Road Bikes for a Newbie

Hi all,

Pretty establihed runner looking to venture further afield. I'm aspiring to start cycling, swimming and compete in a triathlon. My first step is to obviously buy a bike, it would certainly help the cause...!

The budget is pretty tight so ideally be looking somewhere £200-250 for a second hand road bike. Is this reasonable and would you have any suggestions on specific bikes?

Your help and expertise would be appreciated,

Rich

maybe check out the for sale section on tritalk or your local bike club..........fit is the main thing.....

Thanks for your help, we do have a triathlon shop recently opened too so it might be worth be going in and having a look at the bikes. 

for that money I would just find one that fits and everything works on it... if you are too specific about which kit is on it then you won't find anything. Probably better off trying to work out why it's on sale - is it for real or nicked?  

If it's nicked you'll probably get more for your money

Would consider triban 3 from decathlon. Everyone has the conception that they are cheap or whatever when the truth is they are great bikes and you also get carbon forks for £300 !

Triban 3 looks excellent for the beginner. Regarding size, would I need to go to a bike shop to do this?

R Mcl2 - could you advise me of which size to consider? I'm slightly unsure of the measurements on the decathlon site. I'm 5ft10 and inner leg length 32''.

Bluemoon I would go in to the shop and try for size ... make sure you are getting the right fit for your money

Another vote for the Triban 3 - very good bike for the money, and if it had Specialized painted on the side would be going for around £600.

I picked my bike up off eBay a couple of years ago, a Giant SCR2 for just under £200. IMO it's a better bike than the Triban but with secondhand you are rolling the dice on condition of the parts. I got pretty lucky and ended up only having to change the cassette, which wasn't much outlay at all.

Even with a new road bike you are likely to need to replace a few bits after a year of riding. It's to be expected, but most stuff is fairly cheap.

basic clip on pedals? 25
bar tape? 10
axle and ball races (mine need doing) 20
brake blocks 15

I promise that if you get a frame the right size then you will want to start playing on ebay....