# 2013 road bike for a Beginner



## Ireland1916 (Sep 12, 2012)

hi , im looking for a road bike for a complete new person to road cycling. i will be using the bike for training and not for commuting. my price range is a maximum of €900 ( i mean it ). height is 6ft so i will need at 56cm frame ( i think). open to suggestions. was looking at the trek 1.2 2013 but thats a little expsensive so was looking for other ideas. lowest groupo i would like to get is shimano sora and ive shopped around for 2012 bikes in my local bike shops but they are all gone.
thanks for any suggestions


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## demonrider (Jul 18, 2012)

Ireland1916 said:


> hi , im looking for a road bike for a complete new person to road cycling. i will be using the bike for training and not for commuting. my price range is a maximum of €900 ( i mean it ). height is 6ft so i will need at 56cm frame ( i think). open to suggestions. was looking at the trek 1.2 2013 but thats a little expsensive so was looking for other ideas. lowest groupo i would like to get is shimano sora and ive shopped around for 2012 bikes in my local bike shops but they are all gone.
> thanks for any suggestions


Knowing what I know now, if I was buying my first road bike today, this is what I would get: Boardman Team

For the price: 105 groupset, great race geometry (you mentioned training), BB30 bottom bracket, carbon fork, tripple butted Al Alloy... heck I think I will order one of these as a backup bike to my carbon.


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## Ireland1916 (Sep 12, 2012)

demonrider said:


> Knowing what I know now, if I was buying my first road bike today, this is what I would get: Boardman Team
> 
> For the price: 105 groupset, great race geometry (you mentioned training), BB30 bottom bracket, carbon fork, tripple butted Al Alloy... heck I think I will order one of these as a backup bike to my carbon.


look at it and its €1200 which is more than a trek 1.2 (900) which has a nicer frame tbh


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## demunb (Sep 16, 2012)

Newbie here. I just got a Giant Defy 3 as my first road bike. So far I'm very happy with it and it fits in your budget. I almost went with the Trek 1.2 which is also nice, but ultimately was more comfortable on the Giant.


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## demonrider (Jul 18, 2012)

Ireland1916 said:


> look at it and its €1200 which is more than a trek 1.2 (900) which has a nicer frame tbh


Says 796 Euro on my screen, are you looking at the Team Carbon? This is the Alu version. How is the Trek a nicer frame? Have you ridden both?


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## sae185628 (Sep 17, 2012)

I am having the same dilemma. I had back surgery a year ago and the doctor suggested cycling over my weightlifting. So, last year I bought a Giant Escape 2 not knowing if I would enjoy cycling. Now, I want to upgrade, but I have to stay in the Endurance Range. So, I have narrowed down my options:

Giant Composite 1 with Ultegra componentry $2600
Cannondale synapse carbon with 105 group $2300
Specialized Roubaix carbon with 105 group $2300
Kestrel RT 1000 with with Ultegra componentry $1700

I am trying to compare apples to apples. I have a Giant and Cannondale bike shop within 15 minutes. I would like to have the Kestrel, but the only downfall is the dealer is 3 hours away. I have not seen any bad reviews on any of them. I am struggling to pick one


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## chudak (Jul 28, 2012)

sae185628 said:


> Giant Composite 1 with Ultegra componentry $2600
> Cannondale synapse carbon with 105 group $2300
> Specialized Roubaix carbon with 105 group $2300
> Kestrel RT 1000 with with Ultegra componentry $1700


I'd add the Felt Z4 to that list...Relaxed geometry, carbon frame, 105 groupset: $2039

I just picked one up a few weeks ago. Love mine.


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## RubyRoad (Sep 14, 2012)

I've just read it this morning, it might help:

Bicycling Magazine

Edit: Oh, I thought is a direct link... So the have an article about entry level road bikes.


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## BostonG (Apr 13, 2010)

I'm not sure I understand. None of the LBS’s in your area have any bikes in stock that fit your budget? Even nothing to test ride? 

And besides that, what are you considering as options? Are you thinking that you will order something on line? Blank slate suggestions will be useless to you, people will just post what they have and endorse that particular bike, which may be very different from what you like. 

I guess I would say a good place to start would be to take some bikes on test rides and decide if you like a more relaxed feel or something more responsive.

Edit: If the LBS's truly have nothing in stock that falls into your budget for you to test ride, you can ask about bikes with similar geometry but higher end components that you can test ride. A line will often have the same or similar frame but different wheels, gruppo, etc. You should still be able to get a very good idea of how a specific entry level bike will feel and the salesperson can talk about the differences.


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## sae185628 (Sep 17, 2012)

The Giant Dealer had a Defy 3, but no other defy or the carbon. I test rode the TCR SL2 and it was on the border line of uncomfortable.

The Cannondale/Specialized dealer did not have a specialized. He had a Cannondale, but not in my size and it was aluminum.

Thats all the dealers in my 30 minute driving area. The dealer 45 minutes away carries Fuji, but no Kestrel.

The closest Kestrel dealer is 3 hours.


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