Elliott W
Active Member
I am new to cycling, only really been doing it properly for 3 weeks. After i was taken to herne hill velodrome by my uncle and introduced to the world of road cycling i became hooked. I loved to speed and excitement and the sense of exploration. However being 15 and having no income it was down to convincing my parents to get me a bike. Being told i had around £450 in the bank from birthdays and so forth i went on sites like this and others for ideas and reviews of bikes. After 3 weeks of searching i came to the conclusion that road bikes weren't cheap, new anyway. how i eventually decided a triban 3 was to be. Every review of this bike was positive and after reading the article cycling weekly posted about it i decided it was a must. But there were several other contenders that i would suggest others to buy or not to buy how tempting the price.
For me there were three things to look for in a bike, from my experience.
1) gearing- when i say gearing i don't necessarily mean the gear ratios (although that is something to look at as well) but instead the brands.
For £450 you aren't going to get much above a shimano 2300 and a shimano sora groupset (if lucky). But there will be cheaper bikes with generic components. i say play it safe, get either a shimano, microshift (newly emerging brand but from reviews it seems good) and FSA crankset.
but dont hold back if a bike with a good sram or campagnalo groupset pops up used on ebay.
2) The bikes frame material. for me heres how it goes in terms of materials.
the best material for a road bike is titanium, the second is carbon, the third is aluminium, The worst is steel/ alloy.
for the price range of £450~ the best your going to get is aluminium to be honest, with a carbon seatpost, fork or handlebar or something along those lines if your lucky.
The grade of aluminium is another factor. my triban three has a very light 6 grade aluminium frame but a bike like the carrera tdf has a 7 grade. they are both are aluminium but one frame is lighter than the other.
3) Warranty- a pot hole is all it takes to leave you without a bike however expensive things can go wrong. Although a bike at this price range is probably going to be more durable than a full carbon bike with a carbon wheelset ( type in snapped carbon bikes into google some pictures make you cringe.) things can go wrong. So make sure you have a warranty. For example at halfords you when i enquired about the carrera tdf i was told i would have a 1 year warranty (may have changed). however at decathlon where i bought my triban 3 i was told i would have a 2 year warranty. sounds better right? however the only part of the bike that wasn't covered was the carbon fork. The thing that was most likely to break. so read into it look past the obvious.
Enough of that now to get to what you came here for. The best road bikes under £450.
we will start with the halfords bikes.
At the bottom their range we have the apollo fusion. This bike is made for the true beginner and a freind said they wouldn't recommennd this for anybody unless it was for a really short commute to work. Not for the person looking to be the weekend cycling enthusiast.
About the bike: On halfords website they boast about it having shimano gearing, and although i said shimano is good i also wouldn't recommend anything under a shimano 2300 groupset and this is really low spec.
The shifters also aren't STI's but instead thumb shifters mounted ont he tops. This to me says the bike obviously isn't for the racer or weekend rider.
unfortunately i couldn't get the weight of the bike because no company likes to give up the weight easily. However i know the aluminium frame weighs 11.5kg's but add the wheelset which isn't exactly carbon and gearing and other components and you'd be lucky if your looking at a bike that weighs under 13 - 15 kg's.
However get me straight this bike does cost £200 and in the world of road bikes that is pennies. unfortunately i have never ridden this bike but im sure i ride well. And i must appreciate it for what it is, an entry- entry level road bike.
Here we have the viking phantom. viking is small company that makes cheap road bikes in the main and although they have several bikes under and around the £450 price. i feel this is the most tempting of all of them.
I found this bike online. You can get it on ebay and sports direct.
It retails for £129.99 last time i checked. yep you heard me £129.99 pounds thats it . You're probably saying that that price is in mountain bike territory and yep your right, it is. However that isn't the only thing thats in mountain bike territory. The weight is to. it comes in at around 14kg's.
heres how sports direct describe it:
The Viking Phantom Road Bike is an ideal entry level road bike featuring a steel road bike frame with 14 speed Shimano gears and handlebar mounted Shimano shifters. This road bike also features rigid front forks along with road caliper brakes to the front and rear, perfect for keeping fit.
to me it sounds better than it is but looks like a solid bike for commuters not cyling enthusiasts out on a weekend tackling hills.
