spain in the coming months, including next July. Give I'll have space to store it, I've been allowed to go N+1, but I want to do it as cheaply as possible, within reason. My requirements are:

• Reasonable bike (i.e., no BSO if avoidable), with reasonable kit to do ~100km with >1000m climbing on a weekly basis.
• Tiagra (might, just might accept the newest Sora)
• Definitely less than £700, and the cheaper the better.
• ideally a compact w/ 11-32 on the back, to get over cat 1 climbs which I haven't yet done.
• optional but nice: british braking setup.

So, with this in mind, I had a couple of options:

1. Vitus Razor VRX bought in CRC w/ BC discount, and pay for the delivery costs if possible. £410+delivery+11-32 cassette.
2. B-twin Triban 540. 700€ + 11-32 cassette. Bought locally. Wrong brakes.
3. Find out how to ship my current ride (Giant Defy 2) in a couple of days, and get something nicer/newer on the sales when I come back. Cost unknown, but I'd feel bad commuting on a TCR.
4. Something obvious I'm missing?

In an ideal world, I'd go second hand, but from what I've seen the bike market in Spain is nowhere near as nice as here in the UK. On top of this, I guess I'll have to factor in some light maintenance stuff, like lubricants, degreasers and a track pump, but seems cheaper than a bike box plus a couple of flights.

Any suggestions?

helterskelter

I think the Vitus is as cheap as you'll find with an ok spec. With climbing and descents in mind the only changes i'd make is upgrading the wheels and brakes. But you should still be able to do that and see change from £600, even better if you flog the original gear on.

arlowood

If the sizes available suit you then Merlin are offering their own branded PR7 at 40% discount so £499 instead of £829.

https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-per ... 93470.html

This gets you 105 5800 tho you'd probably want to change the 11-25 cassette but that's cheap enough to do.

Or maybe a Specialized Allez E5 Sport - on offer at Sigma for £599

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Specia ... -2017/E699

Compromise ids that it's 9-speed Sora (11-32) so probably some biggish jumps between ratios

fenix

I'd go local and get the Triban. Otherwise you'll pay three figures for taking the bike over there ?

I'm sure Decathlon would cable it up the other way round if you ask. Planet X do anyway.

drhaggis

Fenix wrote:

I'd go local and get the Triban. Otherwise you'll pay three figures for taking the bike over there ?

I'm sure Decathlon would cable it up the other way round if you ask. Planet X do anyway.

I've no idea how much the delivery costs would be. If I bought the bike "here", I'd put a Spanish address as the delivery point, and accept whatever they charged for delivery. However, I must admit the B-twin looks more and more my preferred option... but mostly because of Aksium + 105. Saving almost £200 is very tempting, although it might be false economy.

helterskelter

If it helps when I’ve looked at it before I was seeing prices of £30-£40 for a one way postage to Spain.

https://www.sendmybag.com/quote

drhaggis

Thanks everybody for your comments!

I've just purchased the Triban 540, and Decathlon will change the brakes to british style provided I bought bar tape (which I did). I'm a bit concerned by having 36x28 as the maximum gear compared to my current 34x32, but I guess I'll just have to apply Rule #5.