1st Road Bike

[Liam.Mac]

Hello all,

i'm a 17 year old male just about to turn 18 and i have been recently introduced to the wonderful world of road cycling. i currently use an old ridgeback mountainbike and i am looking for a beginners road bike with a budget under £300. if you have any ideas at all i would really appreciate it as i have been into my local LBS and they were just trying to sell me all of the top of the range bikes which i simply couldn't afford. if possible i would prefer a bike without downtube or sti shifters. i am about a 56/57cm frame.

Thanks

Liam

 

[peanut]

welcome Liam .
you're in luck there is an excellent bike for sale on this forum here.
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=40734

You are unlikely to be able to do better than this bargain.

£250 budget seems like a lot of money but it really doesn't buy you anything more than a very heavy obsolete bike with poor quality no name components which you will be unable to sell and will soon be disappointed with.

Do a search for 'new bike' on the beginners section and you will find dozens of previous threads which will tell you all you need to know.This subject is covered almost every single day.
The search button is your friend

 

[Liam.Mac]

thank you very much and it just happens to be in my area

 

[peanut]

thats great . Very lucky. Its a fantastic looking bike for the money and I would have no hesitation in buying it myself at that price.

 

[simon_brooke]

Hello all,

i'm a 17 year old male just about to turn 18 and i have been recently introduced to the wonderful world of road cycling. i currently use an old ridgeback mountainbike and i am looking for a beginners road bike with a budget under £300. if you have any ideas at all i would really appreciate it as i have been into my local LBS and they were just trying to sell me all of the top of the range bikes which i simply couldn't afford. if possible i would prefer a bike without downtube or sti shifters. i am about a 56/57cm frame.

Seriously, for that money go second hand - eBay is a good place (but try to make sure you're not buying a stolen one!). New road bikes priced under about £400 are not going to be even reasonable value for money. Or join your local cycling club and ask around - someone may have something they'd be prepared to sell.

Obviously, at any price point you'll get a better fixie/singlespeed than a geared bike, because modern derailleur transmissions are quite complex and to make them work reliably takes real engineering. Cheapest fixie worth buying just now is probably this one; the cheapest geared road bike worth buying just now is probably this, which I've seen discounted below £400 but more usually goes for £450 or more (RRP is £600).

A carbon fork is a lot better than a steel one. Do not but a bike with 'no name' transmission parts, or a hodge-podge mix of transmission parts from different manufacturers. If buying second hand, try to make reasonably sure it hasn't been crashed.

 

[diandave]

Bought this last week from CRC, unbeatable value for money....

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=37907

 

[Pimperial]

I bought a Carrera TDF for my girlfriend a few weeks ago and it seems to have done the job. (http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_712163_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#dtab)
I know Halfords/Carrera have a pretty bad rep here but I think it's quite a lot of bike for just £260. More than good enough to see if you really want to get into road riding, and then you can easily start upgrading components as you go.

 

[rednax86]

Bought this last week from CRC, unbeatable value for money....

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=37907

I'll second that. Was just about to post the same thing.

 

[blazed]

Hello all,

i'm a 17 year old male just about to turn 18 and i have been recently introduced to the wonderful world of road cycling. i currently use an old ridgeback mountainbike and i am looking for a beginners road bike with a budget under £300. if you have any ideas at all i would really appreciate it as i have been into my local LBS and they were just trying to sell me all of the top of the range bikes which i simply couldn't afford. if possible i would prefer a bike without downtube or sti shifters. i am about a 56/57cm frame.

Thanks

Liam

 

[jay clock]

That Vitus looks amazing for the price. And the Giant is a fantastic buy too.

 

[smeg]

I would have snapped up that Vitus myself, that's one hell of a bike for that price. I was very close to getting a racing bike before I changed my mind and bought a tourer/hybrid which seemed more suitable for commuting after a rethink. At the time when I was looking the only racing bikes that were any good were very expensive + a hefty delivery surcharge on top for the misfortune of living on the IOW.

 

[aJohnson]

EDIT: Nevermind, I think I'm on drugs and seeing invisible posts what were never there.

 

[ed_o_brain]

RE: That Vitus
Sub 10Kg bike for < £400 is impressive

The first rule about cycling is the more you spend the less you get.. in weight at least!

Don't give up on the bike you have just yet tho, that old Ridgeback can probably be made to roll much faster. In fact, these things are sought after as they make great commuting bikes.

My uber-commuter has seen off many a 'roadie'. With panniers on, the turn of pace I get on it often takes them by surprise: