Buying my first road bicycle...need advice ><

saranas

Hello everyone.was reading various articles for the last week and i am totally lost to be honest.want to buy a road bike and have 1000 euros budget.doing spin classes atm and want to take it outside but have no idea which brand is better for my amount.any advice will do so i get the idea.and i am 196 cm tall -does is make any difference in price or smth?thanks for replies.

petethedrummer

On 2012 stock a bike will be the same price no matter what size you buy. The advantage of being very tall or very small is that there is often stock left over from the previous year at the outer ends of the size scale. If you look at the online stores the biggest discounts are always on the very small and very large sizes. I'm not sure if this is true for a bricks and mortar shop as I'm of average height and never really checked this out.

dave_o_brien

petethedrummer wrote: »

On 2012 stock a bike will be the same price no matter what size you buy. The advantage of being very tall or very small is that there is often stock left over from the previous year at the outer ends of the size scale. If you look at the online stores the biggest discounts are always on the very small and very large sizes. I'm not sure if this is true for a bricks and mortar shop as I'm of average height and never really checked this out.

It can be. Often shops will have a few pretty big and pretty small bikes left around, and at 193cm, you're not so tall that it would be unlikely a shop would stock a bike of that size anyway.

For a start, I'd go to some of the bigger, better known shops to have a gander and see what your budget would get you in a bricks and mortar shop in Ireland. Ask about pedals and shoes and clothes and package deals. Take note of the groupsets (range of gears, brakes, chainsets) you get, size recommendations the shops make, wheels that are on the bike, carbon fork/alloy fork/carbon fork with alloy steerer, etc. Then, armed with a bit of background work, compare these to online prices and offers. What a shop can offer you that an online retailer can't is physical help; they will likely set you up on the bike, offer a free service period, continued help with matters cycling after, so if you are new, it might be worth that for your introduction to cycling. What might be worth the gamble would be using online services for pedals, shoes, clothes, etc, but it's up to you.

In terms of brands, there are so many out there, and most are decent enough. Especially for €1000, most will be endurance-orientated aluminium frames with a carbon fork, probably with a alloy steerer. Endurance orientated means it will have a taller head tube and shorter top tube than a pure race machine, so you'll be a bit more upright. For most people at that budget, that suits better than a long, low position favoured for racing.

I'd be less concerned about brands than I would be about the finishing kit at €1000. You'll probably be getting a shimano equipped bike, so know this:

2300 is cheaper than:
Sora is cheaper than:
Tiagra is cheaper than:
105 is cheaper than:
Ultegra is cheaper than:
Dura Ace.

At your budget, it is likely to be either Tiagra or (possibly) 105 fitted to your bike. Bricks and mortar shops will probably fall on the side of Tiagra, online retailers such as Canyon will be able to do 105 (in a great package too). Wheels are the next thing. At your budget, it is likely to be either:

Alex rims 500
Some own brand wheel system (Bontrager, Giant, Same-as-manufacturer-of-the-frame)
Shimano r501
Fulcrum Racing 7
Mavic Aksium

The last two there are very solid, desirable wheels for your budget, but again it may be difficult to find a bricks and mortar shop with a bike at your budget and those wheels. Canyon have a bike with 105 and Aksium's for €999, which is really great value. But, you take a bit of a gamble with the size, and don't have a physical shop to go back to to ask for advice or anything.

There's a thread here about €1000 bikes, you should read it:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056584708

saranas

great reply.ty so much.thats the problem about suvh a wide choice of bikes damn it.was looking at Canyon roadlite for 999 euros,but have to go into local shop and measure the size somehow.omg didnt realize it would be so hard to choose a bike ><.

dave_o_brien

saranas wrote: »

great reply.ty so much.thats the problem about suvh a wide choice of bikes damn it.was looking at Canyon roadlite for 999 euros,but have to go into local shop and measure the size somehow.omg didnt realize it would be so hard to choose a bike ><.

The good news is that once you make your decision, you will enjoy your bike a lot! The bad news is that once you make your decision, you then have the even more difficult decision of what to get as your "good" second bike. And then your hacker, your mountain bike, your track bike, cross bike, tt... It gets very hard!

But what I suppose I was trying to get at is that for most bricks and mortar shops in Ireland, you will get largely the same thing for your cash: double butted alluminium frame with Shimano Tiagra and solid, but basic, wheels. The advantage of a shop is having their support, advice and expertise onside automatically because you bought from there. This is especially important for a newcomer. I say this as a former newcomer, and a former bike shop employee. Most shops around will look after you, and that can be worth the price difference for a newcomer. The actual difference in spec between bikes at your budget is probably so narrow as to be inconsequential, and geometries are fairly consistent too, with only minor differences. When I was working in the bike shop my advice to most people at that budget was:

Sit on all the bikes we have at or around your budget. Which feels most comfortable? That comfort is probably going to make more of a difference to you than which has the better tyres.

and

Choose the shop where the person looking after you made you feel most confident in them. For most newcomers, the shop assistant ends up being their bike fitter, a coach and possibly their ongoing mechanic or first port of call for bike-related advice. I know I had numerous return customers because they believed what I told them and believed I wasn't out to take their money for the sake of it, but was there to get the best value for them (as they should have, I was good at the job!) Again, this confidence and rapport could end up being worth more to you than the difference between bottom bracket types.

