road bike

readthecontract

I am looking to buy a good quality road bike at reasonable cost (aren't we all!!)

All advice appreciated.

DePurpereWolf

What's good quality.
What's reasonable costs.

It would be nice if you could show at least a bit of research before you ask a question.

Otherwise my answer will be, as always, get the yellow one on the left.

eggie

How long is a piece of string?

t0mm

A decent road bike would most likely set you back €600+. You will want an aluminium frame with carbon forks, a weight of under 10kg at least, and Shimano Tiagra or above chainset. Do you know of and can you avail of the Bike to Work tax saver scheme run by the government? Talk to your work about it, unfortunately some workplaces don't run the scheme, and if you're not working you can't avail of it at all. An example of a half decent road bike at a good cost would be the Giant Defy 4, its worth googling or even better going into a good bike shop (not halfords) and asking them, they'd be happy to help you get an idea of what you should be looking for.

kenmc

I like green ones, they always work well.

abcdggs

kenmc wrote: »

I like green ones, they always work well.

no way, the green ones dont work at all. if you want a good one go blue!!

niceonetom

readthecontract wrote: »

I am looking to buy a good quality road bike at reasonable cost (aren't we all!!)

It seems that the more often that question is asked here the less helpful the replies become. This is understandable.

My advice would be to read through some of the (many) previous "i need a road bike" type threads, look at some LBSs and internet shops (wiggle, evans, chianreactioncycles, etc) and come back to this thread when you have some more specific query. This or this? What does this mean? that sort of thing. The responses will me more and better.

There is very good advice to be had around here.

TinyExplosions

kenmc wrote: »

I like green ones, they always work well.

Red ones go faster. Pink ones the fastest.

kenmc

No way, my red one is slower than my black one. Red is only fast in Car-land, not bike-land. Think Ferrari, there's a reason they're red.

t0mm

kenmc wrote:

Think Ferrari, there's a reason they're red.

Are they fast because they're red, or red because they're fast?

kenmc

t0mm wrote: »

Are they fast because they're red, or red because they're fast?

Yes.

rflynnr

niceonetom wrote: »

It seems that the more often that question is asked here the less helpful the replies become. This is understandable.

My advice would be to read through some of the (many) previous "i need a road bike" type threads, look at some LBSs and internet shops (wiggle, evans, chianreactioncycles, etc) and come back to this thread when you have some more specific query. This or this? What does this mean? that sort of thing. The responses will me more and better.

There is very good advice to be had around here.

Shouldn't Lumen's "bike decision tree" be developed as a sticky with actual bikes at the end of the roots? I'm happy to collaborate on those elements I actually know something about.

SalthillGuy

abcdggs wrote: »

no way, the green ones dont work at all. if you want a good one go blue!!

I always heard that 'yellow stripes' go faster.

Lumen

rflynnr wrote: »

Shouldn't Lumen's "bike decision tree" be developed as a sticky with actual bikes at the end of the roots? I'm happy to collaborate on those elements I actually know something about.

The wiki is probably the best place for that. A list of bikes with eyelets and clearance for mudguards and/or wider tyres would be a good start, since this can be quite hard to work out from squinting at downsized brochure pics on t'interweb.

My obsessions currently focus elsewhere, unfortunately.

niceonetom

rflynnr wrote: »

Shouldn't Lumen's "bike decision tree" be developed as a sticky with actual bikes at the end of the roots? I'm happy to collaborate on those elements I actually know something about.

Yes. Off you go .

I had a go at it when that thread came up. It was back-of-an-envelope stuff but the decision tree quickly became a sprawling and unwieldy maze. Hopefully you'll do better with it. I look forward to your first draft.

Nietzschean

http://www.gliffy.com

just googled that but it might work well for this...

Wez

I find it quite simple really, the Bike Tree works, helps decide on what style of bike ya want, and then you can just google reviews for bikes in that category..

That Gliffy site looks good, but there's no harm having an image (un-updatable) with a list of categories for bike styles.

I find that when looking for oppinions (i.e. "Which of these bikes is better" threads) bigger forums like Bikeforums.net have more users and therefore a better chance that somebody's used both, or is in a better position to answer.

My 2 cent..

aquario

Bought a mountain bike in Halfords Wexford yesterday, 18 gears €124. Good deals at the moment. think there nationwide

kenmc

aquario wrote: »

Bought a mountain bike in Halfords Wexford yesterday, 18 gears €124. Good deals at the moment. think there nationwide

Wait till you try cycling it though. Especially on a mountain.
124 is cheaper than the entry level suspension fork on wiggle. That has to raise some alarm bells when you consider the rest of the bike no?

He also asked for a road bike.