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New bike for beginner

COR! this triathlon thingy is great, did my first one yesterday and it was brilliant!!!!! (can't say the same about my time though). Anyway I completed it on a 10+yr old mountain bike. I have been thinking about upgrading for a while and am now tempted to upgrade with Triathlons in mind. A friend told me not to blow a stack on a bike before I found out I enjoyed it so I am trying very hard not to get carried away but would like to upgrade before I do Windsor in July. My basic requirements are:



Budget £500

Primary use commuting

Secondary use triathlon

Expecting benefits of a lighter bike and a better riding position



Currently I am looking at GIANT SCR 3.0 for GBP450 however I have not ruled out GIANT SCR 2.0 at GBP525. My understanding is that the main difference between the 2 bikes is that I get a better gear system (3.0 has Shimano Sora and 2.0 has Shimano Tiagra). Since the price of the 2.0 is a little over budget can anyone offer opinion on if this is worth it?



At the end of the day I think I need 4 Q.s answering

1. Am I headed down the right road for a beginners bike, is it good value?

2. Is the difference in price between the 2.0 and 3.0 worth paying?

3. Should I be looking at any other makes, a friend swears by Kona however these are out of my price range and a bit bothered that I might end up with a technical bike that is expensive to maintain and is not suited to commuting.

4. What is the deal with bike shops, will they let me do a test ride since I am a little bothered about size of frame. This is a lot of money to me and would be very p'd off at dropping GBP500 and ending up with a bike too big/small for me.



A thousand apologies if this type of Q has been asked a lot but feel it is better to ask, the rack of bikes that I saw yesterday was valuable enough to clear 3rd world debt twice over so I get the impression that some people have a lot of money to spend on equipment and I just wanted to be clear that this is not the case for me.

Thanks in advance







Comments

  • Hi Jeremy



    Just wanted to say that I have been looking at the SCR3 - and if you shop around you can definitely get it at a better price than £450. dalescycles.com are currently selling them off at £379. Based on that, you might be able to get the SCR2 within your budget.



    Good luck



    Cat
  • priceda1priceda1 Posts: 7
    Hi Jeremy,



    Like Cat says you can get some discounts. I've been looking round for a SCR 2.0 myself. Read a couple of reviews, one being in cycling plus (I think) gave it a big thumbs up.



    You might find these links helpful.



    http://www.devercycles.co.uk/buy-road-mountain-hybrid-bikes-2006.asp?param=XB/GNT/06



    http://www.cyclingplus.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=128983&#1450475



    http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=Road_Bikes_Under_600&pageDesc=&action=search&searchtype=catID&quicksearch=842&p_start=0&submit=back
  • cottontailcottontail Posts: 8
    Hi Jeremy33, there was a review onthe Giant SCR 2.0 in last months 220 - it was a very good review, and would seriously consider this bike after reading it!
  • iangriffiangriff Posts: 48
    Jeremy,

    I was in the same position as you about a month ago trying to decide the best bike for my buck. Tried out the scr2 and would have bought it if they could of got the size i wanted. What i found out as you a probably have yourself is the groupset is were the extra bucks goes. They message i got over and over again is if you can avoid they base models ie sora then do mainly because you are stuck with those gears. They are not as easy to upgrade and you can't mix and match. the levers will only shift a 7 speed i think it is and if you wanted more gears then its a whole new group set.

    I ended up buying last years specialized allez sport with tiagra and 105 as the group set and i love it.



    Also consider a tri package which gives you shoes pedals helmet etc they seem to offer some good savings, or most bike stores do intrest free credit or even check out the cycle to work scheme http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/.

    A good cycle store will let you try it out, they will do a deal, and they will give it a service after a couple of weeks of riding, something you might want to consider before buying on line.



    Bottom line if you can strech to the extra then go for it i'm sure you won't regret it.



    All the best in your quest



    Ian













  • rungavinrunrungavinrun Posts: 29
    Im in the position of not having anything apart from trainers!



    Just about to buy from triuk their beginer package that includes a scr 3.0 and other stuff for £500 which is pretty good value.



    Will sort me out for the near future.



    http://triuk.com//index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=17&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26&vmcchk=1
  • rpopper65rpopper65 Posts: 171
    eBay can always be a good option, if you know what size frame you should take (go by your inseam measurement and then get a standover height that is about 2 inches/5 cm higher than your inseam measurement) and you have access to a good bike shop that will check out your eBay purchase, adjust it to your sizing and help you make any desired upgrades over time. I have bought all my bikes second-hand and love the feeling of getting a £500 for £250-300. Or a £1700 bike for $1050 (and a bike box on the flight home from the USA).
  • rpopper65rpopper65 Posts: 171
    ...sorry, standover height should be 1-2 inches LOWER than your inseam measurement. LOWER. Sorry.
  • MikeyBMikeyB Posts: 135
    I brought an SCR 2.0 last year and it has been fine. Difficult to judge as it is my first bike in years but I haven't had any real problems with it. I would suggest going to a bike shop and getting properly measured for it though. I am still trying to get mine just right.



