First road bike £500 - £1000

Egon

Egon

Egon

Soldato
Joined
9 Jan 2003
Posts
6,801
Location
Darlington
So I've read a few of the spec me threads and not seen anything really that helps answer this question. For my first road bike will I notice much difference between a £500 bike and a £1k bike?

If the difference is night and day then I'll opt for the more expensive option. What would you fellas suggest in that price range?
 
There is a middle ground, surely? £500 might get you a bike with carbon forks and Sora, but spend a little more and you could get a well regarded frameset and 105. £1000 is just getting into carbon frame territory, but it's debatable whether you're better off going with a high end alu frame over low end carbon, or even steel.

What sort of riding is this for? Commuting? Racing? Long distance?
 
Hmm, none of those things really... Not yet anyway. I'm just getting in to cycling, I have a hybrid currently and have just completed the C2C on it. I thoroughly enjoyed the training and it made me want a road bike to enjoy the longer rides on and improve my times (strava can be addictive for that). Nothing more serious than that, I plan to keep it a casual hobby, riding a few times a week, rides varying from 15-50 miles I guess.
 
You can get carbon for that money from Planet X, Ribble, Dolan... Alternatively you could go for a branded bike with a good aluminium frame and perhaps a lesser groupset, depending on the money you spend. The Giant Defy range of aluminium bicycles is very good, for example.

I have a Planet X RT-58 alloy bike and I'd recommend it as a good place to start. Mine has tiagra but you can get it with SRAM gears if you prefer. It costs about £600.
 
Egon said:
For a start off, I think it's time I researched the difference between tiagra and sram gears :p
Click to expand...

I did wonder when I posted that :p Mind you, if you're coming from flat bar shifters then any integrated system will be new to you. Probably worth going into a shop and asking to try the various systems to see what you like.
 
were doing Giant Defy 0s at £795 whilst the few we have left last, not many bikes better as a first road bike than that. Ultegra shifters and rear mech aswell.
 
Ah, I was thinking your budget was lower than it is, getting mixed up. Those are cable discs, so not as good as hydraulic, but if you're currently used to cable then you'll probably be OK.
 
I guess what you should do is actually go and try out a few. You've got a budget to play with, there's no rush, go to a few shops and try out some you have your eye on and find out what's most important to you. Whether discs are a must, or whether you really like the ride of carbon frames, or which fit suits you best. We're also coming up on end of year deals on 2015 bikes, so if you keep an eye out (mostly on hukd) you might be able to get a bargain for this money.
 
Vonhelmet said:
They are still either a) crap or b) expensive on road bikes, though.
Click to expand...

That's not completely true. TRP Spyres are only £56 a pop, and in my experience they're the best mechanical cable disc brakes for road. I recently bought the missus a road bike with Heye's CX, with the intentions of spending another £100 on Spyres to replace the current caliper set.
 
Last edited:
Some of the Pinnacle Arkose 2015 range have hydraulic disc brakes (Hylex), starting at £720 for the singlespeed (or £30 more for the 10-speed with a bar end shifter and a perfect hi-vis frame colour).

Or Planet-X do a hydraulic version (SRAM) of the London Road for £999, IIRC. Unlike the Pinnacle, this frame has proper mounts for mudguards.
 
Thanks guys, I haven't decided what to do yet, but I hadn't realised that hydraulic disc brakes would make such a difference in price or be that hard to find at this price range, so I might just end up going with callipers.

I won't be doing anything until I get back from holidays anyway around mid August time, then I'll go try a few out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom