Advice pls, Want to buy a cheap Road bike for upgrading, con

Whatever you do, buy a whole, working bike. Buying a frame and building it up is a complete false economy.

Peugeot bargains can be had on the 'bay, especially as their "carbolite 103" tubing isn't Reynolds, and therefore doesn't attract the attention of tweed-clad Razorlight enthusiasts from Shoreditch. (hipsters)

Back in the day Raleigh did indeed make some good stuff. I've just bought a Randonneur...
 
I also run with the radonneur. Lovely bike!

You didnt just buy that one on ebay for £150 did you? With the massive frame?
 
Cheers people,
Great forum!

The money is burning whole in my pocket, and the weather forecast looks amazing this weekend.
Now I just need to find that bike..
Cheers
Ian
 
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Just a quick word of warning and I'm sure I'll have countless people that agree, but be aware of the potential costs involved in getting an old bike!

I know you said around 100 and that bike above looks by all means to satisfy your price range, but I guarantee it will end up costing you twice that in the long run.

For example, I bought a 1991 raleigh randonneur from gumtree for £80, which had been sitting for a few year but was in great condition and little used, albeit a little neglected minus the nice brooks pro saddle. (I should also add that £80 was the asking price and I didnt just go and haggle him down)

The bike cleaned up brilliantly and it seemed everything worked perfectly. However, i decided to put it in for a service as it had been sitting for a while and the tyre walls were cracked. This cost me, £60 for 2 new tyres and inners( marathon plus) , £10 for a new chain, £10 for new brake pads and £40 for the labour which included having the wheels trued and a few things regreased. £120 in total and not by any means a full service.

I then decided I wanted a new brooks pro (£90) and to upgrade to STI shifters. The chainset was also a little tired so I sourced a Shimano RSX 7 speed groupset from the forums which cost me altogether about £100 with everything except the shifters being brand new. Meanwhile, the bottom bracket went costing me another £25. I still haven't got got the STI shifters fitted but I can see now the cabling is going to need redone anyway as some of it is fraying. I'm thinking now maybe the paintwork might need redone in around a year and I have recently had to do some work on the back wheel.


ANYWAY. . to get back to my main point and not just talk about my bike, I could have at the very start stuck the bike on ebay and made an easy 300 profit as I routinely see them go for £400+ but instead I actually probably ended up spending atleast again to get mine up to a safe ridable standard.

So my point is really that although you probably arent going to want to do most of the upgrades etc I done, an old bike which is in good condition can even end up costing you loads. Even a new set of cheap tyres and a bottom bracket ( which im assuming it will most certainly need ) will end up costing you another £50, which will push you over your budget and thats of course the best case scenario as you too will probably need brake pads a chain and looks like a saddle too!

So my advice would be if you arent in it for the love of restoring ( like me and my now countless bikes that ive spent 100's on!) then either push your budget out and buy a new bike or scour ebay and pick one up which has had a service and most of the parts replaced in the last few years.

As I'm sure everyone on here know, what seemed like a cheap purchase can become an expensive hobby! Although I have spent alot of money on my randonneur, to me, it is 100% worth it, but to someone that just wants a 'cheap' bike? I'd look elsewhere.
 
Old bikes aren't always in need of parts, the one i bought only needed the tyres pumping up and it was ready to ride.

I paid £51 for it.

Ive spent... £15 for some pedals and toe clips, just because i didn't like the ones that were on it. Personal preference.

The money i am going to spend on it will be for tyres and stuff i need in the future, maybe a rack and mudguards.

And it always nice cleaning something up and then seeing how good it looks when finished.

You could spend more and get a brand new bike, or buy an old one and clean it up.
 
ha flyboy, trust me you really are preaching to the converted. I know there's nothing better than bringing something back to life! I caught the bug a long time ago.

However, it is my experience that this can still end up costing you a small fortune and i'm sure there's going to be countless out there who would agree.

I would say if you're going to budget for £100 you should budget atleast that for the repair/replacements over the next 6 months, if not immediately. Or, you can spend alittle more just now and try make sure you have got something thats been cared for.

Ebay really is a mixed bag of tricks but that is a whole other story.
 
Hi all,
I'm taking everything you guys say into consideration.
I am concentrating on finding a fully working bike, taking someone who know about the mechanics with me, if possible. Not worrying about brand or tubing so much, and taking my time. Having some extra cash to buy some essential spares.

I am the type of person who gets easily excited, and rushes in ;)
Thanks again people, please keep the advice and tips coming.
Cheers
Ian
 
djoptix":2jpesvlx said:
Whatever you do, buy a whole, working bike. Buying a frame and building it up is a complete false economy.

Best to start cheap and work your way up, too. If you want a better bike, you can always upgrade as you go along, possibly even doing a parts swap on to a much better frame eventually, which is how my cyclo-cross bike evolved.

David
 
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