Advice: Second Hand Vs New

Hi, I'm new to the road bike cycling scene and wanted to get some advice from some more experienced users before committing to a bike.

At the moment I have a budget of around the £550 mark and have been considering the Triban Rc500 as it has pretty good reviews and I can get in cheap on a cycle to work scheme, it comes under warranty etc.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/decathlon-triban-rc-500-disc-review/

Or looking for something second hand on the classified forum? Generally higher spec but older/ not under warranty, larger upfront cost, etc.

To put it into perspective I haven't got all to much experience and wondering that any bike I commit to now I will think differently in a year's time and wish I went for something different. I'm looking at using it as a commuter and long weekend rides, and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

I’d say if you’re of fairly limited knowledge I’d say go new.
It won’t take much on a 2nd hand bike to be worn/need replacing to land you with a sizeable bill from a bike shop. Cables, brake blocks, chain, cassette, hub service and BB could all need sorting.
These are all relatively easy jobs but without the knowledge or tools you could easily face a hefty bill.

Unless you’ve a friend who you can take with you to view 2nd hand who’s knowledgeable. Go new

I don't think theres a right and wrong answer - personally, I've always gone second hand and have built up my knowledge and experience over time. My first bike in London was £50 out of a skip on gumtree. I learned a lot fixing that up - it was cheap to get it roadworthy as a single speed conversion with the help of sheldon brown et al. Then later on i figured what type of riding i enjoy and upgraded my bike to suit.

Seconded Mr Tiles comments. I’m a professional mechanic and unless you know what you’re looking for, or you get very lucky, you’ll end up with a turd, especially now when used bikes are at a premium and everyone is selling a shitter “sold as seen”. The Triban isn’t the best but it’ll come with a warranty and a follow-up. Your call, but I’d go with new.

Cheers all for the advice. I checked out some Tribans today and they weren't what I was after. I'm either going to raise my budget or look for something second hand but from a reliable seller.

not much need to rely on the seller. just do a bit of homework on what you need to look out for and draw your own conclusions.

ultimately, just find what you want then check for damage and wear. cracks and dents, more so cracks, are things you need to consider which can make a bike a write off only good for parts. dents are a shame and often won't be a big problem but you'll need to keep an eye on it. for what its worth though, cracks don't turn up that often on bikes for sale without people mentioning it.

then worn out parts are the next thing to worry about, only in so far as if they're completely worn they will need replacement, so just factor that in.

if you're going to pass it to a bike shop to do the work though, just get a new bike, probably wouldn't work out any cheaper unless you do it yourself. in which case it will cost barely anything

spotting thing stuff is pretty easy, its not specialist knowledge.

good thing about secondhand bikes is that you can get a hell of a lot for your money and theres a lot of interesting stuff out there within a modest budget. where as a lot of new stuff isnt that exotic or interesting (IMO) unless you spend loads