Here's a general rule of thumb with road bikes, you get what you bay for in an entry level road bike with a few acceptions.
The triban 3, voted best value for money road bike in a magazine somewhere but i can't remember where, sorry, just trust me on that one. it has a 6061 aluminium frame, carbon fibre fork, shimano sora front mech and the rest of the spec is shimano 2300. This as i mentioned earlier is the bike of choice for me anyway and it even has its own owners club because of it's success. Bought if for £299 from decathlon (can only be bought from decathlon) a two year warranty and i wouldn't mind paying £600 for it. Of in the first 130 miles (mainly downe loop and saltbox hill, layhams road that sort of stuff) i've done on it its been fine. haven't had a puncture suprisingly as i had ridden a little of road on bad country tracks). Its very light and very smooth also. Sounds good right? because it is, but there is always a catch. Now whats funny is if you read this a year or two ago there would be no catch. The problem is the stock of this bike. Because of the review cycling weekly gave it and the reputation of the bike it became a feeding frenzy to get one. The bike got such a reputation that when i phoned surrey-quays decathlon i was greeted by "hello how can i help you, let me guess you want a triban 3". If you can get you hands on one its a steal but realistically you wont. i only got mine when i went into the stroe to get the white triban 3 and found out that a triban 3 taken back by a customer after a week of having it. (stupid guy lol)
weight= 10kg ~
White triban 3/ triban 3a- this isn't just the white version of the triban 3, instead a downgraded version. It has the same frame and wheelset, handlebars and seat post but the rest is completely different. It comes with a new better looking saddle but the thats about it for the positives, well i say that but this bike is still on heck of a bike for the money but if the triban 3 were a ferrari this would be a bmw 5 series, good but not great.
it has microshift gearing and i think an fsa crank and from taking it froma test drive i can say the microshift shifters shift well but the fiddlyness of the paddles is easy in summer but i presume harder in winter gloves.
From the fact that little things like that are what im complaining about you can take it that there isn't much wrong with this bike. Its a true entryy level bike for the cycling enthusiast out on their weekend ride.
Note to all those out there that don't like or dont want to use clipless pedals decathlons toe clip pedals featured on the bike above are the best. Allows you to get your feet out easily as well as in.
weight +11kg~
The cross road bike the only bike i haven't test riden or riden properly but from what i say from the spec it seems good. Shimano 2300 shifters and overall good spec. good looking bike with a light aluminium frame.
comes in at 10.2 kg's which is good btw.cross bikes aren't well known but argos is always known to sell go value products and argos's pay later and pay monthly schemes will be a deal breaker for some. Because i haven't ridden it i will link you to a review for you to decide yourself.
http://www.thefootdown.co.uk/2013/01/29/buy-a-cheap-road-bike-from-argos/
note: the cross road bike comes with a bell. could be a deal breaker.
so far i have only showed you bikes made by brands most cyclists haven't heard of. This bike however is made by the biggest bike manufacturer in the world, Giant. They make frames for scott bike and others and the giant defy 5 comp is their lowest range, cheapest road bike. i comes with an FSA crank, and the rest of the spec is shimano 2300. It has aircraft grade aluminium frame and fork and aluminium rims to add. Good right? it is, very goodlooking to add. The man at cycle surgery said this was an amazing bike but for the price of £450- £500 its a little on the expensive side especially when thr triban 3 has best spec and an aluminium fork.
Finally we move on to the Carrera TDF. That bike from halfords, that is always on sale, literally. On a good day you can get this bike for £250 and on a bad day £350 but to be honest it never goes much over that.
i say that this bike is more of a £250 bike. Even if Halfords always put up a crazy RRP to make it seem like there bikes are going for crazy cheap.( trying to catch out an impulse buyer.)
it has full a full shimano 2300 groupset and although it's light its on the heavy side with 7 grade aluminium.
This bike is more for the cycling enthusiast/ commuter it's a borderline type of bike but good for the price of £250- £300.
as for the zelos and virtuoso which are near next to identical.
