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Bike Brand ?? Noob Question

Hiya Folks

I have trawed through the forum and have been unable to find a post re Bike Brands ....

Basiclly im looking for a decent road bike or hybrid that i can use for work and for my first Tri which hopefully will be the hever castle series in september.

I like the boardman range ! but its exclusive to halfords and i haven't had the best service before, or a trek / specialised / Fuji from evans cycles ! My local bike shop recommend Merida ! but I have never herd of them ???

Any help would be great, I have a budget of up to £1000

I'm sorry if this has been asked time and time again ! (Noob)

Thanks for all your help.

Mike Robinson-Charlton

Comments

  • BlinkybazBlinkybaz Posts: 1,144
    This question does come up each year but no worries1

    As for bike brands? Its a mine field. I started triathlon on a Viking Torino which was my first bike since being a small kid. It cost £250 and i loved it. It did me proude for a couple of seasons.
    I am now riding an Argon 18 Radon which is a fab bike.

    As for Boardman all you hear is people raveing about there bikes.
    Tek make some awsome bikes but so do all the brands you talk about.
    You are going to hear lots of stuff about buying a carbon dream machine and spend all your money on a litespeed something.
    If you have agrand to spend they you have loads to choose from. You need to get to Bridgtown cycles and see some bikes and sit on some, ride and try. Sizes change from company to bike so theres no clear cut bike for you via the internet.

    good luck and enjoy Triathlon.
  • XpiderXpider Posts: 22
    Many Thanks for your Very quick reply

    Cheers
  • TesseractTesseract Posts: 280
    I did a long reply, but it's gone

    Anyways, my LBS had some bad things to say about Boardmans, saying there was that much flex in the forks the front wheel sometimes hit the frame! Was part of a general chat, so no vested interest. Having said that I've ridden a Carrerra for years with no compaints.

    As above, most companies are good at a certain level, although there's variations in bikes. Best option is get into a few shops and try some out, find what';s best for you. (ie fit etc.)
  • "Anyways, my LBS had some bad things to say about Boardmans, saying there was that much flex in the forks the front wheel sometimes hit the frame!"

    Thats sounds like LBS bullsh@t to me. I have had two boardmans, started on the Comp, now have the Team Carbon, love both of them and no flex at all. Took mine to my LBS and he had a ride on it and had to admit that it was very good and couldn't get anywhere near to matching it pricewise!

    Buy from Halfords, then get it set up properly by some tame cycle mechanic as Halfords aint the best.
    I know that Halfords have 20% off some of the bikes at the moment too.

    One note of caution when using this website, beware of the bike snobs, as long as it fits, its comfortable and it makes you want to get out and ride it then that is the bike for you!!

    Enjoy triathlon.

    Tri Pencil.
  • BlinkybazBlinkybaz Posts: 1,144
    One note of caution when using this website, beware of the bike snobs, as long as it fits, its comfortable and it makes you want to get out and ride it then that is the bike for you!!



    Amen! Thats what I was getting at! well said Tri pencil!
  • GGBGGB Posts: 482
    As said above fit is the most important bit - then its spec etc .. theres no point in buying a £5k bike if it doesnt fit and you can't ride to a high level. Most of us "Triathletes" spend a fortune on bikes and kit that we don't necessarily need, it all feels good and makes us feel faster .. in reality get the most out of your body first and then spend ££££ on bikes.

    I have a Merida Warp Tri bike and its a great piece of kit, does the job for me and I am no speedfreek - in reality its better than me lol .. but I allways feel faster when on it. I believe Merida make a lot of frames for other manufacturers but the name itself is not greatly known in the UK, in Eurpoe it is though.

    Make sure that whatever you do buy you can get spares / upgrades to fit easily and you don't have to buy their own brand stuff.
  • Raleigh chopper what a bike mush
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Two thoughts:
    You may want to see if your employer does the cycle to work scheme or failing that see if you can set up one, here is an example:
    http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/cycle-scheme

    I like this one:
    http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBP ... n-sram-red
    Upshot is you would get a £1300 carbon bike (with a SRAM Red groupset worth £800) and the net cost to you would be less than £800. Still a lot of money but a lot of bike.

    Other option is to get a basic bike under £500 that will still do the job (as you will probably want to buy a carbon tri bike later ), here are some that may interest:
    http://www.rutlandcycling.com/Offer/4/C ... ustid=C124

    Good luck
  • SilverbackSilverback Posts: 131
    Buy Boardman, ignore the sneering looks from carbon owning, 6 packed lanky streaks of wee and when you pass one with his head down wearing an aero helmet wave the wad of tenners you've saved in his face.

    That said it doesn't stop me dribbling when I see a Felt...
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    As said its all about fit, I've only heard good things about the boardman, but i think ben (willieverfinish) has a merida and he likes that... Also if you are going to use it to get to work you will probably want something that can take mud guards, possibly a pannier, which may rule out a few road bikes (there's not much clearance between the wheel and frame on my oadie to add mudguards...so i don't probably annoys the f'kker trying to draft off me on the ride to work in the wet

    Also, it is worth thinking about what you will want in the future - if you think you might get a tri bike in a year or two then aim for something more suited to commuting now (and training of course)...have you thought about a cyclocross bike? Bomb proof, slightly more upright than a roadie and perfect for commutes etc 9they even tend to have space for mudguards )
  • Mark

    I don't have a merida - my road bike is a Massi carbon pro.

    Miskin had a merida TT bike and he got on well with it.
  • XpiderXpider Posts: 22
    Thanks for all your fab advice

    Im still liking the boardman range and i think my company does the gov ride to work scheme which is even better

    The only thing putting me off bikes from the net is that i dont have opp to either test ride or get them fitted properly. So if i was to get a boardman i would pay the extra and take it to my LBS or evans to get the once over and setup correctly.

    Sweet

    Cheers

    /\/\IKE
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Well if you have the opportunity to go for the Cycle to Work scheme then it is as our American cousins say a 'no brainer'. Is your employer tied to any particular supplier?

    If definiteley going Boardman, depending on where you live the quality of the Halford staff varies according to posts I have seen so it may be worth travelling to a store with a good rep.
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    Ah, I knew it started with an 'M'...
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