Starting out, What bike?

[email hidden] (Picky) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

Doing my second tri (sprint) in a couple of months and am
considering buying a bike.

I am skint and need a cheapo option for around £500.

I was thinking of the Giant OCR3 then getting a set of
Look pedals and some tri specific shoes?

Any opinons or other options would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Picky

A mate uses a Giant OCR3 and finds it fine, I also use Look
pedals and no problems there. If you are limited to £500
it's worth looking at secondhand options - try eBay for
starters, if you're not happy bidding for something you've
never seen then most good road bike shops have some
secondhand bikes for sale. Cyclists spend a lot of money
buying the latest gear and so you should be able to pick up
some bargains for the kind of money you want to spend.
You'll certainly get much better quality frame and
components, you need to assess how much life is left in
them. Frames last a long, long time unless they've been in
an accident. Component wear varies but from personal
experience I've got a Cannondale which is 4 years old and
done >10,000 miles, the only parts I've had to replace are
the tyres and brake blocks a few times and the cassette,
chain and cables once, plus had the wheels trued a few
times. It was £1200 new and probably only worth a few
hundred now but it's a lot better than a new £500 bike.

Good luck!

[email hidden] (Picky) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

Doing my second tri (sprint) in a couple of months and am
considering buying a bike.

I am skint and need a cheapo option for around £500.

I was thinking of the Giant OCR3 then getting a set of
Look pedals and some tri specific shoes?

Any opinons or other options would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Picky

I'd advise going secondhand, for that kind of money you'll
get a much better bike provided you can find something that
is the right size and has been reasonably well looked after.
eBay's worth a go, as long as you feel the seller is a
genuine cyclist who has given up the sport or bought
themselves a new bike (most of them are, especially for good
road bikes). If you're not comfortable with eBay then most
decent road bike shops will have a few secondhand bikes in.
Good quality frames and components last a long time if
they're looked after - my Cannondale is 4 years old and has
done >10,000 miles but is still running fine, the only
things I've replaced are the tyres and brake blocks a few
times and the cassette, chain and cables once. Bike was
£1200 new and probably only worth a few hundred now but it
goes a lot better than a new bike for the same money.

Other thing to consider is that if you buy a secondhand bike
for £4-500 the components may be a bit worn but you'll get a
pretty good frame, and if you want to spend more money on
good components it'll be worth doing. If you buy a new bike
for that kind of money the frame is going to be bottom end
of the market and not worth bolting good components onto.
Just my opinion of course!

Good luck

Treks are a great starter bike, too, for lesser cost... Or,
even a bianchi...

🙂
You don't even need pedals.. just get adapters.. you don't
really even need aerobars, but if you want a pair, you can
find an inexpensive pair online.

Cheers!

[email hidden] (rookie) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Picky) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

Doing my second tri (sprint) in a couple of months and
am considering buying a bike.

I am skint and need a cheapo option for around £500.

I was thinking of the Giant OCR3 then getting a set of
Look pedals and some tri specific shoes?

Any opinons or other options would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Picky

A mate uses a Giant OCR3 and finds it fine, I also use
Look pedals and no problems there. If you are limited to
£500 it's worth looking at secondhand options - try eBay
for starters, if you're not happy bidding for something
you've never seen then most good road bike shops have some
secondhand bikes for sale. Cyclists spend a lot of money
buying the latest gear and so you should be able to pick
up some bargains for the kind of money you want to spend.
You'll certainly get much better quality frame and
components, you need to assess how much life is left in
them. Frames last a long, long time unless they've been in
an accident. Component wear varies but from personal
experience I've got a Cannondale which is 4 years old and
done >10,000 miles, the only parts I've had to replace are
the tyres and brake blocks a few times and the cassette,
chain and cables once, plus had the wheels trued a few
times. It was £1200 new and probably only worth a few
hundred now but it's a lot better than a new £500 bike.

Good luck!

I'm sort of in your situation...I just bought a used Trek
Hilo 2000 for $600 with full Ultegra and altho the bike had
seen some use the components and frame were in excellent
condition.

I bought the sidi T1 shoes off of eBay new for $119 along
with some Speedplay Zero pedals for $185.

Good luck training!

[email hidden] (Picky) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

Doing my second tri (sprint) in a couple of months and am
considering buying a bike.

I am skint and need a cheapo option for around £500.

I was thinking of the Giant OCR3 then getting a set of
Look pedals and some tri specific shoes?

Any opinons or other options would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Picky