reccomendations for MB used for road, decent quality approx £500?

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Hello :)
I have had my existing bike for years n years now and its getting on a bit so time to upgrade really.

I know it may sound a bit strange that im after a MB that will be used just for road cycling but i cant think of any other solution??
As personally i just dont go off road but do do a fair bit of road cycling and also the roads where i live (West Wales) are atrocious in places which does not inspire confidence if im riding a delicate road bike.

So as for suspension im looking at a rigid as i wont need the front suspension.
Price wise around £500 i was hoping but if i have to spend more to get some decent kit then i will!

Quality i would hope to be around the LX/XT mark. Probably more LX for my price range.
Overall just a good road bike to use on the road

I have a very small bit of knowledge and have been looking round the net for the past 6 hours or so trying to find some decent bike shops and which bike would suit me but am hoping someone here will have a few ideas about what could suit me :)

Any suggestions appreciated!

If you're only riding road you may as well go for a tourer/hybrid - they're stronger and have a wider range of gears than a true roadie, but are generally quicker and probably more comfy for long road rides than an MTB. Either way, go steel if you can - on a rigid bike it makes for a much nicer ride.

Deanimate, do youself a favour and checkout the Cyclocross and cyclocross style bikes. With the right tyres fitted you will be set for anything. MTB are becoming as ye olde as BMXs. They have a great gear range to keep up with the roadies (triple chainrings)and drop bars for a range of hand positions. Strong , light and reasonably 'comfy'.

deanimate, if mtb is what you realy want get a good light mtb
i have 3K$ XTR 2001 HT ZASKAR TEAM, Allison Dunlap won
the 2001 mtb championship on this bike i blew off roadies on this bike i would always attack them they would laugh and id smoke
em, now i have a 17lb dura ace rd bike im not as fast on i
hope its because ive only had it 2 weeks, anyway with all
that being said the GT is for sale @$1500 includes 2 forks
a sid sl with lock out, and a manitoub skareb.

Markmelb: If deanimate wants an mtb let him have one. Each to their own mate:-)
Deanimate- most mtb's are strong enough for the firetrack pot-holed roads of west wales and you can always change the knobblies (tyres) to road slicks, lock out your suspension and join your roadie buddies anytime.
Good luck and have fun
Marty.

A mid range hardtail with slicks and you'll be up there. The front suspension improves your tyre grip and what little Bob you get is negligible (100 MM travel) so go for a GT or Giant, you can't really go wrong. You may find that the slicks have less rolling resistance and less grip so be mindfull of your tyre choice. At the end of the day, just get out there and ride, enjoy yourself and ignore the trend Gimps.

I just bought GIANT XCT SE3 and im quite happy with it!

ROCKSHOX JUDY TT Forks
SRAM7.0 Rear Deralluier
SRAM7.0 Gripshifts
SHIMANO Deore Front Deraillueir
Avis SD 5 Levers
With AVID Disc MTN ball bearing Mechanical Disc brake.
Cateye OS1.1 Cyclo Computer

It cost me about P20,000 Philippne Peso (US$378)

Hope this will help.

By the way I use this everyday at the road

Thanks for the replys everyone :)
Been doing some research and i think ill have to spend a bit more than 500, which is no problem though

Been looking at Merlins range of bikes and was considering getting up to their shop and trying a few bikes out there.
Has anyone got any experience with Merlin?

Originally posted by deanimate
Thanks for the replys everyone :)
Been doing some research and i think ill have to spend a bit more than 500, which is no problem though

Been looking at Merlins range of bikes and was considering getting up to their shop and trying a few bikes out there.
Has anyone got any experience with Merlin?

Big money, sweet bike. My friend has one, its a MTB he runs slicks on it and loves it. He uses his Fat City to go offroading these days. I am running michelin joggers (1.95) for the roads and they work well on hard packed single track stuff. The only time I miss my knobbys is in mud. I go for 40 or 50 mile rides on it no problem. MTBs are very universal these days.