any suggestions for buying a first road bike?

[ultrazenith]

Hi all, this is a bit of a noob question I'm sure, but I know nothing about road bikes, except that I should probably get one. I'd love to have an inexpensive retro road bike (around 100 pounds), something that more or less mirrors my taste in 90s mountain bikes. Which retro road bikes do others ride, and what do people recommend I start with?

 

[raidan73]

I've been tempted by a few. You can pick up a really nice late 80's/early 90's 531 Raleigh with a half decent groupset for that price. I was very tempted by a Quadra that came up a few months back and obviously didn't realise how much I wanted it until someone else bought it!

 

[jimo746]

Re:

I'm not so sure about road bikes, I thought I wanted (needed) one and bought a modern Planet X bike 2nd hand, but to be honest I find a retro MTB on slicks just as much fun as a road bike.

If I were going retro-road I'd be looking for a Raleigh Record Sprint, the black/gold model, purely because I remeber a mate having one bitd and it looked cool as

If you still want a road bike then a post in the retro road bike section of this forum would be your best bet.

 

[novekili]

Buy a cyclocross bike. Once you geto bored of the road just steer into a singletrack!

 

[delronious]

Miyatas are always a good value for the money. Should be able to get a nice 914 or so for that price.

 

[NeilM]

Re:

I'll second what Raidan73 says.

Look at 1990's bikes made of 531 or 631 (or their equivalents from Columbus, Tange etc) from people like Raleigh, also Ribble, Cougar / Dolan, Orbit and any number of other half remembered manufacturers.

I built my first ever road bike three years ago and am very glad I did as I really enjoy putting in the miles, increasing my fitness and enjoying some great rides.

When you find something you like the look of, ask in the road section for opinions, some people can be a little forthright and (dare I say it) snobbish, but you'll get some good information.

Watch out for sizes; mtb's and road bikes fit in completely different ways, so probably the first thing to do is figure out what size you need. Trad is to go big frame and no seat post showing, modern is the reverse, and pay attention to reach, as you will spend more time on the brake hoods on a road bike, and that can easily put another 100 to 150mm on the reach.

Have fun searching, there are loads of bikes out there, but like mtb's, they are not all diamonds in the rough.

 

[Remko]

Re:

I´m also looking for a road bike. Here in The Netherlands Gazelle offered the Champion Mondial model from 1970 to 1995 with various tubing (Reynolds 531, 753, 853, etc). At the rowing club we're using a Champion Mondial as a coaching bike to ride along with the boats. It's a 1981 "AB" model with Reynolds 531 tubing and the original Dura Ace groupeset. Used by everyone for everything, I think I'm going to switch it with a regular bike and save it.

Gazelle played an important role in professional cycling.
Here's more to find. These brochures really give some usable information. Also about Reynolds tubing.
Prices are in Dutch guilders (pre-euro). 100 guilders = 45 euro
http://jvs.webklik.nl/page/homepage

 

[juice]

I had the exact same question and wishes like yourself and bought this:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=279170

 

[legrandefromage]

As with MTBs there is a lot of junk floating around out there for road bikes. But gems also.

Sometimes brand new stuff can be a bargain too

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=318601

If you can get one of these, after a few mods (to replace the really shite parts) you have a brilliant starter road bike. And if you like it, you can transfer the good bits onto a better frame and so on etc etc...

 

[Bats]

Re: Re:

If I were going retro-road I'd be looking for a Raleigh Record Sprint, the black/gold model, purely because I remeber a mate having one bitd and it looked cool as

This is correct. Gotta warn you that they come with a bling tax at 150-200 quid a pop on ebay. There's higher spec stuff out there for less money second hand, not that it makes much difference riding them to be honest.