aqaleigh said:
just checked out spa cycles - cheers for the heads up - v/cheap
they've got a
DAWES Audax Sport 2008
£460
sounds very good value
It's value depends upon what modification you might want to make.
The gearing on the Audax Sport is not ideal for touring especially if you are cycle camping. The Dawes Audax bikes are essentially road bikes with a slightly more relaxed geometry.
I had a road bike with a Sora triple chainset with a 30 tooth granny ring and an 11-23 tooth cassette. A weekend ride with camping gear demonstrated a need to lower the gearing and this was limited by the capacity of the rear derrailer to 28 teeth. The gearing was still a tad on the tall side and could have been cured by the purchase of a smaller granny ring or fitting an MTB cassette and derraileur.
I bought a s/h Galaxy instead.
Five years on with 14,000 miles of leisure cycling under my belt I have built a light tourer/audax bike with a Shimano 105 chain set 50,44,30 and an 11-32 tooth cassette and the gearing is just about right for cycle camping.
Do look at the gear ratios on any bikes that you are think of buying. Post purchase corrections can turn out to be expensive.