Firstly, some general principles about buying a road bike for under £1,000.
- It is a very competitive market segment with numerous bike companies offering several models. It is impossible to review anything like close to all the models available.
- To some extent, many of the bikes in this price bracket will be quite similar. It is hard to find huge variances in quality and spec.
- A more important question is to ask – where is best place to get a bike? What features do I want from a road bike? Have I left enough money for important extras.
- Which is best material? Steel, Aluminium, Carbon fibre or even titanium? There are not many full carbon fibre bikes for under £1,000, but there are an increasing number of companies who can squeeze a carbon fibre bike under £1,000. I wouldn’t see it as essential. Also, it is not just the material, but how it is put together. You can get cheap carbon fibre frames and more expensive carbon fibre frames. To get a carbon fibre frame under £1,000 may lead to lower quality. Aluminium is very popular in this price bracket because it is cheap, strong and easy to mass produce. The disadvantage of aluminium is that it tends to give a bit of a ‘harsher’ ride – you notice more potholes. Aluminium is also harder to mould into attractive smooth lines (though new technology has led to improved Aluminium frames in recent years, and we are starting to see more Aluminium in top end road bikes)
- Sportive vs Road bike. A sportive bike is a racing road bike, with slightly different geometry. They tend to have a taller headset to give a more upright and comfortable position. Racing bike geometry tends to make you lower – more aerodynamic and tends to be less comfortable. There is not a huge difference, but you can choose between comfort / speed. Sportive bikes also tend to be less stiff – absorbing more vibrations more comfortable ride. Finally sportives tend to have compact chainsets 50/34 – rather than bigger gears, such as 53/39.
- Many £1,000 bikes have some cheap components, such as wheels and tyres to allow them to stay under £1,000. It means if you get into the road bike, you can consider later buying some better race wheels, which often provide a big upgrade on the cheaper wheels which come with the bike.
Cycle to work scheme
Bikes under £1,000 also fall under the UK governments cycle to work schemes. If your employer has signed up, you could save a significant amount (25%). If your employer hasn’t signed up, try and encourage them to!
Groupsets for bikes under £1.000
For bikes under £1,000 – the most common groupsets are Shimano Tiagra or Shimano 105. 105 is a very good groupset and comes fairly close to the performance standard of Ultegra and Dura Ace. It benefits from many ‘hand-me-down’ technology. 105 is probably as good as Dura Ace was many years ago. A very rough order of groupsets.
- Shimano Claris (tends to be fitted to cheaper Hybrid bikes)
- Shimano Sora (9 speed road bike groupset (£429)
- Shimano Tiagra (now 10 speed) RRP £449
- Shimano 105 (10 speed, now 11 speed) RRP £559
You can buy these groupsets cheaper than the list price, but it does shows that if you built up a bike from different parts, it would be more expensive than buying the full bike altogether.
Firstly my bikes which I bought under £1,000
Ribble Aluminium Frame-
I bought this over 10 years ago. It is is Aluminium frame, carbon fibre fork and Shimano 105 groupset. It came in at around £900 and I bought from Ribble Bike builder. I got a custom paint job. I raced on it for a few seasons, but has now become my winter training bike. All of the groupset has worn away several times, but I am still on the existing frame and fork. It has held up very well, despite taking a real battering. The paint on the carbon fork has started to peel away, but carbon fibre is inert and will not rust. The good thing about aluminium is that the odd dent, doesn’t impact on the frame too much (Unlike carbon fibre, where it can write-off the frame).
