WTD: big rugby player's 1st road bike <£300

Hi all,

my brother in law has asked me to recommend him a road bike sub-£300 for his first. I thought there was a bit more choice OTP, but have looked around and the options are few and poor.

As we know, £300 gets you a lot more second hand, especially on here.

Does anyone have anything suitable? He's in Cheshire, but I could pick it up in LDN and get it to him. He's big: 6'3" and at least 90kg, maybe 100kg. He's not going to be hammering it, probably will wear trainers on it to start. I asked him if he'd use it on trails and he said definitively not. I still think I'd recommend him using quite fat tyres though, so something with 28c clearance would be good.

Cheers.

As someone of similar size I can attest that 28-32c is the way to go. Maybe a steel cross frame?

Yeah, I was gonna recommend him a gravel bike, but didn't realise how pricey they are OTP. This has got to be a whole bike as well, not just a frame. I don't think he has any of the other kit like helmet, pump, lights either...

Well he definitely doesn't want nor need a helmet, that's only for the stupid brigade who don't understand risk. Far wiser to invest in some gloves, much bigger safety aid than a helmet could ever be.
As an ex league player myself and 100kg on a 'light' day he can run anything from 23mm to whatever he wants and as he's not going to be hammering it, it certainly isn't going to hurt if he has a set of skinny michelins/Contis/Vittorias or something of that ilk fitted on a bike if it comes with that. He certainly doesn't 'need' 32s or even 'need' 28s, I've run with 23/25mm for commuting/utility duties for well over 20 years, only the last 4-5 years have I fitted anything wider and that's generally because I'm lugging quite a lot around in the panniers most days so if he's just going to use it for fast leisure rides on paved roads I wouldn't get too hung up if the frame won't take a 28mm.

Pump, small volume, I use a specialized air tool MTB (not the mini), big enough to actually get some air into the tyres to a decent pressure without it been a bane and has a great fitting attachment that IME is solid as a rock. After years of going through many, many pumps this is far and away the best I've used as small volume pumps go.

Bike wise if he fancies something new and not too flashy you can't go too far wrong with a BTWIN 500 https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-500-se-road-bike-id_8306187.html he can get to try it in store too.
Having mudguard eyelets and a rack mount on the seat stay is a plus if he intends to go out in all seasons or use it for utility.
luck hunting