Practical racer for about €250?

techguy

Hi,

I have only cycled mountain style bikes before and hated lugging that extra weight around..

I am looking for a racer style bike that I will be using fro cycling to and from work during the summer and the to/from college next year..

I don't want an uber cool/light racing machine but just a nice, decent quality racer for around the €200-300 mark. Is this possible, where shall I look? What brands should I have in mind and what should I forget about??

Thanks..

mkdon05

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=14992

This is about the cheapest road bike around, not great quality but would probably be ok for what you want.

blorg

That is going to be next to impossible, even second hand. If you could up your budget to €350-400 you would be in with a chance of getting something entry-level second-hand or online.

Second-hand look out for stuff like the Trek 1000 or Giant SCR 3.

Online something like this, perhaps

Entry level starts around €750 new in Irish bike shops, although the Giant SCR 4 is €540- this is really about as low as it goes, and with the 2200 sub-Sora groupset (mind you, I know Sora is reliable and I have no experience of 2200.)

EDIT: Note if buying from CRC I would spend the extra £20 to get the Briza 1.0 with Sora rather than the 2.0 with 2200.

techguy

Thanks for the advce lads..

One of my friends from college has a nice bike which he said only cost him €200..
I'll have to ask him more about it..

tunney

get what you pay for

techguy

Yes I know thats true.. And I always use that to justify my expenditure.. Would it really be a bad bike. Would it not last long,break down etc..

One thing that really bothererd me about bikes in the past was the crappy gears, that after they would begin to shift incorrectly and grind. Really annoying.. would this €200er be like that???

penexpers

Probably, yes.

tunney

lets not beat around the bush.

It would be a pile of.......

Chips Lovell

techguy wrote: »

One thing that really bothererd me about bikes in the past was the crappy gears, that after they would begin to shift incorrectly and grind. Really annoying.. would this €200er be like that???

At that price point, yes.

RDM_83

I'm not in any way qualified to comment on this but why don't you get an old style raleigh racer my friends used them for exactly what your talking about when they were in college
ie
http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=45333&cat=all
I've been looking at this forum for a while and too me it seems that the opinion is that if your not going to spend 500 quid on a bike there no point caring what your cycling.After moving even just from crap mountain bike to ancient Trek 721 its still a way nicer ride and that its always nicer to be cycling than getting dublin bus!

Danbo!

RDM_83 wrote: »

I've been looking at this forum for a while and too me it seems that the opinion is that if your not going to spend 500 quid on a bike there no point caring what your cycling.After moving even just from crap mountain bike to ancient Trek 721 its still a way nicer ride and that its always nicer to be cycling than getting dublin bus!

Thats kind of true but when the OP asks

techguy wrote: »

decent quality racer for around the €200-300 mark. Is this possible, where shall I look?

then no, it isnt possible. You can get a second hand junker thatll do the trick for commuting if you put the hours in maintaining it, but not a "decent quality racer"

alastair

noblestee wrote: »

Thats kind of true but when the OP asks
then no, it isnt possible. You can get a second hand junker thatll do the trick for commuting if you put the hours in maintaining it, but not a "decent quality racer"

I'm flogging a decent quality bike for €250 on this very forum - it's just not a racing bike (and it'll likely shift this weekend). tbh I reckon an older but lighter ridgid/hardtail MTB with 1.25/1.5 semi slicks is the ideal city/commuter bike in this city.

tunney

RDM_83 wrote: »

I've been looking at this forum for a while and too me it seems that the opinion is that if your not going to spend 500 quid on a bike there no point caring what your cycling.After moving even just from crap mountain bike to ancient Trek 721 its still a way nicer ride and that its always nicer to be cycling than getting dublin bus!

Brings back to the question from another thread - what is a cyclist..........

Chips Lovell

alastair wrote: »

tbh I reckon an older but lighter ridgid/hardtail MTB with 1.25/1.5 semi slicks is the ideal city/commuter bike in this city.

Not what the OP wants:

techguy wrote: »

I have only cycled mountain style bikes before and hated lugging that extra weight around..

Chips Lovell

tunney wrote: »

Brings back to the question from another thread - what is a cyclist..........

Someone who owns a floor pump?

alastair

el tonto wrote: »

Not what the OP wants:

Didn't say it was - I was responding to the notion that you'll only get a junker for that sort of money. And a heavy mountain style bike isn't what I was suggesting. Cannondale do very well out of their Bad Boy city bikes which are essentially - wait for it - light MTB frames with 1.25 tyres (and a cool paint job, but the practicalities hold true).

Danbo!

Maybe i phrased it wrong, im not saying youll only get a junker for that kind of money. you can get plenty of bikes that are decent for that sort of money second hand (or some new-like this brand new Giant for only €120) for other uses, But if you factor in what the OP wants in the bike and try to find it with 200-300 it wont be great...

blorg

I honestly don't think there is any point to a MTB unless you are going off-road. Nice bike you have there though.

RDM_83

techguy
"I am looking for a racer style bike that I will be using fro cycling to and from work during the summer and the to/from college next year."

The poster doesn't seem to be interested in _racing_ he seems to be interested in getting to and from places quickly (i.e commuting) and I'l freely admit that I don't know much about racers but I do know that if you put in a bit of time looking at 2nd hand ads you'd get a racing style bike that would suit those needs.

I've actually been meaning to ask this for a while (and I know that most probably build their own fixed wheel ones) but how much does the average courrier spend on their bikes (and if building a fixed wheel how much on parts etc)

techguy

Great feedback guys..

First off - I had a closer look at the friends bike today - not really that impressed!

This Cannondale - Bad Boy Rohloff aint bad.. I would be opposed to this style of bike provided it wasn't too heavy..

What kinda weights should I be using for an entry level racer that I was talking about..

Whats the average price of the cannondale style bike I just mentioned? Are those wheels just like racer wheels?

penexpers

The RRP of that cannondale seems to be around 2200GBP. The Rohloff hub is probably what pushes the price up.

techguy

Oh okay..

** backs away slowly ***

Can I get that kind of bike without the "Rohloff hub"??

blorg

Not for €250 ;-)

Your best bet at €250, if you don't actually want/need a racer, would be a hybrid. You will get a better quality hybrid at that price point than you would a racer. Still need to consider second-hand but you could definitely get something decent. Try to avoid suspension.

techguy

Well, My inital €250 figure wasn't really that realistic so i've decided a bit more is needed..

I saw this Giant FCR 3 in the local bikeshop this morning and I really liked it, especially the regular handlebars coupled with a racer body..It's exactly what I want!!

Just three questions..

What exactly is a CroMo fork, is it some kind of composite??

I've been quoted €539 for this in the local..I don't think this is too bad is it?

What do you guys, the experts think of this bike?

Thanks..

penexpers

CroMo is short for Cromoly which is steel. The disadvantage of this fork is that it would be quite heavy, the advantage is that Cromoly is cheaper than carbon fibre and would have similar shock absorbing properties.

Harpz

€ 539 is the list price for these bikes. I would recommend a bit of friendly haggling, perhaps comparing one or two shops. Shops are often happy to throw in a few extras (lights helmets locks etc).
I was looking into that bike, Hollingsworth in Stillorgan had a 10% off sale at the time so they may be happy to do you a deal.
I went for the BeOne Briza 1.0 2007 from chainreactioncycles which was very discounted (think its gone slightly back up in price). you may want to check it out.