Road Bike £500-600 For Relative Road Newbie

[Jezston]

Hi - a friend of mine who's recently joined my company wants to get a road bike on the cycle to work scheme for her commute - initially the 4 miles from Derby Station to work in Mackworth, perhaps extending it to the 20 or so from Beeston in the future.

She would rather not spend more than £30 a month, which equals a total budget of £600, although this could be raised if REALLY worth it. She probably won't need to buy any kit as she already has stuff from her mountain biking.

She DOES NOT want a ladies bike - this limits her range (and colour scheme!) significantly, and she has (hope she doesn't read this!) relatively masculine proportions in terms of legs/torso, so I'd have thought a men's bike would be fine.

Anything in particular worth looking at? We're not limited at this company where the bike is bought from, as long as the vendor is on some kind of scheme.

Thanks!

 

[Jezston]

Oh and, journey is relatively flat, but not quite single-speed flat - couple of hills, and will mostly be slow through a town center then fast along a 40mph (read - 50-60mph) A road.

 

[Lozatron]

At that price point I'd definitely be looking at the boardmans - great qpr

 

[Jezston]

Another thought - if she starts doing the longer route, she'll be riding some rather nastily surfaced towpaths which I'm not sure will be too great to ride on with slicks, particularly if it gets a bit wet (it almost always gets a bit wet), so I'm thinking perhaps an entry level cyclocross, or at least a road bike that is capable of taking slightly chunkier semi-slicks if needs be?

Would I be correct in assuming it'll be a rare thing to find a road bike that won't be able to take at least 32mm tyres?

 

[Jezston]

At that price point I'd definitely be looking at the boardmans - great qpr

Sadly the only Boardmans in that price range are single speed. Geared ones start at £700.

 

[Jezston]

Here's a few I've found browsing Evans' site - any thoughts?

http://www.evanscycl...c019545#reviews
This one only has 2x8 gears, which I thought could be a good thing as she wouldn't be needing a big range on her commute, and perhaps this will cut some unnecessary weight?

http://www.evanscycl...86#BVRRWidgetID

http://www.evanscycl...d-bike-ec021918

http://www.evanscycl...d-bike-ec019678

 

[Norm]

Specialized Dolce is built for ladies but isn't a "ladies" bike, as it has a full height top tube. Very nice colours, IMO, white / silver with a burgundy stripe.

Specialized Allez if she really doesn't want a ladies bike.

But neither will be wonderful for regular off-road trips.

Most of the road bikes I've seen are meant for 25mm tyres and can't go much above 27mm tyres. CX bikes should go around 10mm larger than that.

I've found that I'm almost as fast on my CX bike as my road bike, because the 32mm tyres absorb the crappy road surface much better than 23/25mm tyres, so I can be a little less concerned about the state of the crown jewels at the end of the ride.

 

[Jezston]

Low cost Cyclocross bikes seem to be a rare thing - any thought's on this Norm? Anything else worth looking at?

http://www.evanscycl...20#BVRRWidgetID

EDIT Also Focus Mares Comp 2010 for £549?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Mares_Comp_2010/5360045313/

 

[Norm]

I'm afraid that I don't have any prior knowledge of either of those, Jez.

The Pinnacle looks ok, though, with Tiagra levers and Sora at the front. The spec says it has a Tiagra rear derailleur, most CX bikes that I've looked at have an MTB set up at the rear. MTB gears usually give a 32 tooth biggest sprocket, Tiagra might be only 25 or 27 teeth. Not a huge issue, but something to be aware of.

 

[Jezston]

Bah, the Focus Mares comp may have been perfect - fully Tiagra, reduced from £750 to £550. However it's only available in 50 and 52cm, and she says she takes a 21" which is more like 54cm.