Road bike (newbie help)

Hi guys,

It's great to find a site with some Aussie cyclists online!

A small introduction. I love riding my bike, and always ride from my house to the city (Melbourne) along the bike trail. I have been doing this for around 4years now on a cheapo k-mart brand, "royce union" bike. This bike looks great, but is a piece of crap to ride. Now all the cables are wearing out, and I cut my leg in several places every time I ride due to frayed wires. After this craptastic bike I had given up riding for a few years.

Now I want to get back into it and get fit. This time I want a road bike and something durable. Now unfortunately I am a poor uni student. My budget is only $500AUD (I will be paying cash if that makes a difference ). Now the only brand new one I can seem to find is the Giant CRX 4. Is there any others I can look at, any base models from Avanti?

I am also willing to go second hand (and reconditioned), but would prefer to go to a store and not Ebay. I spent a fair while on Bicycle victoria trying to find a secondhand bike store and the only one I could find is http://www.bicyclerecycle.com.au/. Does anyone know of any specials that are on, or second hard stores that will suite me?

Your help is really appreciated.

Thanks guys.

With that budget I think second hand would be your best bet. If you dont want to buy on Ebay maybe try your local newspaper classifieds, or find out where your local cycling clubs are, quite often they'll have a website and a 4 sale section.

Hi scotttri, thanks for the reply. My only problem with buying 2nd hand is, the condition of the bike. I am not an expert and won't be able to spot little problems. Nonetheless can you reconmend some good brands/models for $500 in the 2nd hand market. If a good one does pop on ebay though, I wont turn it down.

You should be able to find many of the major brands ie giant, trek, avanti etc. In that price range second hand. Probably only a couple of years old to. The thing with cycling is alot of people watch the tour de france etc, then go out and but a nice bike and never use it. So there's always plenty of good second hand bikes to choose from. I'd recomend going and getting measured up first so you know what size your after. When looking at a secondhand bike, look for signs of damage on the frame, look at the gear teeth for ware ( expect some where ) If posible take the bike for a ride. Look at the gear cables for rust spots etc. shows if the bike is looked after or not. Spin the wheels and check for truness, ie. when looking at them theres no side to side movement.

Being a newbie, I'd suggest new. The CRX4 is a great bike for the price. Buy it at a shop which will give you a years worth of free service.

Even on Ebay at that price, 2nd hand is not going to get you a 105 equipped bike from Giant which has under 500km. (i.e. guy that has made an impulse purchase and is no longer interested in cycling).