Giro D'Italia: Would you buy it?

TriBird

I am totally new to the sport of cycling. I am currently in the market for my first road bike. I just want something that will do the job and I don’t want to spend too much. I need some advice from those of you that have been around cycling for a while.

Would you pay AUD$400 for this bike (I know its hard passing judgment without seeing it, but please try your best):

Giro D'Italia, 2nd hand Road Bike Blue Columbus Tubing, Suntour SL 7speed, Excellent condition with Cateye Computer, Cages + San Marco Saddle

Refer to side planel for picture of bike.

If you want a better look at the picture go to:
http://www.tradingpost.com.au/
and type: Giro in keywords
QLD in state

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide,
TriBird

TriBird

I just figured out how to add attachments.
See attached for better picture of the bike.

Please any opion would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
TrBird

Attached Thumbnails

 

WSSS

Firstly what do you intend to use it for?

TriBird

I am just planning on using it to get started in the sport. Relaxed rides on the weekend and fitness training during the week. I will probably try my first few races on it as well. If I get interested in cycling then I would probably upgrade.

WSSS

When you mean upgrade do you intend to upgrade it from the current bike you are looking at?

It would be difficult to upgrade your the giro D'italia. If i were in your shoes i would put out about 2000 thereabouts to get a trek 1500 or similar. At this price point you get the best bang for your buck and if you are thinking of upgrading from there you have at least something worthwhile to upgrade, wheels, saddle, bars and such.

At the end of the day if you feel crusing along at 35km/h is not your cup of tea you can always sell it.

Bikes at this price used or brand new have a large market share in the community. No point getting a super budget bike and let it prevent you from enjoying cycling as much as you might.

Start with at least with a 105 bike if you are constrained by budget.

peterlip

I you're debating whether riding is your thing, buy whatever you can afford to almost throw away. It's not worth spending $2000 if you're not sure, because I don't think you'll get anywhere near your money back if you lose interest.

I was a huge rider in my teenage years, and thought I'd never stop riding even when I started to drive. But the day I got my license, was the last day I rode for 20 years.

Last year I shelled out $100 for a 'Great Vic Bike Ride' bike to see if I could get back into it. The plan was to wait 18 months, and if I was still riding, I would spend some money on a 'real' bike. As crappy as everyone told me the bike was, I thought it was fantastic, and it served its purpose of getting me back into riding. 6 months later (and 1,000 km) I got impatient and bought a road bike, and have never looked back.

The best bit was, after riding an entry level bike, and then swapping to a road bike, I could really appreciate the difference in bike technology. The difference is unbelievable.



I don't know enough about bikes to tell if $400 is a good price for this particular bike, but if you can afford to throw $400 away on the chance that it may get you back on a bike, then do it. This is better then trying to save $2000 for a year or two because you want to start with good bike (not saying this one is bad), because it will probably never happen.

The only thing I can tell you is looking at the picture, it looks like the gear changers are the old style ‘take your hands off the handle bar’ changers (like I said, I’m no expert otherwise I’d know the terminology).

If you want to get into racing, you’ll probably need (well, prefer) the newer STI integrated brake / changer. In the old days, many a race was lost because the wrong gear was chosen for the final sprint, and you simply couldn’t afford to take a hand of the handlebars to change when doing the mad sprint.

But for now, just buy a bike and ride it. If you love it, you’ll find the money to get a ‘real’ bike. If you don’t love it, you still have something for the odd weekend ride, and haven’t throw potentially thousands away.