Having said all that, there is no doubt that online offers significantly better bike for your buck. If you know what size you are looking for and how to set up your bike, know what you want out of your pedals, and know your way around the mechanics of your bike, then canyon, rose, planet x et al offer great value products, and often good warranty's too. What your priorities are and your experience in different shops will probably be the deciding factor between you getting an online bargain, or making a local investment.

saranas

thanks!!!!!its too much for me as a newbie to get one online i think.will go into the shop hopefully tomorrow and have a look there.will post my updates )

dave_o_brien

saranas wrote: »

thanks!!!!!its too much for me as a newbie to get one online i think.will go into the shop hopefully tomorrow and have a look there.will post my updates )

Do, yeah, and bear this in mind:

Bike shops, contrary to popular belief, don't make a massive profit on bikes. There is negotiation room, but it's not massive. They make a pretty healthy margin on clothes, lights, bottle cages, etc. Make sure you get a deal!

They are the experts, and should be able to make you feel that they know what they are doing. If they come across obnoxious, impatient, or not knowledgeable, then don't buy your bike off them. The massive benefit in buying from a shop is the people you buy your bike off are there to look after you, and if you think they can't or won't do that for whatever reason, then you're not going to get the value you should from them.

Good luck anyway, look forward to hearing what you get.

saranas

So went to the shop just to get the idea of the bikes and stuff today actually(got so impatient).i know the guy because he owns majority of bike business in town( i live in Killarney) and bought a bike 10 years ago from them.They were helpful anytime i went there for advice or service.Told him that my budget was 800 maybe 900 euros tops and just observed the reaction.He advised that i could get one but there are way better bikes if i add 100 or 200.Salesman trick but i think could be true as well as i was reading alot lately online about bikes.Anyways since i have bike expert on hand(thats you!!) these are the ones he advised:

Trek 1.5 999 euros
Thompson R-7000 999 euros
Focus Variado 999 euros
Specialized Allez Elite 1000 euros (1100 originally but on offer)

He offered Trek straight away.Not sure cause its good or needs to be pushed ><.And then mentioned other ones.Said he should have a frame for any of those for me.So gonna check any reviews online now about them and then with your advise as well get one.Thanks for replies.

edited: so had a quick view online.couldnt find any reviews on thompson R-7000 at all.bikeradar page had other 3 bikes on and after reading them looks like specialized looks best?what do you think.although focus and trek come with pedals and not sure about specialized cause sales guy said bikes under 1000 come with pedals so presume specialized is without which will add some extra cash i guess.

dave_o_brien

saranas wrote: »

So went to the shop just to get the idea of the bikes and stuff today actually(got so impatient).i know the guy because he owns majority of bike business in town( i live in Killarney) and bought a bike 10 years ago from them.They were helpful anytime i went there for advice or service.Told him that my budget was 800 maybe 900 euros tops and just observed the reaction.He advised that i could get one but there are way better bikes if i add 100 or 200.Salesman trick but i think could be true as well as i was reading alot lately online about bikes.Anyways since i have bike expert on hand(thats you!!) these are the ones he advised:

Trek 1.5 999 euros
Thompson R-7000 999 euros
Focus Variado 999 euros
Specialized Allez Elite 1000 euros (1100 originally but on offer)

He offered Trek straight away.Not sure cause its good or needs to be pushed ><.And then mentioned other ones.Said he should have a frame for any of those for me.So gonna check any reviews online now about them and then with your advise as well get one.Thanks for replies.

edited: so had a quick view online.couldnt find any reviews on thompson R-7000 at all.bikeradar page had other 3 bikes on and after reading them looks like specialized looks best?what do you think.although focus and trek come with pedals and not sure about specialized cause sales guy said bikes under 1000 come with pedals so presume specialized is without which will add some extra cash i guess.

Specialized frames are held in high regard, but honestly, between the Trek, Focus and Specialized, the differences are so fine it would come down to aesthetics and personal comfort. I am not familiar with the Thompson's, so can't comment there.

Essentially all three of the others are going to be:

Double butted aluminium
Sportive geometry (in other words, shorter reach and taller head tube than a hardcore race bike)
Carbon forks with aluminium steerers
Basic, but probably well built wheels (in other words, relatively high spoke count and a not-too-exotic weight around the 2kg mark without tyres and cassette)
Shimano Tiagra almost everywhere else

This is standard fair. Bikeradar giving specialized better reviews than some other brands might have something to do with how much Specialized pay for advertising space. While they can be a compass (and often a very helpful one), they are a business, and they should be treated as such.

I'd reckon that with all of the bikes he'd throw in a free set of plastic pedals. He'd want to, to be honest! Most places would go further; I reckon shorts, spare tube, pump, cage, bottle, tyre levers and lights for €1000 could be manageable.

All of those bikes would give you a lot of enjoyment. As I said, the differences between one and another are so fine that intangibles would be more dramatic than anything else, so from that end, people like me are useless!

I would say try a few more shops; there's a lot to be said for finding a shop that you feel good about.

saranas

hello again.just came back from shop.as i was waiting another tall guy came in looking for smth similar in price range of 1000 euros as well.salesman was on the phone about our size bikes to few companies but to no avail.i need size xl bike and the other guy is even taller so 2xl.that's the problem.damn it.so specialized is gone,trek as well.no sizes.so we were left with focus variado 3.0(needs to come back on that one-still not sure) and roubaix 3.0.each 999 euros.or roubaix 2.0 for 1200 but thats too pricy for me already.he said maybe 5% off of that one.so much for the choice ><
this is the one he rates higher than focus variado http://www.thompson.be/th-web2012/engels/race-r7200.asp
going down on monday to see if they have the size i need.he said its full shimano and its better speced than focus which is a mix of shimano/sora.

saranas

just wanted to finish this thread finally...:)i got thompson 7200 in the end for 999 euros,he gave me pedals and helmet as well.there was no size for me on the other ones.i needed size 62 frame.still had to wait for 2 weeks for it to arrive.havent cycled very much with it so far but it feels nice.need to wait for newborn to grow a bit as well as weather to be better ( common Ireland ><) and will enjoy it properly.thanks for all the advice!!!here the pic of the bike:

saranas

sorry have no idea how to make smaller image...