Roadie question

[Dave Martin]

I've really got my get fit keep fit head on this year . Changed my diet,kept regular weight training sessions,love getting out on the hybrid at least 3 times a week and have booked in at the docs for stop smoking sessions.I've already lost a stone and lowered my BMI but to keep me motivated I'm going to save for my first real road bike.
I'm on a tight budget with my other hobby which is target shooting taking up a big wad of cash and up to now have seen two bikes that would be in a justifiable price range.
The viking san remo & a B Twin, both with ally frames,both about the same weight and similar spec and both about the same price around £350-£400.
Do any of you know if these bikes are any good or maybe have some advise about anything else to be looking at around this sort of money?

 

[Tomba]

First up good luck with quitting smoking

And i'm sure you'll get plenty of advice regarding the Btwin bike. A few on here have them and for what you get for the money it'll be hard to beat the spec & components. And by all accounts Decathlon know what they're doing setting bikes up.

 

[accountantpete]

There are plenty of people who get such bikes and then want to upgrade - how about a S/H model off eBay which has Tiagra groupset and is made by a major manufactureer - Specialized etc).

Good luck with the smoking - I packed up a year ago and there's a sticky in Cafe about another guy's attempt. Don't bother with the doc's -sort yourself out!

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

Seriously well done mate: just one of those is hard enough, but to give up smoking and lose weight takes some stones!

A general note of caution on the bike front: research and asking advice is the sensible thing to do, just beware of drifting into an "arms race": one minute you have a set budget and the next thing your life won't be complete unless you have a carbon fibre water bottle.

All entry level bikes will be a compromise in one area or another: accept this and just ride. When you come to upgrade your bike in a year or so, you will have a much better understanding of what makes a good bike and what areas you want to spend more money on.

Viking San Remo: I don't know anything about Viking, but the one thing that stands out is the amount of building required: loses points for that.

Decathlon B'Twin: Decathlon are a big, well established brand on the Continent and regularly receive good write-ups on forums for being value-for-money and good quality.

Four bikes from a magazine review this Summer of sub-£500 bikes. In summary they wrote "All four of these bikes provide a positive road riding experience for the newer rider..."

- Raleigh Airlite 100
- Revolution Continental
- Carrera TDF
- Dawes Giro 300

The Airlite seems to be discontinued and is becoming hard to find, but this also means that there are bargains to be had if you find it in your size (several on Ebay).

The Revoulution and Carrera are both in-house brands, so you won't find them elsewhere new. Please note that Halfords generally receive poor reviews for their after-sales service, but this bike (and the whole Boardman range) are very good.

It doesn't matter how good a bike is, if it is uncomfortable; ideally you want to ride a bike before you buy it: so out of all the bikes above, I recommend whichever one you can test ride and are comfortable on.

 

[Dave Martin]

Thanks for the speedy replys . My hybrid is a Viking and while I find the bike overall quite good it will be going in for a new sealed cartridge fitted next week as the bottom bracket/crank already has some play it it after only 200 miles which may pose a question on the long term reliability of some of their components though I didn't know if they would be a higher quality in the san remo which is a more expensive bike than my hybrid .
The B Twin was 50 quid cheaper than the san remo in Decathlon and looks a very nice bike but I'll also keep my options open for a good second hand ride if it's been looked after.
Don't fancy Halfords,I've heard plenty of bad reports about them and a friend of mine has 2 Boardmans which he has had problems with mainly because of the way the bikes were set up both from new and after service.
I like the try before you buy idea and can I ask what is a Tiagra group set ?
Thanks again for the advise guys, it's good to be able to ask the much more experienced

 

[DCLane]

My two penn'th:

Decathlon; looked at one and it seemed good. I'm going back shortly to get a new bike for my youngest and SWMBO.
Viking; tend to be heavy, slow and not well set-up.
Halfords; I've got a Carrera Virtuoso, which I've been very impressed with. It's a budget bike, when it's at the sale price, and is worth looking at. The TDF also, alongside this.
Revolution; seem to be OK and staff at work have them on the Cycle 2 Work scheme

 

[smokeysmoo]

TBH to Viking, your BB probably just needs nipping up, it'd very unusual IMO for it to need replacing after only 200 miles. FWIW of the choices thrown out so far I'd go for one of the Carrera's or the B.Twin if you feel you must buy new. However, I wouldn't buy new with your budget TBH and instead I'd by a used bike. You will get much more bike for your money IMO

 

[cyberknight]

go for decathlon bike, the triban 3 is it?

carbon fork so it will be lighter and take the sting out of road buzz and a triple chainring i believe to give you a big range of gears with only small jumps in ratios so you can get a sweet spot for cadence more easily.

 

[accountantpete]

I like the try before you buy idea and can I ask what is a Tiagra group set ?
Thanks again for the advise guys, it's good to be able to ask the much more experienced

The starter bikes will usually come with a lower end Shimano groupset. The basic set will be Sora 9spd and not everyone likes the shifting on these - the answer is to go for the next on the list the more expensive Tiagra. I'd ask your LBS about these.

 

[DCLane]

Even more basic is the Shimano 2300, with 2203 below that !

 

[Monsieur Remings]

+ 1 on going second-hand. Start with something you can upgrade in time.

When I bought my first serious modern road bike, I bought one of these (different year) and I can't fault them. In time you can upgrade the wheels but you'll still have a frame that's worth upgrading if that makes sense. IMO, a lot of bikes at the price range you're talking - new - are not going to be as good as something second-hand in the same price bracket. I'd have a Giant frame second-hand over anything you've mentioned.

Check Classifieds here and at Bike Radar but also ebay, the choice at around £400 will be substantial if you don't mind the odd scratch here or there.

Here's 3 on ebay of the same make and model that I bought - Giant defy. They might not fit etc but may give you some idea of what you could get.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GIANT-DEFY-2-MINT-/260976380094?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3cc36788be

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-Def...0864437930?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item4ab502c6aa

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-Defy-3-5-2010-/130662740082?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item1e6c1b3072

 

[Dave Martin]

Loads of good advise to take in there thank you. Quite a bit to look at now so hopefully I'll be able to find a good road bike that I'm sure I'llget a lot of pleasure from .

 

[smokeysmoo]

Loads of good advise to take in there thank you. Quite a bit to look at now so hopefully I'll be able to find a good road bike that I'm sure I'llget a lot of pleasure from .

If you see something second hand on the likes of fleabay don't hesitate to garner the opinions of the masses on here. Just post up a link and you can be sure people will give their opinions to try and help

 

[Dave Martin]

If you see something second hand on the likes of fleabay don't hesitate to garner the opinions of the masses on here. Just post up a link and you can be sure people will give their opinions to try and help

That would be brilliant.
There is a good Giant stockist near me and by the time I get some cash saved hopefully he will have moved to a bigger premises and he was saying he will have a large open area at the back to try before you decide.
If I pay him a visit and find one I like maybe I could then drop on a second hand model within my budget .
I'll take a look at the Carreras as well. A few people at work have carerra mtbs and say they're a very good bike .
One more question.Thorsby market last year had some Claud Butler road bikes on, are these worth looking at too or should I stay well clear? The name was quality when I was young but that was a long time ago and would market retail mean sub standard quality ?

 

[smokeysmoo]

IIRC Claud Butler was swallowed up by a large faceless international company, along with the likes of Raleigh some years ago, and subsequently quality suffered badly.
I think they've come back a fair bit now but are generally known for touring bikes rather than out and out road bikes IMO