Heres a tip for halfords bike pricing, i was in the store the other day enquiring about why this bike and why these bikes always go up and down like a yoyo. He said halfords price these bikes for more during the middle of the month because people don't get paid then. however at the end of the month the bikes are always on sale when people dont have the money.
There are more bikes out there but i thought i would just cover the main ones.
For me there were three things to look for in a bike, from my experience.
1) gearing- when i say gearing i don't necessarily mean the gear ratios (although that is something to look at as well) but instead the brands.
For £450 you aren't going to get much above a shimano 2300 and a shimano sora groupset (if lucky). But there will be cheaper bikes with generic components. i say play it safe, get either a shimano, microshift (newly emerging brand but from reviews it seems good) and FSA crankset.
but dont hold back if a bike with a good sram or campagnalo groupset pops up used on ebay.
2) The bikes frame material. for me heres how it goes in terms of materials.
the best material for a road bike is titanium, the second is carbon, the third is aluminium, The worst is steel/ alloy.
for the price range of £450~ the best your going to get is aluminium to be honest, with a carbon seatpost, fork or handlebar or something along those lines if your lucky.
The grade of aluminium is another factor. my triban three has a very light 6 grade aluminium frame but a bike like the carrera tdf has a 7 grade. they are both are aluminium but one frame is lighter than the other.
3) Warranty- a pot hole is all it takes to leave you without a bike however expensive things can go wrong. Although a bike at this price range is probably going to be more durable than a full carbon bike with a carbon wheelset ( type in snapped carbon bikes into google some pictures make you cringe.) things can go wrong. So make sure you have a warranty. For example at halfords you when i enquired about the carrera tdf i was told i would have a 1 year warranty (may have changed). however at decathlon where i bought my triban 3 i was told i would have a 2 year warranty. sounds better right? however the only part of the bike that wasn't covered was the carbon fork. The thing that was most likely to break. so read into it look past the obvious.
Enough of that now to get to what you came here for. The best road bikes under £450.
we will start with the halfords bikes.
At the bottom their range we have the apollo fusion. This bike is made for the true beginner and a freind said they wouldn't recommennd this for anybody unless it was for a really short commute to work. Not for the person looking to be the weekend cycling enthusiast.
About the bike: On halfords website they boast about it having shimano gearing, and although i said shimano is good i also wouldn't recommend anything under a shimano 2300 groupset and this is really low spec.
The shifters also aren't STI's but instead thumb shifters mounted ont he tops. This to me says the bike obviously isn't for the racer or weekend rider.
unfortunately i couldn't get the weight of the bike because no company likes to give up the weight easily. However i know the aluminium frame weighs 11.5kg's but add the wheelset which isn't exactly carbon and gearing and other components and you'd be lucky if your looking at a bike that weighs under 13 - 15 kg's.
However get me straight this bike does cost £200 and in the world of road bikes that is pennies. unfortunately i have never ridden this bike but im sure i ride well. And i must appreciate it for what it is, an entry- entry level road bike.
Here we have the viking phantom. viking is small company that makes cheap road bikes in the main and although they have several bikes under and around the £450 price. i feel this is the most tempting of all of them.
I found this bike online. You can get it on ebay and sports direct.
It retails for £129.99 last time i checked. yep you heard me £129.99 pounds thats it . You're probably saying that that price is in mountain bike territory and yep your right, it is. However that isn't the only thing thats in mountain bike territory. The weight is to. it comes in at around 14kg's.
heres how sports direct describe it:
The Viking Phantom Road Bike is an ideal entry level road bike featuring a steel road bike frame with 14 speed Shimano gears and handlebar mounted Shimano shifters. This road bike also features rigid front forks along with road caliper brakes to the front and rear, perfect for keeping fit.
to me it sounds better than it is but looks like a solid bike for commuters not cyling enthusiasts out on a weekend tackling hills.
Here's a general rule of thumb with road bikes, you get what you bay for in an entry level road bike with a few acceptions.
