Bike advice urgently needed

heartofwhite

Hi guys I am going to look at a couple of bikes this afternoon with my brother as I am buying him one. I am looking for a ranking order on the bikes listed on the site

http://www.ggrippy.com/bikes-for-sale.html

If it is against rules to post a site I understand but it is a genuine question as I want to get him a decent bike as he is only starting out.

Any advice appreciated.

pprendeville

Hard to advise as the frames are of different size but I'd be of the opinion the Vitus (new wheels, 105 shifters, front derailleur) would be top of the pack for parts and price followed by Specialized Allez. Specialized says it has Shimano 105 components but the chainset doesn't look like 105 to me. The rest look to be on par with each other although I only had a quick look.

Obviously test ride it for 10mins at least and go up and down through all the gears, test brakes, check for chain wear (ideally have a chai wear tool). Find out has the headset been serviced recently. That's the bearings inside the frame for steering. Make sure they're not stiff. Lift the front of the bike off the ground and tilt to left and right. The bike should steer to left or right according due to gravity easily enough. This will indicate headset is in good working order. Also, pull the front brakes and push forward and backwards gently to check for play in the headset. If you can feel lateral movement in the steerer the headset needs to be either tightened or replaced. This last point is very important. Best of luck.

heartofwhite

pprendeville wrote: »

Hard to advise as the frames are of different size but I'd be of the opinion the Vitus (new wheels, 105 shifters, front derailleur) would be top of the pack for parts and price followed by Specialized Allez. Specialized says it has Shimano 105 components but the chainset doesn't look like 105 to me. The rest look to be on par with each other although I only had a quick look.

Obviously test ride it for 10mins at least and go up and down through all the gears, test brakes, check for chain wear (ideally have a chai wear tool). Find out has the headset been serviced recently. That's the bearings inside the frame for steering. Make sure they're not stiff. Lift the front of the bike off the ground and tilt to left and right. The bike should steer to left or right according due to gravity easily enough. This will indicate headset is in good working order. Also, pull the front brakes and push forward and backwards gently to check for play in the headset. If you can feel lateral movement in the steerer the headset needs to be either tightened or replaced. This last point is very important. Best of luck.

Thanks for the advice! I will ckeck what you mentioned. I was thinking of the Defy 3 or the Diamondback

ckeego

Very hard to look past the Specialized in my honest opinion.

The only strange thing about it is that seat post.. It looks strange and it's probably one of the first things I'd checlk that there is no damage around that area. Those frames are rock solid..

<snip>
Another connection has the distribution for Sensa bikes in Ireland and that might work for you too. I have just bought a set of wheels from him and his service was brilliant..

Similar story, you would be getting a very good spec bike for less than 2/3 of the price.

iwillhtfu

Yeah I'd second the spec. I'm not a massive fan of them but probably the best ready to go bike there.

If he's looking at throwing a few quid at it an upgrading I'd probably get one of the giants.

<snip>
http://www.fitzcycles.ie/p/1558/cube-peloton