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Cycling thread

What sort of price range is good for a beginners road bike? I've been trying to get back in shape this summer and after plenty of gym, running etc I figured I'd try and get stuck into some cycling and swimming again.

Where should I start with some essential gear.. and what's the min spend for a decent bike to get me going?

(PS if this has already been covered somewhere then apologies, just re-direct me)
 
I'd go and take a look at your local Evans or Cycle Surgery and get proper advice from there on everything you need. Both staff tend to be very knowledgeable and cyclists themselves:

http://www.evanscycles.com
http://www.cyclesurgery.com

I find pretty much across the board with any sport that requires an outlay the best thing is to be honest with yourself. If you're a natural athletic person and you think you'll train hard when you get the bug, there's absolutely no point getting entry level as you'll be annoyed with it in no time.

I reckon about £600 - £700 is a decent amount to spend on a bike if you think you're going to really go for it, but you can get away with spending £400 - £500 and still get a really nice bike. If you decided you wanted a Hybrid or Mountain Bike you could probably spend a little less again.

£700 as a magic figure should do it though.

In terms of gear, SPD/Clip in pedals will help you to ride longer whilst working more of your muscles as you can use your quads to pull through the back end of the pedal. Good investment if you're going to stick with it.

Padded shorts might be wise ;) and a decent cycling top with pockets on the back so you can stuff them full of phones, tools, and a few sugary things in case you hit the wall in the middle of buttfudge nowhere.

Cage and a water bottle. A small pump that you can carry, an inner tube, a repair kit and a little saddlepack. Always wear a helmet on the road, drivers can be brick to cyclists in this country and lights if you are going to possibly get caught out for light.

In truth though, you can probably get away with just a helmet and a water bottle... Depends how tekkers you want to be and if walking with a bike for 5 miles bothers you if you get a flat in the middle of nowhere.
 
WookieD said:
I'd go and take a look at your local Evans or Cycle Surgery and get proper advice from there on everything you need. Both staff tend to be very knowledgeable and cyclists themselves:

http://www.evanscycles.com
http://www.cyclesurgery.com

I find pretty much across the board with any sport that requires an outlay the best thing is to be honest with yourself. If you're a natural athletic person and you think you'll train hard when you get the bug, there's absolutely no point getting entry level as you'll be annoyed with it in no time.

I reckon about £600 - £700 is a decent amount to spend on a bike if you think you're going to really go for it, but you can get away with spending £400 - £500 and still get a really nice bike. If you decided you wanted a Hybrid or Mountain Bike you could probably spend a little less again.

£700 as a magic figure should do it though.

In terms of gear, SPD/Clip in pedals will help you to ride longer whilst working more of your muscles as you can use your quads to pull through the back end of the pedal. Good investment if you're going to stick with it.

Padded shorts might be wise ;) and a decent cycling top with pockets on the back so you can stuff them full of phones, tools, and a few sugary things in case you hit the wall in the middle of buttfudge nowhere.

Cage and a water bottle. A small pump that you can carry, an inner tube, a repair kit and a little saddlepack. Always wear a helmet on the road, drivers can be brick to cyclists in this country and lights if you are going to possibly get caught out for light.

In truth though, you can probably get away with just a helmet and a water bottle... Depends how tekkers you want to be and if walking with a bike for 5 miles bothers you if you get a flat in the middle of nowhere.
Click to expand...

Haha, just lol'd in the office, cheers!

Thanks for the advice, not sure how soon it'll be.. I would love to do a triathlon eventually but need to get back into swimming again first! I used to swim competitively when younger but just getting my arse into gear again is the tough bit.
 
I'm doing the Grim Duathlon in a few weeks time (5k run - 20k MTB - 5k run through an army offroad test track). The cycling is fine but I haven't done any distance running for years... since school in fact... and it's been a right bugger getting back into it. If I make this then I'll think about swimming! Target at the moment is just to finish the thing seeing as it's the first event I'm going to try since having a few mishaps with my dingdongy ticker.

http://www.grimchallenge.co.uk/
 
japenesegardenlover said:
how much did that set you back?
Click to expand...
Nearly €360 with delivery. Rear dropout is pinched slightly because the seller didn't put a protector/spacer between the dropouts, but he said he'll pay for it to be fixed. I could probably do it myself with a wooden wedge but I think .l'll let a profi at it to be on the safe side. 8 speed campy chorus looks lovely I must say. Cant wait to take it out
 
Just bought a road bike 2 weeks ago through the cycle to work scheme, Specialised Allez Sport 2012, £700. Soooo nice and light, and it got a great review in a magazine syaing it was the best intro road bike for around that money. Its a tax saving so you end up paying about £450 depending on what salary bracket you are in but its a cool bike

specialized-allez-sport-compact-2012-road-bike.jpg
 
nice bike, i got mine on the cycle to work scheme, its brilliant, the way I look at it is i've not handed any money over so it was effectively free

there may be less in the salary each month but the missus spends all that anyway so i won't notice
 
cheers man, kept to the spurs colours. There was a red and white one but I just couldnt! yeh the cycle to work scheme is mustard. I live 30 seconds from my train station so will never cycle to work but I abused the system.....
 
same here, got mine to do a charity ride, raised a load of money for motor neurone disease so i reckon its a wash

did get a red one though
 
Yeah, sorry lads, I'm red as well... I like it, it says "hey, that guys dangerous". Women love me and men want to be me... But only when I'm on that bike.
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Not looking good for Mr armstrong

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...Cycling+News+&+Race+Results+|+VeloNation.com)

want to see him admit it but i guess he never will, he was a hero to me as well:(

Not stopped my love for cycling though, just booked up easyjet flights for Nice next summer july 1st the monday flying down there for stage 3 to 5 of the tour only 35 euro each way fudging bargain.

Going to look for tickets to florence for september for the worlds i think is apparently cheaper to fly to pisa the place with the tower then florence. Not booked where we going to stay in Nice yet dont care just want a cav win.
 
just got my letter of collection through, think i'm gonna go with a cyclocross as will mostly be using for the occasional commute to work when not on client site (so good for london potholes) and mooching about at the weekend, will also be moving to walthamstow shortly so will be able to take her out for a bit off off road around epping forest

got my eye on this one at the moment but might have to look at alternatives as can't seem to find my frame size anywhere - http://www.onyourbike.com/product/9445-Cannondale-CAADX-6-Tiagra-2012.php

anyone got experience of cannondales? seem like a pretty reputable brand, which other brands would people recommend? pretty new to this game and struggling with information overload on the web!
 
yeah kind of, this is the description off evans:

"Check out a cyclocross bike if you are after versatility in a no-nonsense, traditional package. 'Cross bikes will take a pounding, and can serve as a commuter workhorse, an off-road explorer, or a grizzled racer - with little more than a change of tyres. With a position broadly like that of a road bike, a Cyclocross bike will be swift and efficient on the tarmac. However, turn it loose off-road and with its greater stability and gripper tyres - and its slightly lower gearing - it will surprise you how it can handle mud and tricky climbs."

i'm no expert but took a look at a couple yesterday and the only discernible difference was the slightly wider tires with a bit more grip, so better suited for commuting in london with all the stop start etc. and you can take off road. if you need to go quicker, say you were entering a triathlon or something you can just change to race tires, so the perfect all rounder really.

matte black bikes are definitely the money those who went red need to have a long hard look at themselves in the mirror!
 
Livewrong.

How the mighty fall eh crumbs.

That reasoned document is very readable, powerful and persuasive.
 
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