Cheap road bike or save for a special one?

[d87francis]

Hi all,
I feel cheeky for dominating the forum with too many threads but I wanted your opinion. I have been cycling since I can remember and have commuted on roads for a long time, but I have only ever ridden MTBs or hybrids other than the odd go on a mate's road bike or a day or two on holiday. A recent health drive has made me quit smoking, eat more healthily and up my cycling a lot. I am a couple of months in and riding 100 - 200 miles a week on roads on a MTB on slicks with flat bars and flat pedals.

Looking to up my training I have decided that a road bike is the way to go having become obsessed with road cycling - something I never saw happening when I used to spend my time downhilling. I have looked at a few bikes around the £1500 - £2000 range and like the look of the Cube Agree GTC Race, but as a mature student I will have to save for quite a while before I could afford it, probably after I've worked all summer.

Do you think it worthwhile to get a £200 secondhand road bike off gumtree to get used to drop handlebars and clipless pedals in the meantime or just hang on to that money to go towards the nicer bike? The other option I've thought of is buying the SPD Sls and shoes now and using them on my MTB with slicks in the meantime. I am limited by space as I have to keep them in the flat due to previous bikes being stolen from the bike store, and I doubt my girlfriend will let me keep more than two bikes so ultimately would keep the MTB and nicer road bike (ruling out any option of keeping the cheaper road bike as a winter trainer).

 

[sabian92]

I'd buy a cheap one now - least you can wreck it, bash it around and have a bike you can take places without fear of being stolen.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

A £200 second hand bike will not depreciate in value as much as a new bike will. So, if you're any good at selling things on (I'm useless at it) then you will get all or nearly all your money back - you could think of it as a virtually free rental with a £200 deposit.

 

[biggs682]

a £200 secondhand bike is not cheap in my book , but i do agree a better place to start , than buying new

 

[Dave7]

As Deptfordmarmoset has said-you wont lose much & maybe nothing buying 2nd hand.
Everything is relative........£200 may seem a lot to some people but peanuts to others-only you can decide what is affordable.
Having just sold 2 bikes and bought one I feel £200 is just about/maybe getting into reasonable bikes whereas if you can stretch to £300 or a bit more you are getting into decent gear (2nd hand).
Once you have set your budget dont rush.....its spring and you should see lots of offers on ebay & gumtree.

 

[sidevalve]

If you've been cycling for a long time and you know your way around a bike keep your eyes open for a decent bike in apparently poor nick. If the main bits like frame, wheels etc are sound a few bits like cables chain and a bit of lube can get you a great bargain for well under your £200.

 

[Nearly there]

"The special one"

 

[PaulSecteur]

How about getting a Decathlon triban 3 for £300 now, then when you can justify getting to good `un use the decathlon bike as your commuter and winter bike.

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

I'd think about building a nice steel road bike. Just buy a nice 531 steel road bike frame and buy some parts for it, you'd love it because you built it and it just looks nicer than the newer bikes.

 

[d87francis]

Cheers for all your thought's guys, I'm edging towards getting a cheaper secondhand one first.

@biggs682 - Yea £200 is not cheap for me either, but may well be the limiting factor for affording the special one this year as I can't afford to save money during term time. Whilst not paying to run a car and I don't have kids yet I'm semi-conscious that I should take advantage of this financial freedom whilst I can.

@PaulSecteur - Persuading my girlfriend to let me keep 3 bikes would be the hardest thing, I'd love to though as I've always been an all weather rider so come the winter I doubt I'd want to go back to the MTB if I didn't keep the cheaper one as a winter trainer, but would also like to hold onto the MTB for odd trail days with friends.

@Rahul Sapariya - Building my own bike up is something that I have considered, I recently built my own wheelset for the first time by hand, and now love riding on them/knowing they are bombproof. It seems petty but I've never used down tube gear shifters and don't like the thought of using them. They seem reasonable for a steady paced ride but perhaps not if I want to push myself or the constant changing pace of the traffic I have to face heading in and out of town, so this has put me off buying old 531 frames.

@deptfordmarmoset - The lack of devaluation is something I hadn't considered, thanks I think it's swung me.

