Entry Level Road Bike

[dragonknight]

I currently have a Cannondale CAAD2 (I think) with Shimano 105s - quite an old an unmaintained bike. Its also 60cm.... too big for me (I am 1.82m). I bought it to see if I enjoy cycling before I spend a bit more on a decent bike.

 

Decided I like cycling, so now I want to upgrade to something better.

 

For R7000, what would be a decent road bike to get, and which shops in Cape Town give the best value for money and service. I've heard of a few (Crown, Olympic, Flandria, Chris Willemse). Which onese would be recommended?

 

Also, what size would I get (56cms?).

 

I have been looking around and am not sure whether I can get something with 105s for that price. Given that eh bike I have currently is fairly old, would a new bike with downgraded groupset (Tiagra?) still be better?

 

Any advice is welcome.

[dragonknight]

Anybdoy?

[SL7]

For 7k try Cycletraders in Woodstock - Avron might take your old bike as a trade.

[SCHWINN LOVER]

SHOP AROUND!!!

I am new to the sport but have found that every bike shop has good deals and bad deals,the only way is to travel from shop to shop,time consuming but worth it,yesterday I was quoted R1500 for a helmet(Fox flux) and today I bought it at another shop for R899,that's how big the savings could be.

Have had good service from glen at cycle lab in Northgate Square and from Cycle Teknix in Table View(Henbar).

Spend as much money as possible on the bike else you will be buying another bike in 3 months-personal experience.

Could you not transfer some of the better components from the old bike to the new??

[Lou Zealand]

Hi dragonknight,

 

Inseam leg length seems to be the criterion for frame size rather than your height, however a 60cm frame for a guy your height does seem too large.

 

I am 1.81m and ride a 54cm (Cannondale Caad 8).

[The_Break]

It is inseem dependent, but about 90% of people I ride with including myself who are 178-182cm ride a 54-56cm. I would have a bike shop do your measurements and also compare you measurements to the manufacturers specs and recommendations.

[dragonknight]

I figured that 54-56cm would be the correct size yes - thanks for confirming.

 

I have been looking around, but there seems to be so many brands and models that it can get quite confusing.

 

Have heard the Raleigh RC3000 is a decent entry level bike (but it doesn't come with 105s), also in the price range is the Merida Road Juliet (Sora groupset), Giant Rapid 2 (Tiagra), Raliegh Blade 30 (Tiagra), Scott Speedster 40 (Tiagra), Trek 1.1C, etc

 

Unless I start scouting around for an excellent quality secondhand bike. Going to try a few shops and see how they are

[DaLoCo]

Perhaps get a frame only, my shop rebuilt my old bike to a new frame for R390, including new cables. There are some choice frames for quite cheap, and you can get most of the spares here on the HUB.

[dragonknight]

I think I am going to go with a Scott S30. Comes to R7800. Mixture of Tiagra and 105s. Probably from Crown Cycles. They seem to know what they are doing, so will go with them.

 

Anything else I should be looking at?

[Abd7]

Have a look at the Merida 903-18, also in that price range

[BlinkFan]

http://silverbacklab.com/2011/rs2.jpg - R7100 from Cyclefactory

[Coiser]

The group set normally determines the price of the bike. For entry level rather go for 105. May cost a bit more but it is worth it. Good luck

[Kickass]

Last week I bought a Raleigh Blade 20 for R8300, comes with 105/Ultegra mix, sub 9kg weight. Shopped around a lot, priced between 8300 and 14000, no jokes.

After extensive shopping this seemed like quite the bargain....

[henco]

Don't go for less than Tiagra! I got Sora on my indoor trainer, hate those shifters but it works fine for an indoor trainer.

[gummibear]

Have a look at this.

 

https://www.bikehub.co.za/classifieds/2423-56cm-schwinn-fastback/