What do you consider as the best sub £500 complete road bike available

Howdy,

I'm a new member but i think you guys will be able to offer some good advice when it comes to bikes.

Looking for the best sub £500 road bike which i coudl go out and buy on the high street today.

What is your opinion?

Thank you!

500 or 5000 ?

Sorry, you are correct £500!

Probably this, but don't expect great things. Better of looking for a 2nd hand older one.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/allez-16-2011-road-bike-ec025025

Specialized Allez?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/allez-16-2011-road-bike-ec025025

if 5K i was going to say spend 4K and buy a 1K mink coat

Better of looking for a 2nd hand older one.

.

Decathlon triban 5

The allez is an obvious choice. But was wondering if there were any other opinions to consider before taking the plunge. Trek 1.1? Or

well if it was obvious why start a thread asking?! at that price point it's gonna be horses for similar courses

get a second hand steel frame . the ride is way better than a alu frame.

^^ On the one hand yes, but equally, there might be a fuji track equivalent, where you have a good frame, but a few shoddy components. At that price, something with a decent frame, and shit wheels would be a good choice.

robread, these are the sorts of threads which create anger and flaming, you pretty much know what you want, but your asking the forum to justify and confirm it.

Why?

At that price point the groupset is probably going to be the same on all of them, and there isn't going to be a noticeable difference in the quality of production of the frame.
So make a decision. £500 is entry level in road bikes and though relatively it's a lot of money, in road bike terms its peanuts and you don't get any appreciable difference in quality.

So go with your first choice and buy it, and ride it.

My advice to you. go look for a grands worth of bike knocked down to 600 from somewhere like evans http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/sale/complete-bikes/road-bikes?page=1
more bang for your buck.

check ebay for cannondale caad4's caad5's for that price point you'll get a nice racing bike with decent equipment

yeah all sound advice, buy it, ride it, upgrade when ready/able to

My advice to you. go look for a grands worth of bike knocked down to 600 from somewhere like evans http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/sale/complete-bikes/road-bikes?page=1
more bang for your buck.

This^

Nows the time of year for it too.

Some £750ish bikes knocked down to under £500
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/16543/Kona-Zing-2010---Road-Bike-.html
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/24613/Raleigh--Bikes--300---Road-Bike-Carbon-Fork-.html

The entry level Boardman is £650.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_789247_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#dtab

robread, these are the sorts of threads which create anger and flaming, you pretty much know what you want, but your asking the forum to justify and confirm it.

Why?

At that price point the groupset is probably going to be the same on all of them, and there isn't going to be a noticeable difference in the quality of production of the frame.
So make a decision. £500 is entry level in road bikes and though relatively it's a lot of money, in road bike terms its peanuts and you don't get any appreciable difference in quality.

So go with your first choice and buy it, and ride it.

My advice to you. go look for a grands worth of bike knocked down to 600 from somewhere like evans http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/sale/complete-bikes/road-bikes?page=1
more bang for your buck.

I don't see what is wrong with asking for advice when i consider myself abit of a novice when it comes to bikes. There might be something glaringly obvious which i haven't considered.

Thanks all for the advice. Much appreciated.

if 5K i was going to say spend 4K and buy a 1K mink coat

Isn't the mink coat £2k? Leaving only £3k for the sock.

RobRead, your not looking for advice though,

your quote
The allez is an obvious choice. But was wondering if there were any other opinions to consider before taking the plunge. Trek 1.1? Or

Why do you need more options? You already know the obvious answers. So make the decision. The esoteric options, are generally gonna cost you more, and be of a similar quality, so why spend all that time running round the houses asking others opinions when YOU know what YOU want and how it will be ridden.

Figure out your budget, find bikes that you like the look of, test ride said bike, if it feels good, buy bike, and welcome to the happy world of the cyclist.

Job Done!

cornelius, if the guy is unsure about parting with a sizeable chunk of cash what is wrong with asking for advice. Yes these threads can attract the attention of some of the more unsympathetic users of the forum who will use it as an opportunity to flame and insult the guy but surely that is the fault of the people who behave like that, not someone who is out to get information so that they get the biggest possible bang for their buck.

This^

Nows the time of year for it too.

Some £750ish bikes knocked down to under £500
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/16543/Kona-Zing-2010---Road-Bike-.html
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/24613/Raleigh--Bikes--300---Road-Bike-Carbon-Fork-.html

The entry level Boardman is £650.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_789247_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#dtab

...and he's right. Personally I'd get the kona.

Bobbo, because the options/difference between the manufacturers at this price point comes down to colour scheme and brand name. Just like the 300-400 offthepeg fixed market. It comes down to personal preference, and we can't tell RobRead what they will or won't like. It's not about advice it's about reassurance, that you're not wasting the money on the road bike equivalent of a unipack, or searching for the impossible bargain. But at that price point none of the bikes are going to be that, and you won't be finding amazing bargains.

This is a personal bug bear of mine so I chime in on this every so often. And my advice is always buy what you can afford, and what you like the look of, and forget about asking for opinions, as they are like arseholes, everyone's got one. So trust your own judgement, rather than strangers.

Spend the money, ride the bike, become dissatisfied with the bike, spend more money, buy new bike, ad infinitum.

I leave it at that...

Its not the advice that you gave to RobRead that I took exception too cornelius. That is sound, I just cannot understand why you were so disparaging of him asking for it in the first place, what is wrong with asking for reassurance?

lfgss flaming newbies since 2007