Buying a road bike for the first time!

[Synthetic]

Hi guys, new here to the forums and to cycling in general really- thought I'd ask you kind folks of some help with purchasing a new road bike.

I have been using a boardman hybrid comp over the last 7-8 months, and recently have been picking it up and use it quite regularly and total in at around 100 miles on an average week.

I have never ridden a road bike before and have been using the hybrid to get back into cycling, really it was to test the waters in terms of buying a good high end road bike.

I will be travelling around 7-8 miles either way 4x a week and I like to get a longer 40 mile ride in at least once during the week. The roads that I use are generally pretty crap as well, it's not really flat and smooth unfortunately so I wonder if the bike below would be good for my purposes- it could be really uncomfortable... However I could also be very wrong.


The only bike I have seen as being quite attractive is the boardman road pro carbon SLR - and it's on offer at the moment for £1,529.

Does anyone think or know of any bikes that may be a better alternate to that one? It just seems like the best deal out there at the moment. My budget can stretch to about £2000 at a push.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Saluki]

The Boardman has quite aggressive geometry for commuting and whatnot. If you have any issues with flexibility, it might not be the bike for you. Have you had a look a Planet X? You get a lot of bang for your buck there. I've got 2 PX bikes and adore them both.

When you say 'attractive', do you mean price wise, spec wise or you just like the look of it.
I take my roadie all over the place, they are a little tougher than you might think. The roads were I live are shocking and I've not hurt it yet. I've been know to take it on flat trails too.

 

[BrynCP]

I was worried about a road bike on the city roads here, and they've never hurt it to my knowledge, and if I haven't spotted it in time I've hit some pretty nasty pot holes. For my long rides, buying the road bike was the best thing I ever did, but mine is more "endurance" geometry.

 

[MichaelW2]

Do you want a race bike or a more practical everyday, all-weather commuter roadbike.

 

[JohnnyRoyal]

I use my Boardman Hybrid Comp bike for commuting, have done for the last 3 years and social rides, between 30-40 miles long. However I pick my first new road bike on Saturday. It is a Giant Defy 1 disc. I am really looking forward to getting this and getting out on some longer rides. I have a sportive in August to ride. I have chosen a Defy due to the better riding position for me, it is an endurance bike, so hopefully as I crank up the miles I will still feel OK after many hours in the saddle.
I am sure you will able to get a great bike for your money, I wish by budget could of stretched further!
Happy riding

 

[Racing roadkill]

Hi guys, new here to the forums and to cycling in general really- thought I'd ask you kind folks of some help with purchasing a new road bike.

I have been using a boardman hybrid comp over the last 7-8 months, and recently have been picking it up and use it quite regularly and total in at around 100 miles on an average week.

I have never ridden a road bike before and have been using the hybrid to get back into cycling, really it was to test the waters in terms of buying a good high end road bike.

I will be travelling around 7-8 miles either way 4x a week and I like to get a longer 40 mile ride in at least once during the week. The roads that I use are generally pretty crap as well, it's not really flat and smooth unfortunately so I wonder if the bike below would be good for my purposes- it could be really uncomfortable... However I could also be very wrong.


The only bike I have seen as being quite attractive is the boardman road pro carbon SLR - and it's on offer at the moment for £1,529.

Does anyone think or know of any bikes that may be a better alternate to that one? It just seems like the best deal out there at the moment. My budget can stretch to about £2000 at a push.

Thanks for the help guys.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/mach-740-carbon-road-bike-athena-id_8339672.html

This.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-720-af-road-bike-ultegra-id_8331274.html

Or this, are both stunners for the money

 

[Synthetic]

Honestly the boardman pro carbon SLR looks the most attractive because it's the so called "best of the best" in the range of bikes available by boardman at halfords. After reading up on it online the reviews that backed it all seemed to be very positive so I've just assumed that it would be the best bike within this price range (£1500-£2000).

I'm after a comfortable road bike which will perform well and just not let me down. My hybrid has been an absolute star, but as people have mentioned, moving to a road bike seems like a logical step considering I spend most if not all of my time on the road or on a beach path.

I am not sure on the racing element of riding, because I'd obviously love to reach a good level of physical fitness and compete in competitions but I feel as though that is likely a goal further down the line for me. I would however love to make it to a 100 mile ride sometime in the next year or so - that is my goal in terms of fitness wise.

Im glad to hear that road bikes are somewhat more practical and durable than I believed!! I was getting scared about even taking it down the beach path by where I live because of the sand.... Which has never really been presented a problem on my hybrid unless it's really deep and wet.

Could you please tell me the differences between all these road bikes and why they are so different? Sorry I'm a real noob when it comes to this. I really appreciate the help.

The Planet X bikes do look very slick. could you recommend one of them for me to take a look at?

Thanks so much for the replies so far.

 

[Tiny01]

You sound like me 3 months back I said the same thing's & was asking all the same questions lol !

I went to my local Giant store & recieved fantastic service from them , they fit the bike to you , you can trial the bikes as well , a lot better than buying blind on line imho .

I went for the Giant Defy advanced 2 , mainly as I liked the colour combination of it , but it super comfortable & quick to , try one mate I promise you that you won't be disappointed

 

[NorthernDave]

If you do go for the Boardman, join British Cycling first.
For the thirty odd quid membership fee you get 10% off all purchases at Halfords - that's over £150 off that bike!

 

[Drago]

Go in the Hellfrauds store with your smart phone, order it online, save 10%

 

[Kajjal]

Road bikes vary from the smooth but well built diverge, to the lighter but still more upright roubaix to the head down more highly geared tarmac from specialized (other brands have similar bikes). Bikes like the diverge will take bigger tyres, handle rougher roads / off road trails fine and have some form of disc brakes. Bikes like a roubaix are lighter, still smooth to ride and pretty much pure road bikes. Bikes like the tarmac are more designed for speed with narrower tyres, a more head down position and higher gearing.

Just think about where you will ride, what range of gears you want, do you want disc brakes, what size tyres does the bike need to take and what riding position you want.

 

[Saluki]

The Planet X Pro Carbon is a cracker of a bike, seeing you asked. If you take a trip up to Sheffield, they let you test ride them too. Will Halfords let you test ride that Boardman? If you are going to do miles on a bike, you want it to be comfy IMO.
I love Giant Bikes, definitely worth a look as @Tiny01 says. I had a Defy and I loved it to death. +1 on looking at Decathlon too.

There are a lot of bikes out there and 'the best of the best' on paper is not always quite what you want, under your bum for 4 hours at a time. I would recommend test riding a bunch of bikes and going from there.

 

[Synthetic]

Thanks for the replies guys, I just went into halfords and gave the boardman a quick test and it felt absolutely superb. Very comfortable and super light.

As for the discount with British cycling, once I sign up will I get a code that I can use, or will I have to wait for a card to be sent in the post for me to show them?

 

[vickster]

I'm sure you can just show them proof of joining, confirmation email or some such and say you'd like the British cycling discount. Also take a screenshot of the halfords discount page on the BC my dashboard

 

[bonsaibilly]

Why don't you just start doing 100 milers on your hybrid? That's what I did. Bb