Help Buying a Bike

kennyb3

Hi,

Im usually a runner at heart but have an achilles injury at present and want to stay off the roads for a bit but still train and was thinking cycling might be the best way, esp as maybe eventually i ll do a duathlon or tri.

Im looking for help to finding a bike, not sure what type to go for, as in should i just spend €200 odd euro and get a mountain bike or spend €500 to €600 and get something bit better.

I dont really have more tahn €600 to spend, could i get anything decent for that?? i.e that i wont look stupid bringing to a duathlon or tri race. i ve no experience of buying bikes so a link to a suitable one and/or a suitable one would be great.

im sure you get a thousand threads like this but i really would appreciate your help

also i live in north county dublin. i should prob add im 5 foot 8'.

Brian

PS would the ribble bike being advertised worth a look at?

what sort of brands are best and should i be looking at light or heavy?

i basically just wanna start wracking up the miles and take it from there but not break the bank.

davgtrek

for tri/duathlons its a road racer bike you're after.
you'll struggle in that price range

look at

www.paulscycles.co.uk
www.evanscycles.co.uk

etal for a feel for costs. I would say look out for a second hand racer, you'd prob get a decent enough one for €600 ur max budget.

Then go into local bike shops knowing the cost of these bikes and what the specs are and haggle with them.

look at some of the cycling forums buy & sell.

try mbcc.ie ( its a mountain bike forum but often have road bikes for sale etc. )

try some of the triathlon ireland forums. should be lads always upgrading and selling bikes there as they improve.

put your request into the wanted buy/sell sections etc.

Do not waste €2-300 on a mountain bike from local shop as they are sh%te and weigh a ton.

Lumen

Something like that Ribble would be much, much better than a cheap mountain bike.

Fit is important for road bikes, esp. if you are carrying an injury, so try and spare a bit of budget for component tweaking or a bike fit session (e.g. €70 with IrishFit).

kennyb3

what about the Giant OCR i see discussed below?

davgtrek

Brian
have a look at these

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s6p1343

or this one

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/allez-27-2009-road-bike-ec016020

i suppose giant ( can be heavy in that price range ) specialised and lapierre would fit the bill in ur price range

kennyb3

also as regards links, are there any irish shops that are suitable. or is importing a bike fairly easy? should i be looking to the uk (or go up north this weekend) with the exchange rate

kennyb3

seen trek 1.2 and giant defy 4 mentioned as good intro bikes on the TRI forum, would they be the right sort of thing for me?

davgtrek

i'd be going up north myself.

i had this with a new mtb a few years ago.
local lads will fleece ya and have bad selections ( i am not city based ).

shipping on those bikes from UK would be prob €30.

because a few local shops told me to f£$k off when i asked would they fix up the new internet bike and get it road ready I got the bike shipped.
( it will come in a big flat box and all it really needs done is to fit the pedals and fix on the handlebars )
then i brought it to my local Halfords ( I know hiss & boo ) and took out their €25 per year free servicing and maintenance which meant they assembled it and i cycled it out the door.

saved a fortune against the local lads.

alternatively take a trip up north etc.

good luck.

PS. lighter is better with road bikes.
you want something with fairly durable and reliable derailleurs.
you'd find that the most expensive ones are not neccessarily the best especially hammering around in tri's and not having a mechanic tweaking them all the time.
Ideally a carbon front fork. this reduces weight.
a good reliable and durable set of wheel rims, mavic etal.

TakeTheVeil

Anyone used PaulsCycles before? Might be interested in that 07 GT GTR Series 3.

Pretty steep shipping though, £70. ('',)

kennyb3

so the general consensus seems to be a gian defy 4. how would this compare to

1. the giant fcr4
2. a Trek 1.2

petethedrummer

trek 1.2
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055571124

more suitable for Tri than an FCR.

kennyb3

petethedrummer wrote: »

trek 1.2
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055571124

more suitable for Tri than an FCR.

this seems to suggest buying the defy and not the trek. however it refers to a defy 2.5 and not an fcr

im confused

davgtrek

yea. i got my last MTB from paulscycles.
they were sound. its dear for shipping but your saving a lot more...