Buying an entry-level road bike between $300 - $500

[Froze]

Hey everyone,

I want to thank you again for your input and suggestions! Lucky for me, there's a guy in my office who does a bit of biking. He had recommended looking at some bikes from "bikesdirect.com". They range from $399 to $549, and seem to offer pretty decent value.

Does anyone have any experience with these brands? Such as MotoBecane?

My eye sort of stuck on a few that they have on offer (now only to get them in my size!)
$449 Road Bike - Motobecane Mirage SL
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/road_bikes/mirage_sl.htm

$399 CycloCross Bike - Gravity Liberty CX
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/liberty_cx.htm

$499 Road Bike - Motobecane Mirage SLX
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/road_bikes/mirage_slx.htm

I'm trying to keep my eyes open for good deals like this, and your (collective) input is always welcome! I think I even saw some bikes with carbon forks within the $500 range ...

Thanks!

I agree that the for the money it will be difficult to beat the Moto bikes, not so sure about whether or not I would trust the Gravity bikes.

Problem with Walmart type of bikes is that their parts are not for the most part replaceable, which is why LBS's won't work on them.

Used bikes are not a problem to buy, even a novice buyer should be able to spot a problem bike, and you could pick up a $2000 bike for under $500, but the OP has some years experience riding a bike so they should be able to detect a problem. IF you want to buy a used bike and want to know how to check the bike over just ask again and others including myself will tell you how.

There are some other good entry level bikes under $500 like the Giordano Libero, Tommaso Lola Lightweight, Vilano Shadow, Vilano Forza, Nashbar AL1, Schwinn Phocus, Schwinn Prelude, and the Diamondback Century 1. All of these bikes are found on Amazon, just read the specs on all of them and pick out the one you like for the price you want to pay. They all got high reviews so you won't go wrong with any of those bikes.

 

[Motosonic]

Here's my 2 cents. Buy used. on EBay or Craigslist. My first Road bike was a 2011 Raleigh Revenio 3.0 with complete Shimano 105 groupset. This is a $1500 bike new, and I paid $400 shipped. It was in incredible shape and I got hundreds of miles of use out of it before I resold it. It's an endurance geometry.. Lightweight aluminum.. once of the most comfortable bikes I've ever ridden.
The catch is you'll need to know what you want.. what to get and what size to get. By the sounds of it, if you want a bona fide 'road' bike, you're looking at endurance geometry.. otherwise, I think a Hybrid is your other option.. But you can find both on eBay.. especially now that we're out of 'riding season'. You'll save a ton of money this way and get a a WAY better bike than you would new.

Something like this would probably be a good for for you. You have about the same dimensions as me and I typically ride a 54/56cm bike (which is usually a large size)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-Raleig...293699?hash=item28278dc2c3:g:-XEAAOSwA3dYYy8R