First Road Bike - £600 budget

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Glasgow44

Veteran
Hi guys

I'm just back from a wonderful trip in Mallorca. One of the guys on my trip would like to buy his first road bike and he has a budget of about £600. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance

J
 

TheDoctor

Europe Endless
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
Have a look at Decathlon? Normally I'd have suggested Ribble, but they don't seem to do anything below £799 these days.
The Sora disc braked one looks particularly bargainacious at £570 https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-500-af-gf-road-bike-sora-disc-id_8393116.html
 
Why not become a real character and join the happy fold on here that can be found frequenting the Vintage and Classic Bikes section of this forum?

Honestly there are some absolute gems of classic bikes that not only look so much nicer than the vast majority of the ugly modern rubbish (!), but they also quite literally glide over the ground.
A vintage Reynolds steel bike honestly does take some beating oh and as for the classic beauties that are out there to be had for almost unbelievable prices from some of the Worlds most distinguished, race proven manufacturers located in France and Italy.

The only problem with getting into vintage and classic bikes is that it can become addictive!
 

nagden

Senior Member
Location
Normandy, France
Why not become a real character and join the happy fold on here that can be found frequenting the Vintage and Classic Bikes section of this forum?

Honestly there are some absolute gems of classic bikes that not only look so much nicer than the vast majority of the ugly modern rubbish (!), but they also quite literally glide over the ground.
A vintage Reynolds steel bike honestly does take some beating oh and as for the classic beauties that are out there to be had for almost unbelievable prices from some of the Worlds most distinguished, race proven manufacturers located in France and Italy.

The only problem with getting into vintage and classic bikes is that it can become addictive!

Totally agree. There are some great Classic bikes around. I have found them to be more reliable, less complicated And there are plenty of spares about. £600would buy a lovely Classic.
 

yello

Guest
...and it comes with a bell. What's not to like?
 

joefife

Regular
Location
Fife
Thanks all - @Glasgow44's pal here. Turned out I had a virgin account here already!

To clarify, £600 is for a second hand bike. So yes, open to something classic.

At the moment, I have a hybrid, a Verenti Addition 3- https://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-addition-3-2016/ - which I always quite liked, but while on this trip to Mallorca, I rented a proper road bike, a Kuota Korsa - https://www.sowerbybroscycles.co.uk/view-product/Kuota-Korsa-carbon-2015

Aside from the very noticible weight difference, I was significantly more capable - for example, hills on my hybrid tire me out, but with the road bike, much steeper and lengthier hills were a dream.

However, didn't like the rim brakes - it felt like I had a lot more control with the disc brakes on my hybrid.

Things that make me nervous about buying second hand:
1 - unseen damage to the frame (or am I unnecessarily worrying)
2 - it being stolen

I notice the Decathlon one "sounds" reasonable to me (who doesn't know what they're really looking at!) - but there's an really positive review at https://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/road-bikes/btwin-ultra-af-gf

One thing the review does touch on, is that the weight made the climbs feel sluggish - which, is one of the things I was most impresseed with by the Kuota I rented. So, is this something an amateur is likely to notice, or are Cycling Weekly likely just noticing it since they'll be tuned in?
 
Totally agree. There are some great Classic bikes around. I have found them to be more reliable, less complicated And there are plenty of spares about. £600would buy a lovely Classic.

There is absolutely no need to spend anything close to £600, any of us who frequent the Vintage and Classic Bikes section of the forum will have seen countless amazing bikes go for relative peanuts leaving lots of the £600 budget spare to treat it to whatever new pieces of kit that are thought to be required.
 

Ice2911

Über Member
Why not become a real character and join the happy fold on here that can be found frequenting the Vintage and Classic Bikes section of this forum?

Honestly there are some absolute gems of classic bikes that not only look so much nicer than the vast majority of the ugly modern rubbish (!), but they also quite literally glide over the ground.
A vintage Reynolds steel bike honestly does take some beating oh and as for the classic beauties that are out there to be had for almost unbelievable prices from some of the Worlds most distinguished, race proven manufacturers located in France and Italy.

The only problem with getting into vintage and classic bikes is that it can become addictive!
Had to come off that page pretty quickly, too much temptation:smile:
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
@joefife its true buying second hand does present some risks. You will have to search for your size and you won't have any comeback if anything goes wrong plus the ownership issue. I would only suggest you buy if the bike genuinely hasn't had much use and the seller can prove its provenance.
Vintage bikes are mainly steel so won't be as light as the current crop of aluminium framed bikes.
Buying one the Decathlon bikes would give you the most secure hassle free option. The weight referred to in the review means the bike might be only a half a kilo or so heavier than its competitors which are good bit more expensive. You really aren't going to notice it.
The Kubota you linked is a full carbon frame so may be about one or two kilos lighter.
 
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