What road bike? £500-700 budget

[rosco]

Looking to buy a new road bike.

As I am fairly new to the scene; I dont know that much however I have a budget of between £500-700 to buy one. Looking for soemthing good to use for Sunday runs ideally tigara gear changers as I have used a tricross before and found the gear shifter set up not ideal when on the drop bars.

Ideally I need to be sized for the bike so something like Wiggle would be ok but I would wish to sit on the bike and stuff first. Im based in Edinburgh. I would also like to suppor tth elocal independant LBS if possible.

I thought about the Giant Defy 2 as I can get that for £660, Specialized Allez Elite or the Trek 1.5.

Any thoughts (not just on the three bikes above) would be appriecated.

 

[e-rider]

Specialized (Allez/Secteur) make the best cheap bikes (£500-700) for beginners IMO.

the Giant Defy range look OK but they only make 4 sizes so you could easily fall 'in between' sizes which isn't ideal

Actually from £700+ you begin to get much more choice and by the time you spend £1000 there are loads of great bikes to choose from. Just a thought!

 

[surfdude]

i just got a giant defy 2 from ash cycles last week .been out for a few little rides and its great ,very fast ,comfy ,light , well made . the wife has the girls one and loves it as well . did try a few other bikes but liked this the most ,it felt right

 

[rosco]

Airfares- how much did you pay?

 

[rosco]

Airfares should read surfdude! Dam you Predictive text!!

 

[DaveyB1981]

+1 on the Giant. Having an FSR that I love, I thought that an Allez would probably be a good fit for me. As above though, the Defy just felt "right". I love my 3.5 and would recommend a Defy to anyone!

Dave

 

[surfdude]

Airfares should read surfdude! Dam you Predictive text!!

i got it for £658.99 from ash cycles .order it friday come monday ,just a few minor things to do on it which took 10 min to do then off for a ride .also i am 5ft 8 and a m size fits me perfectly if your about this size i get one quick as it took me a bit of looking about to find one to fit me

 

[stevieboy378]

Kona Dew Drop - going for @ £650 at the moment . . . .

 

[BrumJim]

All three have a great reputation, and the only choice appears to be on what you personally find most comfortable.

Be aware that when you have added all the extras, the price will go up, so don't spend at the top end without thinking about this.

If you don't have enough experience to know a good bike from a bad one, then choose some secondary selection criteria, like bike shop preference (best service), company ethics or favourite colour.

 

[The Jogger]

[sup]I've just got the Boardman Comp RB went out today for a lovely smooth ride. It is a lot better with the clipless pedals, I have to say.[/sup]