Newbie to road bikes, seeking advice

Carnival Of Sorts

Hello folks,

Looking to pick the brains of those far wiser than myself ...

I've been pedalling about on an old mountain bike, and now that i'm getting in shape, i'm looking to take longer trips out, and need an appropriate bike.

Needless to say, im looking for an entry level road bike, not something I'll need a small mortgage to pay for ... and looking in places like Eurocycles, I was expecting to spend in the region of the 600 euro mark ... but in my searching i've found a few bargains and im just worried if its too good to be true ...

First that caught my eye was the Carrera TDF in Halfords ... and reviews seem to be good all things taken into consideration ...

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_810707_langId_-1_categoryId_212536


But then, i spotted one almost half the price again ... a muddyfox Pace.

http://www.sportsdirect.com/muddyfox-pace-road-bike-mens-933070

In reviews, both bikes seem to have been let down in the same area ... tyres and brake blocks, ... so while taking this into consideration, I'm wondering, is it worth spending the extra moolah for the first Bike ... what makes it worth the extra money .... and considering this will be my first road bike ..is it a difference i'm really going to appreciate ?

Looking forward to any tips and advice you may feel like sharing.

J

Darkglasses

Very strongly advise against the Muddyfox. Looks like a heap of junk to be honest. Cheap cheap cheap components, not built to last or be used frequently. You will want a new one very soon, or spend as much again replacing worn out components within a year.

The Carrera is not quite so bad, but it's unquestionably a very basic beginners bike. Many of the components are relatively antiquated now, it hasn't been properly updated for a good few years. Much better value can be found. Again, if you take up cycling as a serious hobby, you will want an upgrade soon enough.

Nothing wrong with this bike - http://www.giant-dublin.ie/bikes/model/2013.giant.defy.5/11833/56807/#specifications

Giant are quite probably the most prolific bike maker out there. Built to last, good quality and comfortable frame. Not the best value out there, but a very good and popular beginner's bike. You'll be happier with it for far longer than the Carrera TDF. Same goes for the Trek, Felt, Scott, Cube etc. equivalents.

From Belfast, this brand is becoming increasingly popular - http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-5-road-bike-black-id_8239801.html

B-twin Triban 5. A fair bit better spec'd than the one above. However, it is a relatively unknown brand compared to Giant. That said, I see plenty of them out on sportives and such, and it is very frequently recommended on this site. Have never used one myself, but they are only based up in Belfast so not a complete mystery.

Carnival Of Sorts

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply - I had come accross both of these bikes in my search. It would seem my initial idea of a 600 euro ball park would have been fairly close to the mark. My local shop has a Felt bike in the same bracket too. Will have a look at the bikes in these price brackets.

Thanks again

Darkglasses

Carnival Of Sorts wrote: »

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply - I had come accross both of these bikes in my search. It would seem my initial idea of a 600 euro ball park would have been fairly close to the mark. My local shop has a Felt bike in the same bracket too. Will have a look at the bikes in these price brackets.

Thanks again

No problem! Very frequent question on here. 600 is basically the amount of money you need to get a very decent road bike that you'll be happy with for a considerable amount of time. The likes of the Carrera TDF ends up being a false economy.

Felt is a very good brand in my opinion, I have a Felt F5 as my main road bike and I'm crazy about it.

BofaDeezNuhtz

DG's on the ball

JMcL

Darkglasses wrote: »

B-twin Triban 5. A fair bit better spec'd than the one above. However, it is a relatively unknown brand compared to Giant.

It's probably the most popular brand in France however - they're everywhere. They're one of Decathlon's "house" brands, and in common with their other own brands in general offer serious value for money. If there were a Decathlon in the south (my credit card balance is probably luck there isn't) you'd see a lot more of them

Darkglasses

JMcL wrote: »

It's probably the most popular brand in France however - they're everywhere. They're one of Decathlon's "house" brands, and in common with their other own brands in general offer serious value for money. If there were a Decathlon in the south (my credit card balance is probably luck there isn't) you'd see a lot more of them

Thanks for that, I didn't know it was big in France. I think I saw two or three at the Wicklow Way this year. I spent most of my time gawking at other people's bikes

valleyoftheunos

I bought a Carrera Virtuoso about 6 weeks ago and have put a decent amount of kilometers on it since. I'm very happy with it, its solid and is more than up to frequent use and long distances. In fairness my frame of reference is limited but I can certainly say it isn't a lemon and is a good starter bike that will make a great winter trainer if and when I buy something fancier. My experience is that Halfords isn't at all bad, certainly not as some make out. The bikes are well made and reasonably spec'd.

the B'twin is frequently recommended here but no one ever seems to have actually owned or ridden one.

Giant Defy 5 is just above the 600 mark and would be better than either the Carrera or B'twin I'm sure.

com1

Looks like a good enough deal for €610

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moser-bikes-speed-sora-2013/

Though LBS should be trying to offload their 2013 stock at this stage so there may be some local bargains out there too

teacherhead

I hope you don't mind me tagging on to your thread Carnival Of Sorts. I'm at the same stage myself tired of fighting with my Hybrid bike and ready to upgrade with about €600 of a budget in mind too.

Was talking a guy today who highly recommended a Jupiter Spider if anyone has an opinion please help. Also I see a lot of these claude butler bikes online... any thoughts? Second and third bikes for example are in my price range in fact on second look there are a lot of good looking bikes on that site but are they sh1t?

My current one is a Carrera from halfords got it on the bike to work scheme was about a 1.5 stone heavier at the time and just wanted to cycle a bit to try lose weight. Now that I'm cycling and a bit lot fitter I want to get more into it but don't want to be on again in 6 months looking to upgrade again having convinced herself that this bike would be the last

I know you guys would prefer to be out pedalling in this weather but any advice you could give would be appreciated.