Advice for first road bike (budget/second hand)

[Danie le Roux]

I’ve been mountain biking a few years, but i have never tried out a road bike. I would like to buy a second hand road bike (max R8000). Any tips? Suggestions? I see there are a few available on bikehub around that price but no idea if any of them are worth it.

[s14phoenix]

some are worth it and some are not great. As with any bike you got to look at the condition of the parts as to not incur any further cost right after buying it.

 

try not to buy too old as older parts can be hard to source if you need it and newer bikes generally have newer tech.

 

But i would buy used and maybe spend a bit more bucks after buying it to service and make sure everything is good.

 

Hard to give advise on such a general question.

 

Tell us where you are from, your size and weight and general stuff like that. then we can maybe suggest some bikes in your area or close to you to go check out.

 

good luck.

[Sid the Sloth]

Having recently bought my first road bike and subsequently having heavily upgraded, my advice would be to buy something older and cheaper and make sure you like it then sell on and upgrade, or buy something else from the hub with 105 11speed and maybe carbon and not too old (spending a little more) but there seems to be quite a large resale market for them so if you don’t like it you can sell quickly and if you do you already have a decent bike.

 

Other than that as the Phoenix suggested, add your frame size and some more specifics. When I went for my road bike build there were plenty of hubbers itching to help out.

[FirstV8]

I recently bought a road bike after 3 years of MT biking ( Covid forced it ) I was looking on the Hub and found enough to wet my apatite . You need to have a reasonable understanding of the group sets ratings that come on bikes .Cheaper bikes tend to have entry level group sets on which do not have a long life if ridden daily  .Middle of the range group set', a good brand frame and you are good to go .Take a visit to your LBS as they will always have  trade in bikes or just bikes for sale by cyclists giving up . Go aluminum frame because if after a while you find a fault ( crack ) it can be repaired at much less than a carbon fiber repair .. Dont fall  for the " you need road pedals and road shoes " Just put the same pedals that you have on your MTB and use your MTB shoes untill you are ready to commit to ride road daily . 

Edited October 19, 2020 by FirstV8

[Pure Savage]

You going to get a lot more value from a second hand road bike. unlike MTB there are no suspension or pivots etc to worry about. 

 

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/road-bikes/433115/ktm-strada-1000

 

Something like this is not bad for R7.5k, I sold a RC6000 with the newer ultegra for R5k though and had nicer wheels. 

[Thomo]

I’ve been mountain biking a few years, but i have never tried out a road bike. I would like to buy a second hand road bike (max R8000). Any tips? Suggestions? I see there are a few available on bikehub around that price but no idea if any of them are worth it.

List those you are looking at.

May be easier to get guidance on specific bikes.

[slickjay007]

You going to get a lot more value from a second hand road bike. unlike MTB there are no suspension or pivots etc to worry about. 

 

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/road-bikes/433115/ktm-strada-1000

 

Something like this is not bad for R7.5k, I sold a RC6000 with the newer ultegra for R5k though and had nicer wheels. 

 

Price has gone up since posting this...

[s14phoenix]

Price has gone up since posting this...

 

Not sure if the spec changed but I also saw that...