Best Cheap Carbon Road Bike – Buying With A Budget

It has been a few years since I last bought a full carbon road bike and decked myself out in the gear I use almost daily. It has been an amazing experience so far. There are so many price points but if you are looking to get into cycling and have your heart set on a carbon set up, I want to help you get started for the lowest amount possible!

You do not need to take out a second mortgage on your home if you want to get a Carbon Road Bike. In fact, you can purchase one, fully equipped for a little over a thousand dollars. Not bad!

Click here to check out the best carbon road bike priced under $1,500!

Growing up, I typically road a mountain bike. When I went off to college, I brought my fathers old road bike and quickly learned to love it.

I ended up fully transitioning to riding a road bike everywhere. That was until I crashed it and was stuck without one. I was now in the market for a brand new road bike and decided that I wanted to find the best entry level full carbon road bike on my limited budget. Before, I had only ridden steel and aluminum frames, but now that I was serious about cycling, I wanted to step it up a notch.

Why Should You Go Full Carbon?

As I mentioned above, I previously rode steel and aluminum frames. So why did I decide I wanted to take it up a level and ride carbon? Well, lets have a look at the different types below.

Steel: Steel frames are heavy and are usually the cheapest option. However, they rarely break because they are very durable. I decided against this one because I was cycling long distances and nothing is worse than riding a bike that weighs like a bag of bricks on mile 50.

Aluminum: This is the frame that I road with the longest. These are much lighter than steel frames and cost just a little more. They are not as durable but still hold up well to any type of riding. The real downside to me here is that they are not the lightest either.

Carbon: A Carbon bike is going to be the lightest weight material your frame can be made out of. It will cost more than any other material and have a much lower durability. The shining star though is that it is incredibly light and perfect for going fast!

It seems from the different materials available, you would not want to go with Carbon. Carbon may not be the most durable, but it will provide the most fun riding experience because it will be incredibly light, offer a great smooth ride, and climb hills like no other. So now that I knew what I wanted, I started the search for a bike that would be well within my budget, have a full carbon frame, and have a great set of components. If I could find all those things put together, I would purchase it.

Shimano Components

Finding a full carbon bike is only half the battle. The components on your bike are just as important. These are the gears, the breaks, and everything else attached. There are varying levels of components. I really fell in love with Shimano as they make quality components and have varying price points to fit my budget. From lower end to higher end, here they are.

Shimano: These are your entry level components. They are the lowest cost, and are usually put on hybrid based bikes. These are your best bet if you want to buy a name brand but have a small budget.

Shimano Sora: Upping the ante a bit here, these are still entry level components but are lighter weight, and are mostly put on hybrids that are meant to be road on the road. The breaks feel solid and you cannot really go wrong with purchasing these.

Shimano Tiagra: At this level, you are going to get the best of both worlds in my opinion. You get light weight components, but they are also easy on your wallet. They are smaller and just feel awesome when you are switching gears. My previous bike had these on them and this is the beginning range of what i will be looking for.

Shimano 105: These are a step above the Tiagras and are mid range components. Very light, last a long time, and offer a smooth ride, these are are the perfect components for a road bike you will ride daily. If I can manage to get these, I would be very happy at my price point.

Shimano Ultegra: If you want low weight and have the money to spend, these are what you should look at. The crank arms are now hollow for more weight savings and the springs and pivots are better built.

Shimano Dura-Ace: These are going to be extremely expensive. These are Pro level components and are meant for racing. They are accurate, fast, and super light weight.

Finding A Decent Priced Full Carbon Road Bike On A Budget

I knew I wanted the cheap option, but keep it full carbon with the best components I could find. I had a few different options.

Local Bike Shop (High Price)

The very first thing I did was drive to all the local bike shops in my area. I quickly found out just how high priced these options are. Since these are businesses in physical locations they have a massive mark up just to stay in business. Some of the bikes I was looking at started at $2,000 and just went up from there. This was before tax and was out of my price range, so I kept looking.

Online Bike Shops

I did a lot of searching online. Hours and hours later, some of the best prices I found were $1,900 and up from there. Remember this is all pre tax and the prices for bikes would just go up from there. I checked out BikeRadar.com, REI, and many other online solutions. While these all had full carbon frames, and high level components, this was just not in my price range since I was a college student and needed to be responsible with the little money I had at the time.