Now I may have to do some serious sorting out in the flat to accommodate extra bikes. I have a large walk in cupboard that I'm considering taking the shelves out of and putting large hooks at the top, I reckon it will fit two bikes easily so long as I can find a home for most of the junk in there. I'm in a rented flat but the shelves are just screwed into battening on either side of the cupboard so would be easy to put back, do you reckon a couple of poly-filled and painted over holes from the hooks at the back of a cupboard is likely to dent my deposit when I move out?

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

You can always have STI shifters or grip shifts and such. You don't have to have down tube shifters. I'm currently in the process of making my own road bike. Close ratio gears, a double chainset on the front, grip shifts (possibly due to my dislike of using STI or equivalent shifters) and a decent wheelset. I'm probably going to have bullhorn handlebars (drop handlerbars but cut and flipped to suit my own riding preference).

 

[d87francis]

Cheers Rahul, I wasn't aware of that, are there any other limiting factors where you have to stick to old components? Will you have to widen the chainstays to accommodate newer hubs and cassettes? I would be very interested to see some finished pictures of your build.

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

You're probably more likely going to have to buy a wheel with a wider hub but you can just fit a nice wide spacer on the axle between the cone nut and the lock nut. If you are using a cassette then you might have to bend the chainstays out a bit but this can at times be problematic because you then sometimes have to realign the frame because you can't do it accurately unless you have the right tools. Older raleigh frames have their own thread which was a problem when I made a fixed gear with an older raleigh frame but I just stripped the threads and used a threadless bottom bracket. Also some frames need a slightly longer bottom bracket shell (usually 68mm but I had to use a 70mm) this was a threadless bottom bracket so basically the non drive side cup wasn't catching on the threads on the bottom bracket shell.

Some older frames may require you do file part of the dropouts because the chain rubs on it when it is on the highest gear on the back (do it with moderation of course because you can ruin the integrity of the dropouts otherwise). Also some frames (I've only experienced this once) have the headtube which is stupidly long and the tool to face the headtube wasn't long enough to do it but using a file and being patient works aswell but takes ages to do. Also some frames require you to either use 27x1 1/4 or to use 700C wheels with longer reach brakes. I chose the latter for my fixed gear and bought some longer reach brakes (I used dual pivot brakes)...the problem with using longer reach dual pivot brakes is that there isn't much choice in what sort you buy. As far as I know, neither shimano or campagnolo sell dual pivot long reach brake callipers. When I say long reach, I mean the length from where the brake calliper is bolted on to the middle of the rim (mine needed something like 72mm). Weinman 730's do the job as well but they aren't dual-pivot which I prefer but I do like Weinmann for being cheaper and for there to be a lot of choice.

I'm sure I've probably missed something out but you get the jist, it is definitely doable and you'd definitely enjoy the bike more because of all the work you put into it. I always suggest this option to everyone for that very reason.

On a personal question, a question I'm going to start to ask people, what do you think of the idea of let's say choosing what parts you want to make a fixed gear(example) along with the frame and then build that bike up under the guidance and advice of a fully trained bike mechanic where he has all your bike bits layed out along with the tools that you need to use, and all done in a few hours? Basically my idea is for someone to choose the frame and the bike bits, and then over the course of a few hours, the customer builds their own bike? Do you think it is a good idea? Obviously the customer will be charged for the session so in my head I have something like £10 per hour. Is that reasonable? Is it a good idea? This last question is aimed at everyone, if you wish to answer, just quote this last paragraph.

 

[d87francis]

Hi Rahul, I think that's a fantastic idea, you could even see if you could get yourself a deal going with a local frame painter to add the extra option of having it sprayed first. I really think you could be onto a winner there, I have seen other small scale operations doing the equivalent with new frames from china I think they had one rate just to build it up and then one about £5 an hour more if you wanted a lesson/help to do it yourself(sorry cant remember the site now). I'd say there aren't enough operations running like you propose, and if you already have all the tools necessary there isn't to much outlay to get it running.

 

[Rahul Sapariya]

Well I work at a bike shop so we have the tools and space required. I was thinking of the idea as sort of a job creater of sorts. Basically we have volunteers who come down to learn bike mechanics and stuff and it is unfair we can't pay them because we honestly don't earn enough to pay them a decent wage so I was thinking maybe they'd like some spare pocket money from doing the session. I'd only do it myself if no one would be free to do it.

I forgot about asking for some sort of deal for powdercoating, they'd probably require bulk orders and I don't think we'd get that sort of publicity to draw in that many customers.

Thanks for your positive comments