Hi really interested in commuting to University via bike this year and wondered if this was good value, as most i have posted i have been told is poor quality.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2012-CRONU...ht_2283wt_1195

Many thanks in advance

from England

No, it's not! Don't buy it!

Why not?

It has all the signs of being a cheaply constructed bicycle. They give you very little information on bicycle specifications. Usually when they list the derailleurs as just being Shimano, without specifying the type, that's a dead give away that it's a bottom tiered bicycle with only the cheapest of components.

If you have 180 pounds, it would be best spent on a used chromoly steel road bike of the 80's or 90's eras...

Don't buy any new road bike at that price point. It will be cheap! Not inexpensive, but cheap!

One concern with buying a bike online is not
being able to try/ride it to see if it fits you well.

I would urge you to buy 2nd hand. Look for bikes being sold locally on ebay and don't be afraid to ask if you can go and see the bike. Its in a sellers best interest to agree as it gives a better chance you will bid. Amazing bargains on road bikes are tougher to find than some other bikes, they do however exist if you look hard. Bikes costing less than £400 new, tend to be poorly made and use the cheapest components available. A poorly made aluminium frame is potentially dangerous as aluminium cracks rather more catastrophically than steel and cheap components will tend to go wrong.

I have also answered one of your other posts about the frame you have. I bought the same frame but with all the shimano 105 golden arrow components not stripped (or the fully working ready to ride bike in other words) for just over £150 off ebay.

I ride a Nakamura road bike that sold brand new for 400$ (canadian dollars) that is similar to this Cronus (shimano tourney, cheap vélo saddle, etc.) and I commute 54 kms each day, 4-5 days a week for the last two years with no major problems. I get a few squeak here and there but nothing a good clean and lube won't fix. I replaced the tires and the saddle but that's all.

I have no doubt that there are good quality cheap bikes out there. There are however a lot more that are rather poor. The concern with a cheap aluminium frame is that aluminium frames can snap suddenly without warning, this is more likely in a cheap badly made frame. A 2nd hand steel bike may well go wrong but if it does you generally have some warning and it can also be fixed.

The first give away that this is probably not a good bike is that it is about half the price of any quality brand bike. Like others have said, when they don't specific which shimano components, it means bottom end cheap components that won't perform well or last long.

I agree.

I think that good bikes can be had in the $650-$700 range for a road bike. The Trek 1.1 and Raleigh Revino 1.0 come to mind. A true entry level bike ready to race probably comes in at least $1000, but the 1.1 and Revino will be decent club ride bikes and not bad for first race bike I suppose.

Actually, it's not a bad price. Components are definitely cheap, but then again so is the bike. It has a cheap-looking crank, a tourney RD, and stem shifters...if you need something now that will last you a couple of years, and you don't mind replacing a part or two in that time, then this wouldn't be the world's worst purchase. This is how much some people ask for garbage Schwinn Suburbans in many parts of the Craigslist world, so take that into consideration.

Sure, the aluminum frame is cheap, but I've never known a cheap aluminum frame to crack for no reason. I have known expensive carbon fiber frames to crack for really dubious reasons, however, as a measure of comparison.

If your commute will be relatively smooth roads, you want something new, you want something now (probably the factor that will influence you the most to buy a bike of this quality), and you want to commute on a racing style setup, then go for it. My first commuter was a cheap old Schwinn that I overpaid for, but I learned so much off of it I consider it a win in the end - especially with the $$ I saved in gas money making a 15 mile commute for many months.

If you have patience and wait it out, good deals can be had for around the same amount of money, but don't let anyone talk you into making a purchase twice your budget (unless you are inclined that way already) to get something that has better brand names on it...a starter bike is, well, a starter bike. Good luck on your purchase.

Anything these days that doesn't have quick release wheels is either cheep, as this appears to be, or faddish, like fixies and pseudo fixies (SS).

You can get quality used for that price.