Entry level Road bike
- Thread starter Alanwj100
- Start date
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Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Hello Alan and 
to the forum.
Boardman are certainly good bikes and many on here have them. Although the service offered by Halfords is very variable you are backed by one the largest bike retailers in the U.K.
Another one worth looking at is Decathlon. Service may be better and again you are backed by a large international organisation. Their bikes arguably offer better VfM than Boardman. Unfortunately they don’t appear to have much in stock now which is pretty much the general picture.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/browse/c0-sports/c1-cycling/c3-road-bikes/_/N-1k03hx2
Dont forget to budget for a good lock and a track pump plus a few tools to cope with punctures etc.
Let us know how you get on.
to the forum.Boardman are certainly good bikes and many on here have them. Although the service offered by Halfords is very variable you are backed by one the largest bike retailers in the U.K.
Another one worth looking at is Decathlon. Service may be better and again you are backed by a large international organisation. Their bikes arguably offer better VfM than Boardman. Unfortunately they don’t appear to have much in stock now which is pretty much the general picture.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/browse/c0-sports/c1-cycling/c3-road-bikes/_/N-1k03hx2
Dont forget to budget for a good lock and a track pump plus a few tools to cope with punctures etc.
Let us know how you get on.
Deleted User
Guest
- Location
- Wolverhampton
Two pals I go out with have Boardman's and they seem pretty decent value, one has the ADV 8.6 with Sora and the other a slightly higher 8.9 Carbon with partial 105 group set.
Both less than a Grand last year.
Both less than a Grand last year.
RoubaixCube
~Tribanese~
- Location
- London, UK
£1000 is quite a lot of money for a run of the mill 'entry level' road bike. That is upper level alloy and entry level carbon bike territory almost.
I was going to suggest having a look at decathlon as well but it seems a lot of their bikes around the £800-1000 price tag is OOS and the Triban 520's have some issues apparently... either with QC or them gluing tyres on to wheels so people cant remove them
(what in the actual f**k...)
Boardman's are kwality if it fits your budget. Trek Domane AL2 or AL3 are also solid choices. anything from Giant's Contend range is also a popular option.
If youre having difficulty sourcing a better bike. Carrera bikes shouldnt be overlooked. I get regularly overtaken by racing snakes bombing around on them in regents park. They are between £300-450 if you decide you want to have money to spend on other things like clothing/accessories etc etc
I was going to suggest having a look at decathlon as well but it seems a lot of their bikes around the £800-1000 price tag is OOS and the Triban 520's have some issues apparently... either with QC or them gluing tyres on to wheels so people cant remove them
(what in the actual f**k...)Boardman's are kwality if it fits your budget. Trek Domane AL2 or AL3 are also solid choices. anything from Giant's Contend range is also a popular option.
If youre having difficulty sourcing a better bike. Carrera bikes shouldnt be overlooked. I get regularly overtaken by racing snakes bombing around on them in regents park. They are between £300-450 if you decide you want to have money to spend on other things like clothing/accessories etc etc
Big John
Legendary Member
Can anyone truly define what 'entry level' means? What I consider 'entry level' can often be found in the forum's For Sale section at anything around the £200 mark. Our money is our own so we can spend what we want but my take on cycling is it doesn't have to be an expensive pastime. For a very small budget anyone, or almost anyone, can get a respectable bike. It may not be new but I didn't have a new bike until I'd been riding for quite a few years. I only pushed the boat out once, when I turned 50, and I'm still riding that one now, 14 years later.
I can vouch for the decathlon triban RC500. I got it as my starter road bike about a year ago and couldn't be happier with it. As said above, better value for money than Boardman. Just checked, the black is available on line in M and L. Other sizes may be available in the shop.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Bit of wishful thinking there, you might be living in the past
. Prices have increased while availability has declined. Bargains may be available but need rooting out.
I paid £530.00 for my 500 end of Feb last year, it is £650 now, so a significant increase, but still well below a grand. Availability is the biggest issue.Bit of wishful thinking there, you might be living in the past
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
OF course you can always go secondhand but you need to know what you're buying and have a bit of mechanical nouse.
I rescued this 2007 Trek from under a heap of abandoned bikes and although it need new wheels, tyres, derailleur, chain and cassette it's a lovely bike. You can't see all the scratches.
I rescued this 2007 Trek from under a heap of abandoned bikes and although it need new wheels, tyres, derailleur, chain and cassette it's a lovely bike. You can't see all the scratches.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
Entry level is the bottom of the market for useable bikes; i.e. the lowest priced bikes that aren't throwaway junk BSOs. Two or three hundred quid. Not £1k bikes, there's nothing entry level about a bike that costs a grand.
biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
davidphilips
Phil Pip
- Location
- Onabike
Cannondale optimo seem good value bikes, only thing i dont like about lower price cannondale bikes is the maddux wheels (maybe they dont fit these any more) Have known quite a few that suffered constant broken spokes in the rear wheels, but the caad frames seem really great.
pawl
Legendary Member
- Location
- Desford Leicestershire
Have a look at Planetx
