Advice on bike purchase

Jim Roberts said:

Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the country
roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit me better for
week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it aint much, but I dont
want to spend too much to start with incase I dont enjoy the week-end runs.
Any suggestions?

Jim R

Looking in the back of a month old copy of the comic gives us a Dawes
Giro 300 from Allens cycles of Barnsley Alu frame Shimano Sora
components £299. Thats a good place to start your search.

Stan Cox

Quoted message said:

Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the
country roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit
me better for week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it
aint much, but I dont want to spend too much to start with incase I
dont enjoy the week-end runs. Any suggestions?

This might fit the bill:
Edinburgh Country. Was £470 now £300 in the sale.
<url:http://www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=17121>

Jim Roberts said:

Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the country
roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit me better for
week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it aint much, but I dont
want to spend too much to start with incase I dont enjoy the week-end runs.
Any suggestions?

Of course, if you don't enjoy them it might be *because* you didn't
spend enough to start with 🙂

"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jim Roberts said:

Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the

country

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit me better

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it aint much, but I

dont

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

want to spend too much to start with incase I dont enjoy the week-end

runs.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions?

Of course, if you don't enjoy them it might be *because* you didn't
spend enough to start with 🙂

pshaw, stuff and nonesense!

My first two road bikes purchased after a mountain bike came to the grand
total of £25. One of them was free and the other was £25 quid. Ironically
the free one was better than the £25 quid one and I did the coast to coast,
C2C ride on it and used it for 25+ mile rides without covetting more
expensive bikes other than a Dawes Galaxy which I duly purchased s/h for
£200. Having got the Galaxy and knocked up some miles on it and having sold
the road bikes for £25 for the pair, I then wanted a bike that was lighter
and faster than the Galaxy and bought a Raleigh R500 road bike for £140 s/h.
On getting the bike home and inspecting it, there was no evidence of it ever
being used. The four bikes were all sourced from www.upmystreet.co.uk which
seems to collate the small adds from local papers and publishes them on the
site. The Galaxy for instance was in Cardiff, the rest were local. If you
know what you want then there's bargains to be had. I had to sit on my
hands when some tasty Colnago bikes appeared last year. One needs to be
patient, sometimes ther's a dearth of road bikes.

I'd rather 'waste' £25 than several hundred. Yes there is a difference in
ride quality and performance but not one that one could put a monetary value
on. Have a look in Halfords, there's some sub £300 bikes that may meet your
needs

in message <[email hidden]>, Jim Roberts

(') said:

Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the
country roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit
me better for week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it
aint much, but I dont want to spend too much to start with incase I
dont enjoy the week-end runs. Any suggestions?

Check the small ads in your local paper; check your local supermarket.
There are second hand bargains to be had. There are reasonable new
bikes for £300, as well, but going second hand will probably get you a
lot better bike for your money.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

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[seen on /. 08:04:02]

"Jim Roberts" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the country
roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit me better

for

Quoted message said:

week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it aint much, but I

dont

Quoted message said:

want to spend too much to start with incase I dont enjoy the week-end

runs.

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions?

I also ride MTBs mainly. Friends ride roadie bikes on our Wednesday evening
ride round the lanes - I was left behind, not just because of my fitness but
because I was riding a MTB with slicks on it.

I went to Halesowen cycles (they have a webb site) and bought a Dawes Giro
200 for £270. It is a flat bar, 24 speed, road bike. Skinny tyres and big
gears. BUT, it has a 3 ring chainset and a cassette with a 30 tooth granny
ring. It's fast on flat bits and cabable of being ridden up steep hills by
all but a novice.

I have found there is a benefit to riding it - I can now push a higher gear
on my Marin mountain bike when on the rough.

No doubt other companies make such bikes. I don't hesitate in suggesting
that you take a good look at it.

John

vernon levy said:

"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jim Roberts said:

Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the

country

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit me better

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it aint much, but I

dont

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

want to spend too much to start with incase I dont enjoy the week-end

runs.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions?

Of course, if you don't enjoy them it might be *because* you didn't
spend enough to start with 🙂

pshaw, stuff and nonesense!

You missed the smiley... I was joking - but I think there is a grain
of truth in the joke - I'm sure there are occasions where newcomers to
cycling give up because they start out with such poor quality kit that
it takes the fu out.

To address the original question directly - I'd seriously consider
buying something secondhand in good condition that's a couple of years
old. If you take your time you can find something that's much better
quality than you could possibly hope to buy new. Ebay ususally has a
good selection on offer.

(I recently aquired a second-hand Daccordi <http://www.daccordi.it>
road bike via ebay and am very pleased with it.)

Hi Paul........can understand the advice to buy second hand. But if I dont
know too much about the subject ie. Which bike is ok and which is not. How
do I choose

Jim R
"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

vernon levy said:

"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Jim Roberts" <[email hidden]> writes:

> Hi everyone. I want to purchase a cycle that I can take out on the

country

Quoted message said:

> roads. I have a mtb, but feel that a road type bike would suit me

better

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for

Quoted message said:

> week-end runs. Have a budget of around £300. I know it aint much, but

I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

dont

Quoted message said:

> want to spend too much to start with incase I dont enjoy the week-end

runs.

Quoted message said:

> Any suggestions?
>

Of course, if you don't enjoy them it might be *because* you didn't
spend enough to start with 🙂

pshaw, stuff and nonesense!

You missed the smiley... I was joking - but I think there is a grain
of truth in the joke - I'm sure there are occasions where newcomers to
cycling give up because they start out with such poor quality kit that
it takes the fu out.

To address the original question directly - I'd seriously consider
buying something secondhand in good condition that's a couple of years
old. If you take your time you can find something that's much better
quality than you could possibly hope to buy new. Ebay ususally has a
good selection on offer.

(I recently aquired a second-hand Daccordi <http://www.daccordi.it>
road bike via ebay and am very pleased with it.)

Quoted message said:

Have a look in Halfords, there's some sub £300 bikes that may meet your
needs

Of course, it's entirely possible they won't ;-)

Cheers, helen s
(will not willingly buy a bike from H*lf*rds ever again)

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