£500 road bikes, any good for leisure rides?

[Javier Pastrana]

hi there! would anyone give me some advice? I'm planning to get a road bike (I 've been riding a cannondale quick 5, lovely bike) but I still don't know if i'll be allright with a £500 road bike of the likes of the Giant Defy 5 or the Boardman for a bit of more speed and longer rides (I normally do 15 to 20 miles on my cannondale just to keep moderately fit. Any comments,suggestions or ideas greatly appretiated.

 

[Mile195]

I think you'll find eithera nice upgrade. BEst thing to do is take one for a test ride, and see how you feel on it.

Bear in mind though that the difference between spending £500 and £1000 on a bike makes a massive difference to weight, component quality etc. £1000-£1500, less so. Therefore, if your budget stretches just a little further, and you think that when you've got a better bike you'll want to be riding longer and more regularly, it might be worth throwing a couple of extra hundred at it.

Either way, test ride a few and see what you think. I know Evans Cycles will let you take one out for pretty much as long as you want. I'm sure lots of other chains do as well though.

 

[Cyclist33]

I've got a Quick (3) and Defy (3) so not dissimilar to what you've got and are considering.

I bought the Defy as a reward to myself for getting a new job but there isn't really much difference in pace between the two, and the Quick is more comfortable. The Quick 5 has semi-slick tyres doesn't it? Suited for a bit of light off-road eg canal paths. Well, shove some 28mm slick tyres on like Continental Gatorskins and it will fly. Seriously you won't need to bother with a road bike.

Especially if you put about £300 of the 500 quid aside for a set of good wheels, like these:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-sh...mavic-ksyrium-equipe-s-wts-wheelset-2013.html

I run my Quick on Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels and can keep up with a road bike quite happily. Gets you fitter, too.

You can spend the remainder on alcohol, or stuff like a carbon seatpost and a Tiagra triple chainset.

 

[HLaB]

JP, if you can afford more all the better but those bikes will be fine and fast on leisure rides, its only really if your wanting to race you'd want dearer/lighter.

 

[Javier Pastrana]

thanks a lot to everyone who answered so quickly. Mile195, i'll sure go to evans Gatwick and give two or three bikes a go. Cyclist33, thanks for your post. Yes, the Cannondale quick 5 came with Kenda Quick Track 32" and to be honest, I've mistreated them big time and they are perfect after nearly two years (the reviews say these tyres are utterly rubbish but that's not my case!). They are fast rolling and behave well on rough terrain. HlaB, thanks for the comment.

 

[jowwy]

Spend the £500 on some new handbuilt wheels and some decent 25mm tyres and you've got yourself a very good quick and light weight flat bar road bike

and very comfortable.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Javier - you are asking about a budget bike ie will it be fine for your intended purpose. Answer is yes! There are people on here who cover huge distances at some speed on more budget-er bikes than what you are proposing.

We all have different opinions but to start throwing £300 or £500 at wheelsets will make virtually not a jot of difference at this end of the market and in truth you'd have to be pretty damn good for them to make any significant difference at all. Just my opinion btw.

 

[mustang1]

I haven't checked lately but form that price you will get shimano 2300. I've never ridden that group set but I think people say the same about it what they said about sora a few years ago (too heavy, too ugly, wears too quickly). Heavy and ugly, well that's upon to you. But I doubt it'll wear very quickly

So yeah £500 for a rob is fine. Test ride one, then test ride a £700 and £1000 model and if you can really tell the difference then fine. My guess: you'll be just great on a £500 bike.

 

[Soltydog]

£500 should get you a reasonable machine, but whatever you do spend, you'll always wonder if you should have spent just a little more on the next model up

 

[Cyclist33]

Javier - you are asking about a budget bike ie will it be fine for your intended purpose. Answer is yes! There are people on here who cover huge distances at some speed on more budget-er bikes than what you are proposing.

We all have different opinions but to start throwing £300 or £500 at wheelsets will make virtually not a jot of difference at this end of the market and in truth you'd have to be pretty damn good for them to make any significant difference at all. Just my opinion btw.

fair enough but as a quick owner and rider, the difference between the stock wheels and tyres, and a pair of fulcrum r5s with durano s folding tyres, in weight alone, is about 0.85kg, which is a lot, plus the fulcrums, or whatever else in that bracket, and full on road tyres add supple qualities, a stiffer more efficient rotation, and the acceleration and rolling along on the flat are worlds apart. it would the make the bike something to really cherish.

 

[Cyclist33]

oh yeah, hills are much easier too!

 

[Powely]

My advice is just do your research before you buy. Go look/test ride different bikes and different price brackets. I spent the best part of a year to choose and my budget gradually grew from around £700 to £1600. The reason it grew was because I felt I'd be looking to upgrade too soon if I spent less.

 

[Primal Scream]

I have a Triban 5 and I love it, Sora group set and carbon forks, a lot of bike for £500.