First road bike

[mavers]

Thinking about cycling to work, so after my first road bike.
Commute is around 7 miles, from south east london to the city.

Think a second hand bike is probably the best way to start. Budget is 500 to 750. Have heard that I should look for at 105 gear set, and most likely just a carbon fork bike. Is there any brands I should look at or avoid in particular?

Bar ebay, is there any other sites worth considering?

 

[PermaBanned]

7 miles isn't much, you could do it on an entry level hybrid if you really wanted to. Do you have to carry much with you when commuting? If so you could consider something with rack mounts and maybe wider tyres for a bit of comfort with greater loads.

Even if you're looking to get into more endurance road riding you could definitely get a solid bike new. Both Tiagra (2016) and Sora (this year) have had updates recently which significantly close the gap between them and 105, so groupsets aren't so much of a concern if you're looking at current model year bikes, it's basically just the number of gears.

For a first road bike and especially a commuter I would still generally look for something more relaxed, than an aggressive race geometry bike.

Do you have somewhere safe at work to keep it?

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-grey-black-105-id_8377756.html

http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-bikes/dolan-preffisio-aluminium-road-bike-shimano-105-5800.html

 

[mavers]

Did not consider a hybrid, so I'll look into the two models.

Have a safe underground garage at work to park the bike, and generally would not be commuting with much to carry.

 

[PermaBanned]

Those two bikes aren't hybrids?

 

[DaleTheWhale]

I love my Pinnacle Dolomite for commuting, done me proud for 2 years. Believe this is the updated version of mine (Dolomite 5 2015).
Can fit Chromoplastics to it nicely and has 105 bar the crankset... £700.

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-dolomite-se-2017-road-bike-EV286416

 

[mavers]

Those two bikes aren't hybrids?

Was too early in the morning! I'm surprised you can pick up a brand new road bike with 105

I love my Pinnacle Dolomite for commuting, done me proud for 2 years. Believe this is the updated version of mine (Dolomite 5 2015).
Can fit Chromoplastics to it nicely and has 105 bar the crankset... £700.

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-dolomite-se-2017-road-bike-EV286416

Looks interesting. These bikes are a lot cheaper than I thought. Was looking predominantly at boardman, cube, Scott and canondale bikes... given me a lot to think about!

 

[hornetstinger]

Nothing wrong with going with a lower end groupset, Tiagra will be plenty good enough. Also try out different frame/fork materials (steel/ti/alu/carbon) You might prefer steel for example.

 

[Saytan]

I'm really liking the planet x RT58 Alloy. It's 600 quid with tiagra, 440 with Sora, has proper mudguard mounts.

 

[Vonhelmet]

I have the mark 1 rt58 alloy and it's been great for me as my better bike. Thousands of miles done on it. If the mark 2 has mudguard mounts as well then that's even better.