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Value road bike for ca. £350?

by KingMonkey
Wed, Jun 26, 2013 08:09
12

I've roped a friend into doing a charity cycle in Sept with me and he's looking to get a road bike - but on a budget.

He's been looking at this
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_...

Anybody any thoughts on this or recommendations otherwise?

Thanks in advance!

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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12 comments

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Kapelmuur | 11 years ago
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About 18 months ago I was in the position of wanting to try a sportive but not knowing whether I'd like cycling enough to continue afterwards.

I bought a TdF, £260 at the time, and it has been faultless to date.

One comment I'd make is that it could be too high geared for a beginner, although the gearing might have changed on the current model.

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dunnoh | 11 years ago
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My friend has a Triban and has had to replace the chain, rear mech, front mech and rear cartridge. He's also getting new tyres and brakes. All this in less than 1000 miles. He loves it and burns us all off. However in terms of cash spent he could have bought something more solid for the same money.

I love my cheap bike bought from Edinburgh bikes (revolution brand), Ive done several k's on it and it hasnt missed a beat. They crop up second hand and as they are a bargain in the first place they are usually cheap as chips

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ped replied to dunnoh | 11 years ago
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dunnoh wrote:

I love my cheap bike bought from Edinburgh bikes (revolution brand), Ive done several k's on it and it hasnt missed a beat. They crop up second hand and as they are a bargain in the first place they are usually cheap as chips

Good call. My nephew picked up one of these up second hand as his first proper road bike. It's doing him proud.

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Tjuice | 11 years ago
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+1 for second hand. Potential for some excellent value for money. Could also look at the Classifieds section of lfgss forum - lots for sale there.

I wouldn't entirely discount eBay. Occasionally you can find a good deal on there. Albeit quite a few years back now, I bought an excellent 21 speed Sunn racing bike with Shimano RSX groupset for £150 on eBay. It barely looked used, but it was collection only from a slightly awkward location, which by complete chance happened to suit me very well indeed. The chap was also prepared to throw in his (again, nearly new) road shoes at no cost because I had the same size feet - I gave him an extra tenner and felt I was getting a bargain! The bike served me very well for years.

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Simon E replied to Tjuice | 11 years ago
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Definitely try ebay. If you browse the category Sporting Good / Cycling / Bikes (here) then sort by distance (nearest first) and filter for bikes under your ceiling you'll see those closest to your postcode at the top.

If there are lots then you can always put a search in using a minus sign and brackets like this to exclude titles with any of the words you specify:

-(bmx,ladies,girls,childs,boys,mtb,suspension)

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VeloPeo | 11 years ago
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If you're buying anything from H*lfords, don't forget that British Cycling membership gets you 10% off.

You can use the saving to pay the LBS to set it up correctly 1

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Super Domestique | 11 years ago
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Here was my ad:

http://road.cc/content/forum/82290-fs-carrera-tdf-barely-used-size-m-now...

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Super Domestique | 11 years ago
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That was till tuesday.

I have one for sale still - I nearly sold it via here but then the buyer changed their mind.

Where are you based?

I have it in the local area to me but for sale along with my daughter's old mtb as a 'his 'n' hers' pair of bikes which was a wrong call as I've only had one call and that was for the TdF and the guy is coming to see it saturday. However if you are local and get in quick.....

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dafyddp | 11 years ago
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if you want to buy new, Decathlon's Triban 3 always comes up trumps for that budget
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-red-road-bike-id_8274036.html

Here's just one review:
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/tech/bikes/129441/2/bike-test-do-you-get-...

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cidermart | 11 years ago
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Could have sworn that said £299 on the advert on TV? Eye test for me maybe 7

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KingMonkey replied to cidermart | 11 years ago
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I had thought it had said £299 yesterday when I looked at it too! 7

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ped | 11 years ago
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I'd perhaps suggest buying something used for a similar price. You should find something a couple of years old, with far better spec, which if it's been treated well will see you right. I'd look to buy from bike forums rather than fleabay as from my experience sellers are more likely to have looked after what they're selling.

A very quick look around my usual bargain-hunting haunts (here, CTC, singletrack, etc) found this, which probably isn't what you're after but looks good to me: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=77171#p676176

That said, I've seen plenty of those Carreras out and about with very happy looking cyclists on them.

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