Which (cheapish!) modern road bike?

[Ziggy]

I want to start riding to work! :shock:

I've barely ever ridden a road bike, but I reckon it'd be significantly better than slicks on an mtb? It's about 15 miles, so I want to make it as easy as I can...

So where do I start? Figure I'll head into a few shops & see what I like the look of, but I really don't know anything about em...
I'm not looking to spend a lot to start with, but I don't want something that's going to put me off by weighing 3 tonnes & having $hite gears etc...

What makes are good? What kit's good? How many gears should it have?! I need help here

Cheers

 

[Stick Legs]

Can't recommend Genesis stuff highly enough! just pick your price, they all have pretty good kit.

Budget £600 and you'll get a good useable bike, don't forget the single speed stuff though, Kona and Specialised as well as Genesis do single speed roadies for reasonable money.

 

[Yo Crashy]

Singlespeed/fixed? Specialized Langster @ £400
Geared? Specialized Allez @£500

Friendly Dorset Spesh dealers always cut a good deal as well!

 

[Ziggy]

Hmmm... think I'll be going second hand to start with then! I'm not even sure how I'll get on with it, so I don't want to fork out that much at the moment. If I keep at it, then I'll spend some more...

I wouldn't think singlespeed's best for my needs... I need to get there as quickly (/easily!) as possible & should have thought gears'd be a good move?

Ta

 

[Tranquility Base]

Have a look at the Cycling Plus website or the the one below which has a good archive of reviews from the forum members (in fact it's a bloody good site for a whole lot of stuff).

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/default.asp?sp=&v=1

 

[thecynic]

Try this bloke on the bay i bought my first road bike off & so have a couple of mates from my triathlon club 100% kosher stand-up bloke.




http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kinetic-One-FK-Ze ... dZViewItem

 

[gradeAfailure]

I bought a Carrera Virtuoso off eBay for about £125 with Alex aero wheels on it - did me fine for a year of riding to work (though seeing as it's only 4miles now I've gone back to MTBs!).

Depends whether you want a "proper" road bike or are happy enough with something like a Carrera I suppose...

 

[dickbrowne]

Don't knock Carrera's - I've got a Gryphon with a mixed Shimano groupset, it's light, stiff and probably more fun to ride than my carbon roadie with 10speed 2007 105 and Mavic wheelset.

Curiosuly enough, it's also for sale... Interested? It'll fit anyone between about 6' and 6'4 (maybe a bit more but that's the range I've loaned it to in the past). Pics available if you want them.

 

[Ziggy]

Certainly interested, so show us the pics! I'm 5'10" though... Taller than average in the upper body, but not particularly long legs!


Thanks for all the input guys... I think I'll look for something second hand / affordable (like a carrera etc!) to see how I get on...

 

[dickbrowne]

Ziggy - YGM!