First Road Bike

[DE1975]

I now do all of my cycling on the road (on my old mountain bike with road tyres) and I now think it's time I got the right tool for the job so I'm looking at getting a first road bike.

Max budget is £700 (strictly no budget creep)

I have considered second hand but I think people are asking strong money for sometimes tatty looking bikes which may be a few years old and it seems to be the general consensus that the current drivetrains are comparable to previous higher versions eg current Tiagra is as good as 105 from just a few years back. And I like the idea of something shiny and new.

My current thoughts are the Planet X RT58 v2 with SRAM Rival. This seems good value to me at £649 with the SRAM equivalent of 105 gears when most bikes at this price point tend to be equipped with Tiagra or even Sora. The other plus points are that it's relatively light for an aluminium bike at this price point at sub 9kg and the gear ratios suit my local roads which are hilly with some 25% gradients. The bike comes with a 34 compact chainset and 11-32 cassette.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXRT58V2RIV22/plan...

I'd be interested in anybody's experience of this bike or suggestions of viable alternatives.

Thanks

Edited by DE1975 on Monday 14th May 22:10

[Dave2t]

Merlincycles used to have some good 105 equipped bikes around that price point,had my Sensa Romagna from them for about 6 years now and endless miles of club runs it's been great. Only upgrade I made recently was some lighter wider wheels.

[anonymous-user]

I would never rule out second hand

Just a moment on ebay found these in budget (not sure on your size)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263664387704

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173289724941

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142776088587

[Rich_W]

Brand New Merida Reacto 300

£30 more + £10 shipping from RoI

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Merida-Reacto-300-E224-...

Tiagra though.

Evans are currently running their trade in offer. So if you have an old bike it can make a little saving. Apparently they'll take any old stter. So last year was contemplating buying some snotter from eBay for £50 and then trading it in on a £3K bike for the £250 off


https://www.evanscycles.com/bikes/road-bikes_c?pri...


Giant Contend 1
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/contend-1-2018

(£50 more and Sora)

I suspect the PlanetX is probably not a bad option for yourself though.

Edited by Rich_W on Monday 7th May 15:46

[bigandclever]

I’m like a broken record, I know, but have a look at decathlon.

Tribal 540 might suit ... https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-g...

[alock]

DE1975 said:

This seems good value to me at £649 with the SRAM equivalent of 105 gears when most bikes at this price point tend to be equipped with Tiagra or even Sora.

I would rather 100% Tiagra (or equivalent) than the partial 105 (or equivalent) with cheaper brakes and other less visible parts.

If you're not in a hurry then keep your eye on the sale sections of the large online sites. You'll probably get a £1000-£1200 full 105 model for £700.

[Rich_W]

More budget creep

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road/endurace/2018/en...

£799



Red bikes are faster too!

[bakerstreet]

JPJPJP said:

I would never rule out second hand

Just a moment on ebay found these in budget (not sure on your size)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263664387704

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173289724941

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142776088587

Anywhere near the OP? Probably not? So that is fuel and time to go and get/inspect?

Stolen? One would hope not, but don't rule it out

Will need a service? Highly likely and how much is that going to be £25-£95 if the OP isn't willing to do it him self?

Whilst second hand can produce some good bargains. you have to be willing to accept the above.

I would go with the Planet X. Rival is considered to be slightly better than 105 in as far as weight is concerned, but SRAM Vs Shimano feel very different. I have bikes running 105, Ultegra and SRAM Force and I still prefer the downshifts on my Force equipped bike. Faster and a lovely action.

[Master Bean]

bigandclever said:

I’m like a broken record, I know, but have a look at decathlon.

Tribal 540 might suit ... https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-g...

Strange for an entry level bike to have a 52/36.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Master Bean said:

bigandclever said:

I’m like a broken record, I know, but have a look at decathlon.

Tribal 540 might suit ... https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-g...

Strange for an entry level bike to have a 52/36.

Propper men can handle it Beany

Also a 36/28 is a low enough gear, i've got 36/29 on one bike and its really low

[Master Bean]

TwistingMyMelon said:

Master Bean said:

bigandclever said:

I’m like a broken record, I know, but have a look at decathlon.

Tribal 540 might suit ... https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-g...

Strange for an entry level bike to have a 52/36.

Propper men can handle it Beany

Also a 36/28 is a low enough gear, i've got 36/29 on one bike and its really low

Proper men don't drive converted panel vans.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Master Bean said:

TwistingMyMelon said:

Master Bean said:

bigandclever said:

I’m like a broken record, I know, but have a look at decathlon.

Tribal 540 might suit ... https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-g...

Strange for an entry level bike to have a 52/36.

Propper men can handle it Beany

Also a 36/28 is a low enough gear, i've got 36/29 on one bike and its really low

Proper men don't drive converted panel vans.

Nor do they drive rebadged cavaliers

[bakerstreet]

To my knowledge the 9-5 was a unique platform and not a 're-badged cavalier'. That would be the old 900/9-3.

Also the 9-5 Aero is a popular car here in PH land. I quite liked mine. It managed 8000 trouble free miles, which is the polar opposite to my Discovery 3.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Hahah unfortunately I know Masterbean outside of PH and his Saab is a nice car, I just like winding him up

[snobetter]

Have a look at bikesy.co.uk you can search for road bikes and the amount you want to spend and it shows a lot of the deals about.

[snobetter]

50% off, as long as you're xs or xl...

https://www.merlincycles.com/eddy-merckx-blockhaus...

[rs4al]

If you could find an extra £99 down the sofa...

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p8346/CUBE-ATT...

[RickRolled]

Or this seems to be a good deal, M/L Size as well

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p9582/COSMETIC...

[andy-ski]

Rich_W said:

Brand New Merida Reacto 300

£30 more + £10 shipping from RoI

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Merida-Reacto-300-E224-...

Tiagra though.

Evans are currently running their trade in offer. So if you have an old bike it can make a little saving. Apparently they'll take any old stter. So last year was contemplating buying some snotter from eBay for £50 and then trading it in on a £3K bike for the £250 off


https://www.evanscycles.com/bikes/road-bikes_c?pri...


Giant Contend 1
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/contend-1-2018

(£50 more and Sora)

I suspect the PlanetX is probably not a bad option for yourself though.

Edited by Rich_W on Monday 7th May 15:46

You don't even need to spend £50 on a snotter to trade in at Evans, a couple of years ago I took a couple of broken kids bikes in (found for free) to trade in against 2 new road bikes :-)

[DE1975]

Thanks for the replies. I think I've narrowed it down to 3. I still like the Planet X but they've hiked the price £50 since I started this thread and the trust pilot reviews are terrible for their ability to actually deliver what they say and then deal with any problems which may arise. That said it's still my favourite in terms of spec.

The other 2 I'm considering are the 2017 Giant Contend SL 2 from Paul's Cycles. Rim brake for £636 or disc brake for £749 (slightly over budget). Anybody any thoughts on these 2 bikes as options?

Both are Tiagra equipped which is perfectly adequate for my needs. The disc brake option is interesting in that it uses tiagra cable operated shifters into a hydraulic master cylinder in front of the stem and hydraulic calipers. It apparently gives most of the feel, power and modulation of fully hydraulic set up at a lower price

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p7882/GIANT-CO...

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p7880/GIANT-CO...