Cheap road bike

Smoggy

Hi,

I'm looking for a cheap road bike for around €200 - does anyone know of any good websites that deliver to Ireland for me to look at ?

Thanks

Quigs Snr

Forget it. At that price you don't have a chance. Cheapest is around 400 euro from ChainReactionCycles (a BeOne Briza - which is a decent starter bike).

Apart from that there literally is nothing out there (I have seen "Racers" on ebay for that money new, but they are the worst rubbish imaginable, enough to put you off cycling forever, seriously, they have components on them from childrens bikes and will fall apart in minutes, not days). Even secondhand you will not get anything worthwhile at that price.

Caroline_ie

I think Halfords are having a bike sale at the moment, and do have a road bikes... minght be worth a look.

tunney

Halfords........... fast forward a month......... "I bought a bike from halfords and bits keep falling off....... is this normal for a road bike?"

blorg

+1 what Quigs said.

I certainly wouldn't buy a road bike from Halfords at that price, although their Carrera and Boardman ranges are meant to be decent (a fair bit more than €200 though.)

Caroline_ie

tunney wrote: »

Halfords........... fast forward a month......... "I bought a bike from halfords and bits keep falling off....... is this normal for a road bike?"

Not normal ... you should have a warantee ... bring it back.

... And well ... i guess the original post was 'what can I get for 200 quid' ... Not much that decent unfortunately.

Gavin

I.... can't.... seeem.... to handle .... it .... cap'n... There.... are..... tooo...... many.... periods.... aaieieiee........

Smoggy

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_253013_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_123972_crumb_33980-90909_parentcategoryrn_123972

Looked like a winner

Halfords have it at €260, but the Uk store has it at £106 - about €150. Robbery !

blorg

I think most people here were presuming by "road bike" you meant "racer" as that is the common use of the term. The Apollo range from Halfords does not have a good reputation but at least with that thing you wouldn't have any suspension to go wrong; it could work out OK.

If you are looking for a hybrid you should be able to pick a decent one up second-hand for €200 - think Dawes Discovery, Trek FX series, etc.

Smoggy

Sorry - A road bike to me would be anything that is not a mountain bike - a commuter bike....

hunnymonster

no a road bike usually had drops, narrow wheels, racing geometry .. the commuter type of bike you're talking about is called all sorts, city bike, hybrid, commuter but never a road bike.

The good news is that €200 is a more realistic budget for what you want than for a road bike.

copacetic

tunney wrote: »

Halfords........... fast forward a month......... "I bought a bike from halfords and bits keep falling off....... is this normal for a road bike?"

rubbish, I know loads of people that have bought from them with no issues. The boardman and carrera range get amazing reviews and are solid bikes. Surely seeing the boardmans used at the tri world champs would tell you that?

sirspamalot

Hi Smoggy,

it would appear that most people on this discussion group are VERY serious about their bikes and what you & I would consider to be a reasonable bike might not make the grade for others. I mentioned a place called Ferris Wheels in a recent post. They are at the end of Booterstown ave and are selling mountain bikes for €150.

I haven't bought one but I can comment on the repairs that they have done to my existing bike. They are nice people who do not over-charge.

Good luck.

S.

blorg

sirspamalot- I think it was more that he used the term "road bike" and we took him up wrong. Because you won't get a decent racer for €200. He could however get a halfway decent hybrid, especially if he goes second hand.

The other point people would be making is that there is an entry-level for each type of bike and if you go below that, you are likely to end up spending a lot of money on repairs and fixing stuff when it breaks/goes wrong. There was another thread on here in the last few days from someone who bought an Apollo MTB from Halfords and the thing was literally falling apart on him.

The entry level for road bikes is higher than for hybrids, which is good news for the OP as he has a chance to pick up a hybrid for that price, but even then there isn't a lot decent new at that price point so I'd suggest going second hand.

copacetic

I think I should point out Blorg that the thread was actually about a Shockwave full suss mountain bike which he took back and exchanged for an Apollo hybrid that he seemed very happy with.

blorg

copacetic wrote: »

I think I should point out Blorg that the thread was actually about a Shockwave full suss mountain bike which he took back and exchanged for an Apollo hybrid that he seemed very happy with.

Ah ok, apologies. The Apollo could well do the job. As I said, the lack of suspension means less to go wrong.

Alternatively look for something like this Trek 7100 on adverts.ie although the seller has it well overpriced in my opinion.

copacetic

I think they are ok and have advised a few people looking for a starter for trying out cycling to work to look at them. The are heavy but all solid components and very little that can go badly wrong. They are so cheap that you could probably sell it
on for not much less than you pay also..

Of course if you can get a second hand higher quality bike then that is the way to go.