Wanted Road/Racing Bike
- Thread starter cah1234
- Start date
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Scilly Suffolk
Über Member
Hello! Welcome to the forum and welcome to cycling.
It's a good idea not to spend a lot of money, if you don't know if cycling will be for you. However, you need to be aware of the restrictions that your budget will impose on you.
Buying new, is out of the question: anything that Tesco or Argos will flog you for £100 will be rubbish and quite possibly dangerous: they are very low quality, but worse than that, they are not set-up properly which is what makes them dangerous.
This means that you will be buying second hand and the two biggest risks are that you will buy a stolen bike (especially with your budget) or that you will buy a bike that requires a lot of work (especially if you don't know what to look for); these risks are even greater if you are buying over the internet.
Contact your local cycling clubs and explain your situation: even if no-one has a bike to sell, they will be well informed about the local market and be able to offer you some sound advice.
Research local bike recycling schemes: there are lots of organisations around the country who take in bikes (abandoned bikes the council has recovered, stolen bikes the Police have recovered etc) and refurbish them before selling them to the public. Your local council is a good place to ask: try whoever deals with the environment or recycling or ask the park wardens what they do with dumped bikes.
The bikes that are sold on here, tend to be more expensive (have a look through the old ads to get an idea), but you might get lucky.
For more advice, have a look in the beginners section: there are plenty of "what bike" and "how to buy second hand" threads there.
Good luck and happy cycling!
Jim.
biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
cah1234 , where are you based in uk ?
how tall are you and what size frame do you want or need ?
how tall are you and what size frame do you want or need ?
Enigma2008
Veteran
- Location
- Nottingham
Contact a few bike clubs or bike forums and ask if anyone has a winter bike for your budget, that way you'll likely get an older race quality bike that you can strip down and clean up.
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Local papers etc, Friday Ads do an online site, you can sometimes find old but good Raleighs in the bike section.
smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
FWIW if you do see something on eBay/Gumtree* post a link on here and people will give you their honest opinion. As others have said, a ton is not a lot of money to get a bike with, but there again you don't want to spend a lot if you are unsure whether you'll take to it.
Try asking around your mates and work colleaugues, (assumption you work being made there, apologies if you don't), but you might be surprised to find what people have stuck in the back of their sheds/garages**
*other online sales sites are available
**other storage are available also
to CC, I hope you get fixed up and that the bug bites you 
Try asking around your mates and work colleaugues, (assumption you work being made there, apologies if you don't), but you might be surprised to find what people have stuck in the back of their sheds/garages**
*other online sales sites are available
**other storage are available also
to CC, I hope you get fixed up and that the bug bites you 
NotthatJasonKenny
Faster on HFLC
- Location
- Bolton
I'm 5'9 and a bit and I ride a 56cm frame but some guides say I should be on a 54, it's all about getting a bike that fits I would say!
I used to ride my mountain bike on the road and whilst its ok if you don't know any different when I bought a road bike it was amazing how much better it was and I think you ate more likely to enjoy it too!
Have a look on fleabay, there's a vintage Raleigh pursuit for £85 which is pricey but has heritage!
Scilly Suffolk
Über Member
A good choice to try out cycling.
You can pick up a MTB for £50 or so, stick some road tyres on and still have change from £100.
You do need to be even more cautious of buying a stolen bike though: sub-£100 MTB are the bread & butter of thieving scroats!
D
Deleted member 20519
Guest
I'd suggest www.gumtree.com - there's a lot of good bikes on there for good prices. Watch out though, some bikes are stolen.
uphillstruggler
Guru
- Location
- Half way there
look on fleabay, there were loads of older raleighs etc on over the weekend, most going for a fair bit under your £100.
just make sure you save a bit to replace tyres/brake blocks etc when you get it.
it really depends on the type of riding you want to do, have a good read of the what bike section to get a better idea of what you may need/like.
good luck
just make sure you save a bit to replace tyres/brake blocks etc when you get it.
it really depends on the type of riding you want to do, have a good read of the what bike section to get a better idea of what you may need/like.
good luck
