Bike Advice - New Road bike for £250 or Used on EBAY

[SarlechS]

Hi Guys,

i'm looking to get back into cycling, really looking for a road bike and willing to spend around £250. Would it be better for me to go to a halfords or local bike shop and buy a new road bike like a carrera model or would it be wiser to buy a higherend bike like a specialized/trek type roadbike that is 1-2 years old for £250 on ebay or pinkbike?

i'll only be cycling 7 miles each way 5 days a week although i'm also looking at joining a cycle club so may look to do a few 10-50 mile events every now and then.

i know there are pros and cons for both as if i buy an old bike i may have more chance of component issues with gears and brakes? but if you were in my position would would you do?

thanks in advance!!

Edited by SarlechS on Thursday 14th July 17:00

[Jimbo893]

I'd go with the second hand route. I bought a Spec Allez Elite 2014 model at the beginning of last year. It was practically in brand new condition. It was £400 less than what the owner bought it for new.

If you can get a better bike with higher conponents for the same money, it's got to be better than a lower spec new bike in terms of reliability.

Edited by Jimbo893 on Friday 15th July 13:18

[battered]

If you know enough to get a bike of the right size and not worn out or crashed, then SH is a better bet. £250 new is entry level for a working bike, but used it gets you a 2 yr old £500 bike with light use. 2 years old and decent spec is still decent, you'll be able to get spares for 10 yrs plus.

[Kermit power]

Another vote for second hand.

I don't think road bike frame technology - with the exception of disc brakes if you want them - has really changed much at all in the last 5 years or so, so by buying second hand a few years old, you could get yourself a much, much nicer frame.

Yes, it will come with older components, but they'll be older better components, so likely to still be nicer than new cheap ones, and if/when they do fail, you can upgrade them with new shiny bits one at a time, and end up with an infinitely better bike for your money.

[Shaw Tarse]

Similar budget to me http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... I'm tempted to go pre-ridden

[pembo]

Go 2nd hand and slightly unusual and you can pick up some amazing bargains. A few weeks ago I picked this up for £390 (RRP £1200)! Owner had bought it, gone on a couple of rides and decided it was too big for him. The only reason I can think it was so cheap is that not many people think Bianchi when they are getting a cyclocross bike and at an odd size (59cm) and a little heavy (about 10kg) it doesn't really suit as a cx racer. But for commuting to work on and going for family rides all I need is a slightly shorter stem and it will be great.

[idiotgap]

idiotgap said:

I'm the guy who always crops up on threads like this and says "buy secondhand".

Buy secondhand!

That Bianchi is lovely. I bought a Celeste c2c Nirone on gumtree for about £300 last year for a mate and it worked out well.

[SarlechS]

appreciate the response guys, it seems like everyone here is on the same page. i'll take that and start the search for a S/H option.

i presume ebay/gumtree and pinkbike are the best sites to use to find a decent second hand bike?

[battered]

Sounds good. I prefer Gumtree to Ebay because it's local. You can go and look at the thing and have a ride round, rather than discovering that the thing is actually in Penzance or Aberdeen after you have bid.

[idiotgap]

Bikeradar and cyclechat have classified adds too, I bought a Specialized Allez for £200 from a guy on cyclechat as a road bike to give it a try.

[idiotgap]

battered said:

Sounds good. I prefer Gumtree to Ebay because it's local. You can go and look at the thing and have a ride round, rather than discovering that the thing is actually in Penzance or Aberdeen after you have bid.

With gumtree, you typically know the ceiling price you're going to have to pay. Shopping on ebay is harder because the price changes over the life of the auction.

The best bargains are in auctions with low starting price, if a bike is badly described or otherwise off-putting in some inconsequential way can end up without much competition and get the item for a low price. That's how I got my wife her giant mountain bike for £26.

You can control the area you're searching in on ebay and see where the items are so you shouldn't be buying from Aberdeen by mistake. I've not yet bought a second hand bike completely unseen and had it couriered - I won't say I never would but I've not been tempted yet.