After looking around, I was not sure I was going to be able to purchase a full carbon road bike that had decent components for anywhere near my budget. I was starting to get worried. That is when I had a thought. Why not build the bike myself?

I have built many computers before, just by buying the parts and putting them together. Surely it cannot be that hard right?

Building A Quality Bike

So I started searching on ebay and craigslist for parts. What I found is that it would not be as cheap as I thought. Full carbon frames are very expensive, components are just as expensive, and if you want good quality wheels, the price just keeps going up.

While I was positive I could probably throw together a bike myself, I had NEVER done it before and did not want to purchase all these expensive parts and end up making a mistake somewhere that could potentially cost me big time. No one wants to make a thousand dollar mistake, myself included.

So what was I going to do? Well, quickly a new idea came together.

Why not buy a complete full carbon frame from a no name brand and have someone else put it together for me?

Online Shop – No Name Brand

Almost everything I purchase for myself is not branded. If there is a cheaper option with a no name brand, I will buy it. The price is cheaper, but the quality is JUST AS GOOD! Honestly, the reason you pay more for a brand item is because they have done a lot of marketing and are charging you for the name, not the quality of their product. Non branded frames are fantastic.

I found this bike, and I could not believe the price point to purchase one!

This bike starts with Tiagra components with the option for 105s. The best part? It has a carbon frame! Oh yes! Now we were getting somewhere.

All the other options were so expensive and I could get this bike, fully set up for under $1,500? I decided to go for it!

Get the Right Road Bike Size For You

This is something you have to get right. You do not want a bike that is too small or too large for your body. If you do, riding it will not be comfortable and will just end up being a waste of money.

In order to get the right bike size, you need to take these three measurements.

• Height
• Weight
• Inseam

Road Bike Frame Size Chart

Now that you have your measurements, take a look at the chart below to determine what the size of your carbon bike frame should be.

Just Guidelines

This size chart is just a guideline. What you will want to do is go to a store and try out bikes in your range. If you are seeing that you should ride a 54-56 cm frame, get to a store and try riding those sizes. When you have what feels right, you can make your final decision.

Another thing I did was I went and looked at different reviews. A lot of these reviews will tell you how tall they are and how big their inseam is. Many people mention how the size of the bike fits them. I noticed that many people were the same size I am and was recommending to go with a 55 cm bike frame. When I went into the store, and tried out different sizes, 55 cm felt right to me!

I went with that size and then moved on.

Purchase A Water Bottle Cage And Pedals

What you just purchased was just the bike and wheels. Remember, you will need to buy pedals and if you so desire, a water bottle holder.

For the pedals, you can see my article here but essentially there are so many pedals available for you to chose from. If you want to keep consistent with the components on your bike, you can pick out some Shimano 105 pedals and sometimes you can find them at a great discounted price.

If you just want to go with a cheaper option, you can check out some cheap bike pedals here. You can go with just foot cages which will work well. Remember, you will always be able to upgrade your pedals at any time you want. This process is fast and painless.

For a water bottle cage, some options can be expensive depending on how light you want yours to be. I personally went with this one.

Fashionable Carbon Fiber Bike Water Bottle Holder Cage Water Bottle Cage

Purchase It All!

So after I had all that together in my shopping cart at Amazon, I purchased it all! I was really excited!

The best part is that it all came in under a week and showed up at my door. Amazon is so fast with their shipping, especially if you have a prime membership.

Putting Your New Bike Together

So once your bike comes to your front door, you will need to assemble part of it. Putting it together is actually a really easy process. You will just need a screwdriver and some time. If you do not feel comfortable putting it together, simply take it to a bike shop and they will put the entire thing together for you, and make sure it is working properly for under $100.

This is what I recommend to everyone that is purchasing a bike and has never ridding or done repairs themselves. It is painless and is honestly the best solution.

Wrapping It Up

Now that you have your new bike at your home, or at least being shipped to you, you are ready to start preparing to ride. Biking can be a great way to do low impact exercise and lose some weight! If you decide you are serious about cycling, I would suggest you purchase a road bike computer and a multi-tool for if you break down on the road.

Be safe out there and always remember to (as my mother always says) WEAR YOUR HELMET!