The triban 3, voted best value for money road bike in a magazine somewhere but i can't remember where, sorry, just trust me on that one. it has a 6061 aluminium frame, carbon fibre fork, shimano sora front mech and the rest of the spec is shimano 2300. This as i mentioned earlier is the bike of choice for me anyway and it even has its own owners club because of it's success. Bought if for £299 from decathlon (can only be bought from decathlon) a two year warranty and i wouldn't mind paying £600 for it. Of in the first 130 miles (mainly downe loop and saltbox hill, layhams road that sort of stuff) i've done on it its been fine. haven't had a puncture suprisingly as i had ridden a little of road on bad country tracks). Its very light and very smooth also. Sounds good right? because it is, but there is always a catch. Now whats funny is if you read this a year or two ago there would be no catch. The problem is the stock of this bike. Because of the review cycling weekly gave it and the reputation of the bike it became a feeding frenzy to get one. The bike got such a reputation that when i phoned surrey-quays decathlon i was greeted by "hello how can i help you, let me guess you want a triban 3". If you can get you hands on one its a steal but realistically you wont. i only got mine when i went into the stroe to get the white triban 3 and found out that a triban 3 taken back by a customer after a week of having it. (stupid guy lol)
weight= 10kg ~
White triban 3/ triban 3a- this isn't just the white version of the triban 3, instead a downgraded version. It has the same frame and wheelset, handlebars and seat post but the rest is completely different. It comes with a new better looking saddle but the thats about it for the positives, well i say that but this bike is still on heck of a bike for the money but if the triban 3 were a ferrari this would be a bmw 5 series, good but not great.
it has microshift gearing and i think an fsa crank and from taking it froma test drive i can say the microshift shifters shift well but the fiddlyness of the paddles is easy in summer but i presume harder in winter gloves.
From the fact that little things like that are what im complaining about you can take it that there isn't much wrong with this bike. Its a true entryy level bike for the cycling enthusiast out on their weekend ride.
Note to all those out there that don't like or dont want to use clipless pedals decathlons toe clip pedals featured on the bike above are the best. Allows you to get your feet out easily as well as in.
weight +11kg~
The cross road bike the only bike i haven't test riden or riden properly but from what i say from the spec it seems good. Shimano 2300 shifters and overall good spec. good looking bike with a light aluminium frame.
comes in at 10.2 kg's which is good btw.cross bikes aren't well known but argos is always known to sell go value products and argos's pay later and pay monthly schemes will be a deal breaker for some. Because i haven't ridden it i will link you to a review for you to decide yourself.
http://www.thefootdown.co.uk/2013/01/29/buy-a-cheap-road-bike-from-argos/
note: the cross road bike comes with a bell. could be a deal breaker.
so far i have only showed you bikes made by brands most cyclists haven't heard of. This bike however is made by the biggest bike manufacturer in the world, Giant. They make frames for scott bike and others and the giant defy 5 comp is their lowest range, cheapest road bike. i comes with an FSA crank, and the rest of the spec is shimano 2300. It has aircraft grade aluminium frame and fork and aluminium rims to add. Good right? it is, very goodlooking to add. The man at cycle surgery said this was an amazing bike but for the price of £450- £500 its a little on the expensive side especially when thr triban 3 has best spec and an aluminium fork.
Finally we move on to the Carrera TDF. That bike from halfords, that is always on sale, literally. On a good day you can get this bike for £250 and on a bad day £350 but to be honest it never goes much over that.
i say that this bike is more of a £250 bike. Even if Halfords always put up a crazy RRP to make it seem like there bikes are going for crazy cheap.( trying to catch out an impulse buyer.)
it has full a full shimano 2300 groupset and although it's light its on the heavy side with 7 grade aluminium.
This bike is more for the cycling enthusiast/ commuter it's a borderline type of bike but good for the price of £250- £300.
as for the zelos and virtuoso which are near next to identical.
Heres a tip for halfords bike pricing, i was in the store the other day enquiring about why this bike and why these bikes always go up and down like a yoyo. He said halfords price these bikes for more during the middle of the month because people don't get paid then. however at the end of the month the bikes are always on sale when people dont have the money.
There are more bikes out there but i thought i would just cover the main ones.
btw ) has done top market research. He probably thinks steel is ...erm ... old fashioned 
