Buying first road bike online

kil0ran wrote:

don simon wrote:

Duncann wrote:

drosco wrote:

I’d check out Planet X too. They always have something half decent around £500.

Indeed they do – this is pretty amazing value, although I wonder what the weight might be…

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBHOLELANSORA/holdsworth-elan-shimano-sora-r3000-disc-road-bike

Any bike at the £500.00 price point is going to be heavy, I wouldn’t have weight as a consideration.

Define heavy. Sub 10kgs at that price point is doable and to my mind pretty light for an aluminium frame

Agreed. A (claimed) 10kg weight isn’t unusual at that price point – at least for alu framed, rim-braked machines (probably not for the Holdsworth). And weight should be a consideration – not 500g here or there but the OP was initially looking at something 25% heavier. That’s the definition of heavy!

Duncann wrote:

drosco wrote:

I’d check out Planet X too. They always have something half decent around £500.

Indeed they do – this is pretty amazing value, although I wonder what the weight might be…

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBHOLELANSORA/holdsworth-elan-shimano-sora-r3000-disc-road-bike

Any bike at the £500.00 price point is going to be heavy, I wouldn’t have weight as a consideration.

jordan_dnsc wrote:

since I live in south Germany near the mountains and it is no surprise if the weather is perfectly fine then it rains for 2 hours and gets fine again.
My budget is 500 EUR.

Check our ROSE and Radon bikes – both start at €900 so over budget but both are German builders that are well rated.  Once you look at the specs you can probably see the value more easily in Decathlon

http://www.radon-bikes.de/roadbike/alu/

http://www.radon-bikes.de/roadbike/alu/

However, I agree with what has been said, Decathlon’s Btwin range offers superb value for money.  Even their Btwin 100 @ £250 looks great as a do it all / commuter bike

Duncann wrote:

is there a Deutsche Decathlon, I wonder…

https://www.decathlon.de

Decathlon is just about everywhere in Europe.

Have a a look a stock in
Have a look at stock in small local bike shops. They tend to discount but not clear away old stock. I just found my brother a 2016 Cannondale Caadx Tiagra disc for £500 last week so they are out there…..

kil0ran wrote:

will be cheaper in Germany than in the UK

I’m guessing that with the depreciation of the £, the UK might be good value for € customers these days. 

Of course, there will also be German retailers (and brands) we don’t know here – cheaper versions of Rose and Canyon (very good value but priced above the OP’s budget). Is there a Deutsche Decathlon, I wonder…

I agree on the Triban 520

I agree on the Triban 520 suggestion – excellent value for money for the specification.

I’d also suggest looking at Merlin Cycles, they often have some good deals:

https://www.merlincycles.com/road-bikes-75267/?sort=price-min

Looks like the PR7-R and Felt F95 would fit with your budget, though there is also a £50 delivery charge for Germany, so maybe you could shop around for a similar German retailer. The Felt is half a kilo lighter than the Triban, though the Triban is probably a more comfortable ride.

Apologies if I’m telling you something you already know, but when looking at bikes the idiot’s guide to comparing how good value they are is to look at the weight, if it’s provided, and also the groupset. Pretty much all the bikes for your budget will have Shimano components, so the order of quality would be Claris at the bottom, then Sora, then Tiagra. Sora is probably the best you’ll get new for that price, and you’ll probably also find a mix of some proper group components and some cheaper equivalents e.g. Sora shifters and derailleurs but a different chainset and cassette. Disc brakes are heavier than rim brakes, so don’t worry if you find a disc brake bike you like that’s a bit heavier than another bike with rim brakes.

Also, do you have any preference about using clipless pedals? Beyond a certain price point road bikes will come without pedals so you need to choose your own. The Triban comes with flat pedals so you can wear normal shoes with them, but the Felt for example comes with clipless pedals and proper cycling shoes as part of the deal. If you will mainly be cycling as a hobby I’d strongly recommend going with clipless pedals as they make you faster!

In summary – can’t go wrong with the Triban.

The first road bike that I

The first road bike that I bought was a Viking (Jubilee) and it was great.

I wouldn’t touch Viking with anyone’s now. CHEAP and NASTY JUNK!

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p0/Road-Bikes/Racing-Road-Racing usually has decent stuff for little money.

decathlon aren’t all bad.

What’s your budget?