first road bike

[lip03]

i have been looking at getting a road bike for my commute. as many have done in the past i started on a hybrid and i now want to upgrade to a fully fledged roadie! i am on a very tight budget and will have to sell my hybrid to fund the new bike and may be able to add a little of my own cash to the pot but i am looking around £200 not a lot i know! but was thinking about maybe a second hand b-twin or something along these lines any thoughts?

 

[BSRU]

I have quite often read on here that people recommend the Carrera bikes from Halfords, especially as they always seem to be doing special offers.

 

[fossala]

200 quid won't buy a bike that will last everyday for commuting. I bought a carrera virtusoso (370), constantly had problems with it.

 

[Drago]

I'm not sure how old you are, but if you're knocking on a bit I'd see if I could borrow a roadie for a few days off a friend. I gave up drop-barred bikes last year. I'm getting less flexible as I age and being hunched over looking up/ahead was causing me neck problems. I still wouldn't mind a flat barred sportster though, just nothing too hardcore.

Good luck.

 

[Electric_Andy]

i have been looking at getting a road bike for my commute. as many have done in the past i started on a hybrid and i now want to upgrade to a fully fledged roadie! i am on a very tight budget and will have to sell my hybrid to fund the new bike and may be able to add a little of my own cash to the pot but i am looking around £200 not a lot i know! but was thinking about maybe a second hand b-twin or something along these lines any thoughts?

I got a Carrera off ebay for £250. It has Shimano 105 groupset and weighs 9kg. Ticks all the boxes for me - just be careful if you are having it couriered to you because Parcelforce delivered mine damaged (and it wasn't insured).

 

[Cycling Dan]

I have a Specialised Allez 16 2012 £499.99(was on offer). Best start road bike. light fast and nice all round. Only issue is once you get to 30mph you run out of gears so unless your going down a hill you wont get past 33-5mph

 

[PedalCat]

I've made some casual investigations into low-priced decent quality road bikes recently. Barrosa and Viking may be worth considering:
http://www.barrosa.co.uk/?page_id=876
http://www.viking.org.uk/viking-sprint-2011-mens-road-bike-59cm/

 

[Ivan Ardon]

Save up a little longer and buy a new Triban 3. It's a proper bike with proper components at a very good price.

The Viking and Barosa bikes above are, frankly, junk in comparison (no disrespect to you Pedalcat), and only £80 cheaper. For that extra eighty quid, you get a cassette rear wheel (no more broken spindles), a carbon fork, STI's rather than rocker gear changers and something that'll be properly assembled.

If you're on a limited budget, you can't afford to throw money away on cheap junk.

 

[PedalCat]

Ivan, to me cheap junk means BSOs/supermarket bikes. I have a Dawes hybrid that i got new for £160. Superb value, i reckon. I also have what i believe is a Raleigh Record Sprint (1980s) and if it was big enough for me i'd get a lot of use out of it. It has those old style shifters on the frame, and is - to me - very light; i can't imagine appreciating the difference carbon forks would make.
I have no problem with your view on the Barrosa and Viking, i presume your view is from the level of a keen enthusiast who rides something in the £500-£5000 range (in which case i respect and i envy).
I took my Raleigh out for 15 miles the other day and the speed was exhilarating after years of "hybridding". So for somebody happy with a low-end Dawes and impressed by a 25 year-old racer, would the Viking or Barrosa not be perfectly decent and usable?

 

[lordloveaduck]

Save up a little longer and buy a new Triban 3. It's a proper bike with proper components at a very good price.

The Viking and Barosa bikes above are, frankly, junk in comparison (no disrespect to you Pedalcat), and only £80 cheaper. For that extra eighty quid, you get a cassette rear wheel (no more broken spindles), a carbon fork, STI's rather than rocker gear changers and something that'll be properly assembled.

If you're on a limited budget, you can't afford to throw money away on cheap junk.

+ 10000

Best to avoid......trust me avoid

 

[BrumJim]

After reading the Cycling Active review I'd agree with the above. Its only a little more money for a proper grown-up bike. It is slighly lower grade than my £500 bike, but not so much that you would really notice, is the same spec, and is much cheaper.

 

[defy-one]

Do decathlon sell a rack and panniers?
The Mrs is away from next week and i think a new commuter is on the cards. My current bike has a rack,but my rucksack is high up (centre of gravity) and wobbles quite a bit when darting about through central london traffic. Also it has no mudguards

Not sure why the pic has rotated by 90°

 

[Cyclopathic]

Ivan, to me cheap junk means BSOs/supermarket bikes. I have a Dawes hybrid that i got new for £160. Superb value, i reckon. I also have what i believe is a Raleigh Record Sprint (1980s) and if it was big enough for me i'd get a lot of use out of it. It has those old style shifters on the frame, and is - to me - very light; i can't imagine appreciating the difference carbon forks would make.
I have no problem with your view on the Barrosa and Viking, i presume your view is from the level of a keen enthusiast who rides something in the £500-£5000 range (in which case i respect and i envy).
I took my Raleigh out for 15 miles the other day and the speed was exhilarating after years of "hybridding". So for somebody happy with a low-end Dawes and impressed by a 25 year-old racer, would the Viking or Barrosa not be perfectly decent and usable?

Just to stick my tuppence worth in; I have had a Barrosa Havana mountain bike and I was disappointed with it and I wouldn't trust the brand again. I bought in haste and believed the hype it was given by the LBS vendor when he said it was good quality because it's parent company was Dawes. Lots of little things were wrong with it that made owning and riding it less than a satisfactory. I wish I'd spent longer finding the right bike.

 

[Ayd68]

Hi guys, i'm pretty much in the same situation as Lip03 and on roughly the same budget for my commute of 18mile a day. I was looking at a B'twin Triban 3 or Viking Roma. I know they're not up there with the type of road bikes a lot of you guys ride but its purely the budget factor and what best I can get for my money. Any opinions much appreciated??

Thanks

 

[defy-one]

Save and find that extra £100,buy cheap buy twice