Looking for a very cheap road bike

[Peter91]

I've never had a road bike before, and am looking in the £180-£200 range, which as I know isn't much at all for a road bike.
I found these three, Route 66 Gents 59cm 14 Speed Road Bike, Muddyfox Swift and the Muddyfox Blade. But I was looking around on google and apparently none of these are good? What are my options?

Thanks.

 

[Fozz]

last summer when i started looking for a road bike i really wanted to build one myself with a budget of about 200 quid, i used to build my own bikes 25 years ago. But I found all that would buy me is a frame that had been stored in a duckpond for 20 years and a rear wheel so i started looking for complete bikes in that range there are some but you get what you pay for. so i bit the bullet and sold a few things on ebay and found an extra £100 and bought one of these;

http://www.rutlandcy...Road-Bike-.html


still a cheap bike
the reason being it uses the same frame as the top of the range Airlite (that RRP`s for nearly £900) it`s a sound basic bike with named parts and i can upgrade as funds (and wife) allow.......

yes you can go down the secondhand route, but unless you know of some you can sit on and try you are always going to take pot luck on buying a second hand bike based on a picture and ebay description.

there, thats another newbie`s two penneth

 

[Moodyman]

Peter,

I would avoid any new bike in the £200 range. The kind of bikes you'll get will be poor quality and go wrong often. You'll spend more time fixing things than riding.

If that is the limit of your budget, then £200 will get you some decent used bikes. They will be far more enjoyable and last longer.

If in doubt, get a friend who knows what they're looking for to go with you for viewings.

And...welcome to the forum.

 

[Crackle]

Do you want drops? Decathlon do a range of flatbar bikes in your price range. Otherwise keep an eye out on the for sale here and on other forums and of course Ebay.

 

[amaferanga]

£200 can get a pretty decent used bike, but will only get a very crap new bike.

The Bikeradar classifieds are as good a place as many to find a decent used bike as they are usually priced realistically and there's a lot more activity than on most cycling forums.

Best find a knowledgeable friend to help you if your buying used so you don't buy a lemon.

 

[Peter91]

Thanks. How about this one instead? It a Raleigh and doesn't look too bad?
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/28851/Raleigh-Sprint-2010---Road-Bike-.html

 

[vickster]

What size do you need as these end of line bargains are in limited sizes?

Decathlon do a drop handle barred bike for £270

Bike radar has decent reviews
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[Jezston]

What kind of terrain will you be riding on? If nothing desperately hilly, you'd get a hell of a lot more for your money if you went single speed.

 

[Peter91]

Mainly road, but also some small country roads that might have a bit more gravel on and a few more potholes.
As for size I'm not sure, I'm about 6ft, so I don't know if I need a 55cm frame or a 47cm frame
thanks for the help

 

[vickster]

http://www.evanscycl...ike-sizing#road Looks like a 58cm if 6ft, your knees would be scraping on the ground on a 47cm

Where do you live - have you actually tried a few out for size at your LBS?

 

[mcshroom]

That Raleigh looks a reasonably good spec for the price. With a steel fork it won't be the lightest around (Approx. 25.75lbs (11.68kg) for the 47cm according to Evans) but it looks pretty decent.

According to the Raleigh website the 55cm should suit someone with an inside leg between 32"-37" if that helps you size it.

 

[Fozz]

based on the Raleigh i`m 5`10 and the 55 is ok for me my seat stem is raised about 13 cm

i`m getting the vibe that you don`t want to be done with secondhand, am i reading that right??

 

[TheBoyBilly]

I'm 5'10" and have a 56cm- framed Spesh Secteur so, depending on the rest of the geometry you may.....just may get away with a 55cm frame but I wouldn't be confident myself. Don't buy a bike without a test-ride if at all possible. Your body will thank you.

Bill

 

[Dave Davenport]

http://www.evanscycl...ike-sizing#road Looks like a 58" if 6ft, your knees would be scraping on the ground on a 47"

Where do you live - have you actually tried a few out for size at your LBS?

You'd need to be about 15 foot tall to get your leg over a 58" frame!

56 / 57cm should be in the ball park for a 6 footer.

 

[Peter91]

based on the Raleigh i`m 5`10 and the 55 is ok for me my seat stem is raised about 13 cm

i`m getting the vibe that you don`t want to be done with secondhand, am i reading that right??

Yeah kind of, I'll be riding it a lot, and mainly to somewhere about 10 miles away so I don't really want it to need some sort of urgent repair and have to walk it back.

That Raleigh looks a reasonably good spec for the price. With a steel fork it won't be the lightest around (Approx. 25.75lbs (11.68kg) for the 47cm according to Evans) but it looks pretty decent.

Thanks, I think I might go with that then.