Cheap Road Bike

dceire

My gym is closing down and I have no intention of joining another. Thus, I have decided to buy myself a road bike to fill the gap. I want the bike to cycle to a trail I'm looking at running once a week. The route is about 20k, round trip. I will also be using the bike as a warm up when I go running.

As you can see, I won't be doing any major mileage and am looking to keep costs down to a minimum. Second hand seems to be the way to go and I really don't want to spend any more that €150. The route is reasonably hilly and has some typical Irish road surfaces.

I'll be the first to admit that I know very, very little about bicycles; in particular road bikes. I'd be grateful if you guys could give me some pointers as to what I should look for in a bike and things to avoid. All general recommendations welcome

gman2k

dceire wrote: »

My gym is closing down and I have no intention of joining another. Thus, I have decided to buy myself a road bike to fill the gap. I want the bike to cycle to a trail I'm looking at running once a week. The route is about 20k, round trip. I will also be using the bike as a warm up when I go running.

As you can see, I won't be doing any major mileage and am looking to keep costs down to a minimum. Second hand seems to be the way to go and I really don't want to spend any more that €150. The route is reasonably hilly and has some typical Irish road surfaces.

Good stuff!

(Were you going to ask a question here?):D

Tonyandthewhale

150 is very cheap, possibly too cheap. You may get something second hand but it'll more than likely be very old, friction shifters, steel rims, worn out gears and chain, all that craic. If you want a nicer cycling experience I'd say keep saving.

dceire

Gman2k: Ha ha, yea! I guess I forgot to get to the point. OP has now been amended :rolleyes:

Tonyandthewhale: I know €150 is very much on the cheap side but I really can't justify paying any more at the moment. I have a Peugeot mountain bike in the garage that's in good nick, would it be worth getting a set of road tires for that instead of buying a cheap road bike?

kenmc

Hang on now.

You said the gym is closing down and you have no intention of joining another. Which would imply that had the gym not closed down, you'd have happily gone on paying the 5-600 euro or whatever a year that it cost you.

So why not put that money that you save by not joing the gym into a bike, and you'll get a far far far better bike than the clunker that the budget you've already set will get you.

(Unless of course you actually want the clunker as a form of cross training; some resistance work due to the weight of the thing and then walking home with it when it breaks something when you're 15km from home)

smacl

dceire wrote: »

Would it be worth getting a set of road tires for that instead of buying a cheap road bike?

For a 20k round trip, where you're not too concerned about speed, I'd say yes. I put a set of City jets on an old MTB to turn it into a commuter and they work well enough. Still much slower than a road bike, or even hybrid with 700c wheels, but perfectly functional nonetheless.

Dermot Illogical

I'd say use the bike you already have until you can save enough for a decent replacement. It sounds fine for your intended usage tbh.

dceire

I think just getting the tires changed on the bike I have seems to be the way to go. I'm not too concerned with speed etc. Once it gets me there and back with some exercise along the way I'm happy out.

As for the gym money, I was only paying about 20 quid per month for off peak. I'd love to get myself a nice road bike but I can't justify paying the money for the amount of use it'd get.

Out of interest, would this be anywhere near decent or just a pile?

Tonyandthewhale

dceire wrote: »

Out of interest, would this be anywhere near decent or just a pile?

pile. dodgy ebay special.

happytramp

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

150 is very cheap, possibly too cheap. You may get something second hand but it'll more than likely be very old, friction shifters, steel rims, worn out gears and chain, all that craic. If you want a nicer cycling experience I'd say keep saving.

I've spent a lot of time and money recently to achieve that exact cycling experience (minus the worn gears and chain), different strokes and all that.

Notch000

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vittesse-Sprint-21-speed-Alloy-Racing/dp/B003DZ15CQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1307093622&sr=8-1
+ free delivery

I bought one of these around 6 weeks ago, Suprisingly good actually, about 300Km done & its all good so far, price has gone up a bit since but it only cost me 150E then, if it only lasts another couple of months i'd be happy as having the money spend on a cheap introduction to road biking, cant really go wrong for the price

reilig

Notch000 wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vittesse-Sprint-21-speed-Alloy-Racing/dp/B003DZ15CQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1307093622&sr=8-1
+ free delivery

I bought one of these around 6 weeks ago, Suprisingly good actually, about 300Km done & its all good so far, price has gone up a bit since but it only cost me 150E then, if it only lasts another couple of months i'd be happy as having the money spend on a cheap introduction to road biking, cant really go wrong for the price

I bought a "Viking Spring" off Amazon about this tuime last year for €170. I just wanted a cheap bike to see how I'd get on. Its a lovely light bike with Shimano gears. I have put a couple of thousand Kilometers on it so far and have had no problems with it bar a new tyre, tube and rim from hitting a pothole late at night. I go out cycling with a group every now and then and have no problem keeping up with some of the bikes that cost €1000's.
Last week, a bike shop near to where I work had my exact bike on special for €450 (saying that it had been reduced from €600).

I'm not saying that my bike is as good as one for €1000 but as you said, it was a cheap introduction to road biking.

dceire

Cheers lads. Did ye buy it off of amazon then? What's the craic with delivery?

joconnell

Definitely interested in this too - was torn between a trek fx hybrid or a second hand 1000 / 1.1 for about 400 quid but this is a bit of a no brainer!

MungoMan

Notch000 wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vittesse-Sprint-21-speed-Alloy-Racing/dp/B003DZ15CQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1307093622&sr=8-1
+ free delivery

I bought one of these around 6 weeks ago, Suprisingly good actually, about 300Km done & its all good so far, price has gone up a bit since but it only cost me 150E then, if it only lasts another couple of months i'd be happy as having the money spend on a cheap introduction to road biking, cant really go wrong for the price

You are basically saying that youd be happy if they bike you bought lasts about 4 months in total from new !
You are easily pleased !

I wouldnt buy any bike if I thought it would last less than 10 years, more than that in fact !

reilig

MungoMan wrote: »

You are basically saying that youd be happy if they bike you bought lasts about 4 months in total from new !
You are easily pleased !

I wouldnt buy any bike if I thought it would last less than 10 years, more than that in fact !

I have mine over a year at this stage. Its still as good as new. I can't see any reason why it won't last 10 years or longer.

The point that i was trying to make above was that I didn't know if cycling was for me or not so what's the point in investing a whole load of money into a bike that might only be cycled 10 times. Now that I'm getting into it, I may consider upgrading my bike in the future, but for now, my bike allows me to keep up with others who spent EUR1000 for theirs, even though mine cost less than Eur200.

An excellent starter bike by all accounts.

People should not think that you need to spend a small fortune on a bike in order to get into cycling.

dceire

Notch000 wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vittesse-Sprint-21-speed-Alloy-Racing/dp/B003DZ15CQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1307093622&sr=8-1
+ free delivery

I bought one of these around 6 weeks ago, Suprisingly good actually, about 300Km done & its all good so far, price has gone up a bit since but it only cost me 150E then, if it only lasts another couple of months i'd be happy as having the money spend on a cheap introduction to road biking, cant really go wrong for the price

Is the free delivery just for the UK?