Buying first road bike

[davidet]

Hey guys

Im looking to buy my first road bike.

Just looking for some opinions on bikes looking at spending around $1000-$1500. Seen a few bikes last season and year before. I have have a mate who rides a cannonade and loves it, I'm not too bothered on brands looking for a bike that will last me a good couple of years. going to try and ride once or twice a week 30-40km at a time.

any opinions and advice is much appreciated.

Cannondale CAAD8 tiagra 2016 $1199

Cannondale CAAD8 sora 7 2016 $999

Merida Ride 93 2014 $1099

Apollo Vispo 2015 $1399


Thanks

David

[TheShadow]

I'd do what you do any time you're making any other kind of significant purchase of something you don't know a huge amount about: find expert reviews and comparisons done by journalists in the industry.

This is several years old, but is Australian, and includes the Merida you mentioned. I think most cyclists generally accept these guys have a pretty good idea what they are talking about. I'm sure there are others.
http://www.bikeradar.com/au/gear/articl ... 400-40286/

IMHO, at the price range you mentioned, you're comfortably above the level of bad-value junk, but possibly still worth getting something in the middle to upper range with durability and value continuing to increase as the price goes up. What ever you get will need some maintenance like a new chain and sprockets after several years (even at your relatively low mileage) almost regardless of how much you spend initially. But better shifters and better wheels, better steering bearings on the fork, (sometimes even better chains) at this price point DO generally last better than those on cheaper bikes.