    Mike

  • tri metri me Posts: 1
    Googled Giant ocr2 for you and found it for £425 here:http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/index.html?pageTitle=Giant_SCR_20_Bike_2007&pageDesc=Whether_this_is_your_first_time_or_a_daily_habit_the_SCR_Series_is_Perfect_for_fuelling_your_craving&action=detail&maincatID=0&catID=&prodID=9308&brandID=



    I was in the same position as you a few months back with a budget of £500 and the ocr2 seemed good value for money but I wanted to see it first and couldn't find a local bike shop with one. so in the end i blew the budjet and bought a lemond instead and am really pleased with it. This is what I got:http://www.buyabikedirect.co.uk/products.php?action=prodinfo&pid=2263



    Good luck finding your bike
  • bredbred Posts: 3
    I thought I had bought an SCR 2.0 two days ago for 425 but I got an email from Winstanleys yesterday saying it the bike has been discontinued and that my order had thus been cancelled. They said in the email that the new Spring 2007 model is available for 450 (15%) off but I went on their site and it is listed as being 525 (i.e. the RRP) so I have emailed Winstanleys to ask what is going on.
  • AerodyneAerodyne Posts: 4
    Hi all,



    I'm also looking into a sub £500 tri bike... was considering the SCR 3.0 but found this thread and now contimplating looking into the Gaint Roadbike SCR 2.0 as a better choice.



    One quick question... there are now the Spring Collection '07 out, what is the differance between the '07 & Spring Collection SCR 2.0... all I can see is something about the frame being more compact!

    Also if I find a cheaper SCR 2.0 '06 version, is it the same as the '07?



    Any body found the cheapest size 50' on the web?



    Thanks all.

  • AerodyneAerodyne Posts: 4
    Well found my answers at winstanleysbikes.co.uk [8|]



    Now I need to find the cheapest 50cm size online.

    So far...



    [b]SCR 2.0 (Spring 2007) £497.99 inc. p&p[/b]

  • trudgertrudger Posts: 61
    Hi all,



    I've also been looking into the Giant Scr02, and have found them at www.tredz.co.uk for £419 for the 06 model. As this is £100 saving from the 07, this seems to be a simple choice.



    hope this helps.







  • AerodyneAerodyne Posts: 4
    What does "Compact Road Design" mean???



    Is it worth getiting the Spring '07 model for it... 'cos I'll probebly get the '07 model & just spend my cash on a better set of tyres & pedals.





    Thanks all.

  • aero blobaero blob Posts: 29
    Take a look at Kinetic-One bikes at www.kinetic-one.co.uk. We're a small family run company based in Gloucestershire and we specialise in custom building tri bikes to fit the specific measurements and needs of each rider and prices for custom built tri-bikes start at £650. This includes a free 1 hour professional bikefitting session so that you definitely get the right sized bike. Fit is critical to performance, comfort and the avoidance of injuries.



    Andy



    Please also see recent customer reviews of our bikes at http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/review/brandpage/mps/RGN//RCN//ubn/8650/brandname/Kinetic-one/sp/328857336339364141484/v/1
  • hound doghound dog Posts: 293
    Well Jeremy I cant answer your questions on giant as I'd highly recommend a Trek, but can tell you....a decent bike shop will match you up with the correct frame size and riding position. Good luck.
  • AerodyneAerodyne Posts: 4
    Aerodyne wrote:


    [font="verdana, arial, helvetica"][font="verdana, arial, helvetica"]What does "Compact Road Design" mean???

    ...

    :





    Giant’s Compact Road design ... well I think this should help me a bit! [8|]





  • TesseractTesseract Posts: 280
    I can't comment on the specifics of the Giant bike, but when I was shopping around for my first race bike, and looking to spend about the same I narrowed the choices down to Trek, Specialised, and Halford's own range (I was doing a Cycle To Work scheme through my employers similar to that posted by Iangriff above, but my employers do it in asscoaiation with Halfords).



    I ended up going for the Halford's bike, after a lot of comparison, as it edged the others for value for money. It turns out they're actually made by Kona, but are way cheaper as don't carry the name.



    End of the day, I'd say the best advice is try and get your a%£! on the bikes to try them for fit, then look at stuff like gearsets etc. to work out your best option, but really any bike around the £500 mark should stand you in good stead for racing as a beginner, and will shave minutes of your mountain bike time.
  • JonesJones Posts: 4
    I'd go and get measured up at a decent bike shop buy some accessories so you don't feel so bad and then buy second hand off ebay [:)]



    I sold a Bianchi Mega Pro XL a couple of months ago which was unused and mint condition had full shimano 105 except for Ultegra chainset and hubs on Mavic Open Pro rims all for the princely sum of £370 [:)]



    I'm building this up into a TT bike at the moment should be finished tomorrow and with everything bought off ebay and forums its going to be less than £280 complete [:)] so you can do it cheaply [:)] plus with a nice steel frame everyone thinks your riding something really heavy when in reality it weighs not much at all [:D]



    [image]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/leonpicco/jeff.jpg[/image]



  • TheMonkTheMonk Posts: 10
    I bought last year’s Giant SCR 2 for about £400 at the beginning of the summer and after riding lots of bikes since I’m glad I went for the upgrade on the tiagra gear system. I would like to echo Jones and say you can pick up some real bargains if you keep your eyes out for bike jumbles and fairs. I picked up a wheel set for £50 that was worth about £300 new and all because someone didn’t like the cold and gave the sport up.
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