Which road bike for £700 budget?

[nick s]

Hi guys,

Moving from a Hybrid to a road bike and have been researching constantly for about 3 days. The problem is, is that there seems to be so many different models from different years still available to buy new.

I'm looking to spend about £700 max really, Bikes i've been looking at for around that budget, and really like the look of are;

Boardman Race
Bianchi Nirone
Cannondale CAAD
Specialized Allez

I really am not fussed about having the latest 2012 model, so is it worthwhile looking for some old stock of say 2010 or 2011 models? Where is the best place to look for that sort of thing?

Does anyone have any recommendations or thoughts on the above bikes? I do really like the look of the Bianchi bikes! But Wiggle and Evans seem to always be out of stock?!

[anonymous-user]

Boardman but have a look at the GT, the Raleigh Airlite and the Merida ranges too. slightly better spec for the money though there isnt much in it....

[Roman]

nick s said:

I really am not fussed about having the latest 2012 model, so is it worthwhile looking for some old stock of say 2010 or 2011 models? Where is the best place to look for that sort of thing?

www.paulscycles.co.uk

Evans have a price matching policy if they have the same bike & size in stock.

[JaseB]

Was going to say Pauls, they have a Giant TCR2 at £730:
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b...
Or CAAD 8 at £680:
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b...

I get the impression that at this level all the bikes are pretty good, all the bolt on bits are much of a muchness so it's which one you like the look of best!

[anonymous-user]

Roman said:

nick s said:

I really am not fussed about having the latest 2012 model, so is it worthwhile looking for some old stock of say 2010 or 2011 models? Where is the best place to look for that sort of thing?

www.paulscycles.co.uk

Evans have a price matching policy if they have the same bike & size in stock.

I found with Evans "in stock" used to mean, "at the branch" not global stock and they would charge £50 non refundable deposit to get a bike to the store.

pedalon are worth a look, as are primera in bournemouth.

[kiethton]

I got the Bianchi that Evans have on offer for £649 last month and am loving it!

[Gizmo!]

I'm signing up to my work's CTW scheme so I can't go anywhere other than Evans, but these two have a decent selection of previous-year bikes...

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/

[nick s]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I had a good look at all suggestions, but seeing as i had the Boardman Hybrid Comp and loved it so much, i went out and bought the Boardman race along with some clipless pedals just now! Can't wait to try it out!

[itsnotarace]

pablo said:

I found with Evans "in stock" used to mean, "at the branch" not global stock and they would charge £50 non refundable deposit to get a bike to the store.

The deposit is refundable

[courtz]

have fun on the learning curve with clipless, i had a few embarassing moments myself