Value for money Road Bike Models second hand

[adrian_d]

Hi all,

I am on the hunt for a Road Racer Bicycle to use to get to work, i'm quite new and have only ridden 1 road bike in the past and liked the feel.

Long term wise i'd get some nice carbon rims for it and just work on my fitness/excerise levels.

I know if I like the look of it, i'm more likely to ride more haha.

Is there any particular examples that come up as great examples that should be considered around the $250-$500 mark that look good and will perform well long term?

[usernameforme]

have you tried polygon, Hasa and Cell? they're the usual candidates for this budget. I'd say because its your first bike, I'd spend a bit more and go the bikeshops so you can get fitted to a bike. Usually bikeshops will throw in freebies to get you started (shoes, helmet, pump pedals, etc) so you might be able to spend more than you think... They should also give you a free first service and if you get friendly enough with them, they'll give you some pretty good discounts. Look out for last year's models because they will be heavily discounted, but usually all thats changed is the paint job. Go vist a few shops and see if you can get a decent discount and some freebies as I believe this will be cheaper. Brand names (Giant, Specialized, Trek, etc) usually offer lifetime warranties for the original owner too, so if something goes wrong it'll be MUCH cheaper.

Happy Hunting

[gururug]

With that budget, look for 5 year old second hands that were unwanted or unused. Can;t afford to be too fussy about the model, just look for the right size.

[ldrcycles]

FWIW, my current road bike is a Scott Speedster S40, got it 2nd hand on ebay for $650 and it has done a really good job. As guru says, the first priority is finding the right size, then you can get picky about brand/colour/spec. Plenty of stuff out there.

[adrian_d]

Thank you very much for all the comments, I have a few brands to look up on the second hand market

[adrian_d]

I ended up getting a KESTREL KM40 Airfoil 650c Triathlon Bike which is fantastic. It has an awesome package included:

Frame: Carbon Fibre
Fork: Composite
Derailleurs: Dura Ace Front & Rear
Handlebars: Cinelli 'Bullhorn' type Aluminium Aerobar
Saddle: Selle Italia Nova
Wheelset 1: HED Disc (Rear) & HED3 Tri-spoke (Front)
Tyres 1: Continental Competition 22 Singles
Wheelset 2: Xero XR1
Tyres 2: Continental Gatorskin Clichers (Near New)
Size: I'm not exactly sure of the size, however I am 186 cm tall and this bike was a tad too small for me, it would suit someone between 165-180cm tall.
Top tube (centre t0 centre) = 56cm.

I couldn't resist the look, and being light weight is even more reason to love it

[ZepinAtor]

OMGosh that bike sounds retro/crazy in a good way.

Please post up a photo as it sounds interesting & something you definitely don't see every day.

[adrian_d]

OMGosh that bike sounds retro/crazy in a good way.

Please post up a photo as it sounds interesting & something you definitely don't see every day.

Thanks heaps for that. I can't wait to take it for a spin. I just couldn't resist the second I saw it.

[find_bruce]

OMGosh that bike sounds retro/crazy in a good way.

Please post up a photo as it sounds interesting & something you definitely don't see every day.

Thanks heaps for that. I can't wait to take it for a spin. I just couldn't resist the second I saw it.

Nice bike. I'm not so sure about the missing seatpost, but hey it's out of the ordinary. An educated guess makes me think you paid nearly double your original budget

[adrian_d]

OMGosh that bike sounds retro/crazy in a good way.

Please post up a photo as it sounds interesting & something you definitely don't see every day.

Thanks heaps for that. I can't wait to take it for a spin. I just couldn't resist the second I saw it.

Nice bike. I'm not so sure about the missing seatpost, but hey it's out of the ordinary. An educated guess makes me think you paid nearly double your original budget

Haha how did you guess hahaha. There was another seat being included instead from what I can tell it was only the saddle that was being changed.

And yep I doubled my budget lmao

thanks

[ZepinAtor]

OMGosh that bike sounds retro/crazy in a good way.

Please post up a photo as it sounds interesting & something you definitely don't see every day.

