Road bike for around £500

[Devil2575]

I would like to buy a road bike and have a budget of about £500. What would people recomend?

I've heard good things about this:

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_sport.html

[RCBRG]

The road sport is a good bet because it's fairly easy to get approx 27% off the list price, making that ~£365

[Devil2575]

Just by haggling in the shop?

[Fugazi]

I know I keep harping on about them but Decathlon's Triban 500SE is a lot of bike for very little money (£380) and has been getting some great reviews. I've had one for nearly two months now and it's been used everyday on either 11 mile commutes or 50 mile weekend runs and it's been faultless. I don't think you could get a bike with the same spec' for that price anywhere else. Plus the first 1000 bikes have the Sora crankset instead of the Claris due to supply problems in production, which makes it even more of a bargain.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike...

[Edited due to my own idiocy]

Edited by Fugazi on Tuesday 22 July 12:38

[TheLemming]

Devil2575 said:

Just by haggling in the shop?

10% British cycling membership discount
10% off weekend or offer (Frequent at Halfords, normally at least once a month)
Buy with discounted Halfords vouchers (Google that one)- I've never bothered with it.

Which means anything at Halfords can be had with 20% off minimum if you're happy to wait a couple of weeks for an offer period (either 10% off, spend and save online etc etc)

I've got to say I'm not impressed with the road sport. At that budget I'd go secondhand and aim for a Team spec very lightly used on ebay. Much better bike for the same sort of pennies.

500 would get a 2009-2010 model team carbon, or a later team model.

(Disclosure, I currently have 5 Boardmans so I'm a bit of a fan of the brand. That one I wouldn't pick on a spec for price comparison - nothing wrong with it, but you can do better)

[Gruffy]

Fugazi said:

I know I keep harping on about them but Decathlon's Triban 500SE is a lot of bike for very little money (£380) and has been getting some great reviews.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike...

This.

I bought a Triban 3 a few months ago and while it's proved to be an awesome buy I wish I'd have bought the 500SE. That just looks like a crazy bargain at £380. It's even good looking!?

[Matt_N]

Fugazi said:

Plus the first 1000 bikes have the Sora crankset instead of the Tiagra due to supply problems in production, which makes it even more of a bargain.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike...

Huh?

Sora is lower specced than Tiagra.

[Gruffy]

I think he meant Sora vs Claris. Whatever it is, the first 1,000 bikes come with better components. I know that much is correct.

[Fugazi]

Matt_N said:

Huh?

Sora is lower specced than Tiagra.

Too busy typing on forums rather than working, I meant Claris... Will correct

[J5MBF]

I was in the same postion two weeks ago & in teh end after far too long looking at variopus options, i went for
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5259/CUBE-PELO...

Done 30+ miles so far and all good. Of course, i have nothing to compare it to having never had a road bike previously. I took the view that i was getting a £750 bike for £500. A decent mainstream brand that got good reviews also.

[Devil2575]

TheLemming said:

At that budget I'd go secondhand and aim for a Team spec very lightly used on ebay. Much better bike for the same sort of pennies.

I take your point but I don't want a second hand bike.

[Devil2575]

Gruffy said:

Fugazi said:

I know I keep harping on about them but Decathlon's Triban 500SE is a lot of bike for very little money (£380) and has been getting some great reviews.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike...

This.

I bought a Triban 3 a few months ago and while it's proved to be an awesome buy I wish I'd have bought the 500SE. That just looks like a crazy bargain at £380. It's even good looking!?

I have a look at that one. Thanks.

[Berz]

Bump rather than creating my own thread...

I'm looking for a £500 road bike for next year to replace the Triban 300 I've had since spring 2013. Can you find anything to beat the below? Are there likely to be any good choices coming up in the autumn/winter sales or is my £500 price point too low to benefit?

I should add that I'm not the sort of person to pay extra for the name. I have seen some specialized, scott and giant bikes available online but i'm not dropping down from tiagra to claris just for a 'posh' bike.

Also, one of the big things I see suggested all the time on here is to try it out in the shop. Sadly that's not going to be an option because all the bike shops in York sell higher end stuff. I've also been watching ebay and gumtree for 2nd hand stuff but not seeing anything come up.

£500 http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f85-tiagra-2014/ (would prefer a z85 but they only do a z85 with 105 which is too expensive)
£480 http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mekk-pinerolo-al-15-tiagra... (no stock in my size so doubt this one is going to happen)
£490 http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-belief-sr20-tiagra... (bit of a punt)
£480 http://www.merlincycles.com/beone-storm-race-road-... (discount applied in basket, trying to avoid another triple though)

[Silver940]

I've done 6500 miles on my Z95 in the last 22 months, it's been very reliable. Changed the tyres and rear mech when it was damaged by a car knocking me off, very little else other than normal service items.

[Devil2575]

Seeing as how I started the thread I thought I should say what I ended up buying.

I got the Boardman Road Sport in the end for £360 from Halfrauds. I did look at the Decathlon bikes but after deciding which one I wanted I couldn't get it is the right size at that time. I was also a little nervous about buying a bike over the internet as there isn't a store close by. As it was I picked the Boardman up from my local Halfords. It turned out to have a puncture but I was able to get it sorted in store FOC the next day which was handy.

I did bid on a couple on ebay as well but they ended up going for more than I was happy to spend.

It's a massive change from my Carrera Subway Hybrid, so much faster on the road and weighing at least 3kg less climbs are easier too. So far i'm really loving it, the only issues have been getting used to skinny tyres with not as much grip on wet roads and the brakes not being as good as the discs on the hybrid.
Now i'm used to it I need to get some SPD pedals and shoes as the toe clips are a bit of a fk on.

[Barchettaman]

Berz, assuming your Triban 300 is the 2012 model with a carbon fork, I can't see how any of those bikes would represent a significant upgrade from your current bike.

[richardxjr]

^ True that. Buy some lighter wheels and tyres.

[Berz]

Barchettaman said:

Berz, assuming your Triban 300 is the 2012 model with a carbon fork, I can't see how any of those bikes would represent a significant upgrade from your current bike.

Nope, mine's the newer one without the carbon fork. I think the above will all be good upgrades, but wondering if I could upgrade even further for the same price in the sales.