upgrade commuter

km991148

Hi,

been looking at this bike to work thing, and got me thinking about a new bike....

I currently have an 07 specialized globe hybrid (spec here), which I have put 25mm gatorskins on and has seen me ok for the last couple o years, however now I am thinking of upgrading through the bike 2 work scheme and not sure where to go;
I can only really fund it by selling the globe (which is in good condition) therefore my total spend i.e. value of the bike needs to be around 500euro;

I fancy something that can get me going a bit faster and I am thinking of getting out and about on the wekend (think I will do the wexford charity thing in september) but not sure what to be looking at;

I seen one of these Giant defy 4 which seems to be as much of a road bike I can get for my budget, but is there much point? i.e. this seems to be built up of old parts etc; I think I will go try find somewhere to try out different styles of bikes at the weekend, but what should I be looking for? What bikes would people recommend in this range?

cheers, km

km991148

no bikes to reccomend checking out? does this mean I am wasting my time for 500eur?

Lumen

It's not clear from your post whether you intend to use the bike to work scheme or not.

If you do, you are better spending something closer to the full allowance, as you only get to do it once every five years (or more likely once before they scrap the scheme).

The components on a €500 road bike will probably be quite basic, particularly since you're buying mid-summer and the bike shops have had huge demand from the scheme - great offers are hard to come by, and lots of stock is sold out.

km991148

ahh ok..

I should have been clearer..

I would be using b2w but still wont be able to spend over 500 (or not very much over); But you have answered my q in a round about way i.e. probably not worth getting a 500euro road bike?

Would the components on a 500 road bike be comparable to a 500euro hybrid? i.e. I know the cheap road bike components would be poorer compared to the more expensive rb's but are they going to be bad comming from a cheap hybrid?

or would I not really notice much difference at all?

I still figured it would be better getting a new bike now (I prob wont be in ireland in 5yrs anyway so the 5yr limit does not worry me) as I wont ever be spending more than 500 in the forseeable.

cheers,
km

km991148

also, if it means waiting until later in the year thats fine too.. I know that even b4 b2w this is really not the best time to buy..