Thanks heaps for that. I can't wait to take it for a spin. I just couldn't resist the second I saw it.

That is ridiculously cool in a very 90's way.

Seat tubeless 650c TT bike. Rare, weird...........Kestrel, say no more.

Maybe post this up in the bike gallery thread. It will certainly raise some eyebrows & give all the "stem slammers" something to talk about.

Back in the day that set up would have set you back about $8000.

[ldrcycles]

I am on the hunt for a Road Racer Bicycle to use to get to work

So is that still the plan? Cos if so, that is about the coolest commuter bike EVER!!

[clackers]

I am on the hunt for a Road Racer Bicycle to use to get to work

So is that still the plan? Cos if so, that is about the coolest commuter bike EVER!!

Yep, can't wait to see the Topeak rack and mudguards on it!

[adrian_d]

I am on the hunt for a Road Racer Bicycle to use to get to work

So is that still the plan? Cos if so, that is about the coolest commuter bike EVER!!

Hahaha i'm worried it might be too good for the daily commute haha.
The bike is fantastically light, and so awesome that it only lives inside in our spare room lol.

I'll definitely post up a picture in the bike thread section. The dish wheel is definitely from the 90's, the front hed 3 may have been an option when the bike was first out.

The frame was released in 2000 if I remember correctly but it sold like hot cakes in the time.

Gotta love the seat stem (or lack of lol)

Thanks all

[adrian_d]

I was quite eager to check out the Members Rides Gallery section but couldn't find it. Is it possible someone would be able to link me to there?

Thanks

[find_bruce]

[url=http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8664]Bike Gallery] - sticky in General Discussion Forum, all 166 pages of it.

[adrian_d]

[url=http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8664]Bike Gallery] - sticky in General Discussion Forum, all 166 pages of it.

Ah thats awesome thanks so much. Can't wait to comment in there.

[zakka101]

i picked up a 2011 malvern star genesys oppy for 1700 about 3 weeks ago. full sram red, sram wheels, prologo carbon seat etc.
what a bargain find. hopefully someone else out there can get lucky!

[adrian_d]

i picked up a 2011 malvern star genesys oppy for 1700 about 3 weeks ago. full sram red, sram wheels, prologo carbon seat etc.
what a bargain find. hopefully someone else out there can get lucky!

That bike of yours sounds awesome. Did you have any photos around?

Were you saying that I was quite lucky to get what I did for the price? I absolutely love it to pieces hahaha

[Mulger bill]

I'm from the all TT bikes are ugly crowd adrian but damn! There's something about your new steed that just whispers to me. Have a ball on her.

Shaun

[adrian_d]

I'm from the all TT bikes are ugly crowd adrian but damn! There's something about your new steed that just whispers to me. Have a ball on her.

Shaun

Oh thats awesome mate thanks for that. I couldn't stop staring at it, I could have never imagined owning something like this. I knew it had to be mine. I am hoping to enter the Eastlink Race For Homes event in November so I have a lot of training to do haha

[zakka101]

i picked up a 2011 malvern star genesys oppy for 1700 about 3 weeks ago. full sram red, sram wheels, prologo carbon seat etc.
what a bargain find. hopefully someone else out there can get lucky!

That bike of yours sounds awesome. Did you have any photos around?

Were you saying that I was quite lucky to get what I did for the price? I absolutely love it to pieces hahaha

'
yeah mate photo here, love it!

[adrian_d]

Oh wow I love the shape of the frame and colour scheme. Looks stunning mate thanks for sharing.

[adrian_d]

Hey all,

Just thought this might be an inspiring thread that i posted back in June. At that stage I couldn't tell you what a Bottom Bracket is, or the fact that bikes come in different sizes (doh).

I spent $800+ on that Kestrel KM40 and realised I couldn't even ride it as it was too big for me haha.

Since then i've clocked up 703km, learn't a heap about bikes, rebuilt 1 bike, built one from scratch and attended my first event being the Bupa Around the Bay yesterday.

So much more to learn and so many more events to take part in

Just wanted to thank my fellow BNA members for putting up with me lol