Down to four......I think!

[GDub44]

Being a bike newbie after many, many hours of searching I think I'm down to four choices for my first road bike. They are:

Trek 1.2 Triple H2 2014 - £560 from Evans
Jamis Ventura Comp 2015 - £560 from Evans
Fuji Sportif 2.1 2015 - £550 from Evans
Raleigh Airlite 400 2013 - £600 from my local bike shop

I'm edging towards the Trek. Grateful for any thoughts on whether this would be the best choice? TIA

[Gizmoish]

BTwin Alur 700 from decathlon. Full 10 speed 105, direct mount brakes, £600.

[GDub44]

Ok, will have a look. Thx

[eggchaser1987]

I have an older Trek 1.5 and it's done me well for a good 4 or 5 years.

[jamiebae]

Gizmoish said:

BTwin Alur 700 from decathlon. Full 10 speed 105, direct mount brakes, £600.

If you can get this in your size for that price then it's a no brainer against that competition- a great frame (UCI approved I think) and a much better groupset than anything else for the money.

[EC225Eng]

I recently bought the Planet X RT58 Tiagra for £499, great bike really pleased with it.

[GDub44]

jamiebae said:

If you can get this in your size for that price then it's a no brainer against that competition- a great frame (UCI approved I think) and a much better groupset than anything else for the money.

Looks like they've sold out. It did look good though.

[Gizmoish]

GDub44 said:

jamiebae said:

If you can get this in your size for that price then it's a no brainer against that competition- a great frame (UCI approved I think) and a much better groupset than anything else for the money.

Looks like they've sold out. It did look good though.

Phone your local shop and see if they can get one in. I was in the Harlow shop yesterday and they had one.

[jamiebae]

This looks interesting for the money too, not sure how the spec compares to the ones at the top though.

http://www.wiggle.com/mekk-pinerolo-al-15-2014/

[GDub44]

Gizmoish said:

Phone your local shop and see if they can get one in. I was in the Harlow shop yesterday and they had one.

Harlow have sold out now. Reckon to get some more in 2-3 weeks. Lakeside have one but it's currently reserved,

[jamiebae]

Another Decathlon option, how about one of these?

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

It gets great reviews ( http://road.cc/content/feature/139084-roadcc-bike-... ) and for the money it's unbeatable. If you go for the Microshift version instead of Shimano it's even cheaper and leaves you plenty of spare cash for upgrades - maybe some new wheels and tyres.

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

At this end of the market it's difficult to beat Decathlon really.

[Neil G60]

Test them if possible and then make a much better informed decision.

My mate's got the sligthly older version of that Trek 1.2 and it's a good bike. Plus it's got loads of tyre room for 25mm jobs and mounts for mudguards if you want to 'winterfy' it. The only things which cheap bikes all suffer from are crappy no-name hubs and bottom brackets which will wear much quicker than a Shimano unit. The problem with cheap hubs (and wheels) on cheap bikes is that the repair/replace cost often makes them uneconomical to repair. Still, a half decent wheelset like Mavic's Aksium can be had for about £150 and makes a very worthwhile upgrade to a cheap road bike.

[GDub44]

Bit late I know but thanks for all the advice. I ended up buying the Trek 1.2 2015 and am really pleased with it. Would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.