Road Cycling Essentials

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fen739 said:
One shop is pretty much only Trek, but starts at £550 (ouch, much more than I was hoping for), the other sells GTs and Giants (I believe), but again they start at the £500 range. There's an Evans in town too so Specialized and all that Jazz on the cards.

I've asked the guy from the first shop to give me a call when he gets the 60cm Trek in (1.1 I believe) so will try that out.

Will the larger bike manufactures be similar size wise? I know MTBs vary quite a bit, I'm guessing the variance is there in road bikes too.

Cheers
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They wi as with mtbll all be fairly similar buts it can vary. The cheapest gt at £600 is pretty dire(series 5?), the frame is an ok kinesis frame but the wheels and shifters aren't really up to much.

I'd be aiming for something along the lines of a cannondale caad 8 sora double, the felt Z100 as above(has the microshift shifters rather than shimano sora) aswell as the trek and giants you are lookng at. They all have slightly different geometries and the felt would be more suitable for riding all day rather than the more aggressive geometry of the caad8 which is something to look out for when trying them.

With 15% off any of them you're still looking at around £600 mark which isn't cheap for what is supposed to be 'entry level'...
 
Jonny ///M said:
Where did you pick up the felt from? The blue looks so much better than the white one to be honest! It looks quite nice with those wheels on it too, bet it rides a lot better for it aswell.
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Cheers, I got it from cyclelane.co.uk, they had 15% off lots of bikes last month, so about £100 cheaper than wiggle. Heart said F95, but head decided on the Z100. To be honest now with a fair few miles under my belt I could easily cope with a twin chainring or a compact- the granny ring doesn't get much use at all (I dare say it'll get some on the Ditchling Beacon next weekend though). Would like a better groupset, but will swap bits as and when they wear.

I'm happy with the wheels for the price. The Alex rims it came with were OK but nothing special, plus the front was monstrously out of true from the factory- easily fixed but I've never really trusted them. Confusingly, the cheaper RS20s are a fair bit lighter, but the 30s have a good reputation for sturdiness (and they look nice :) )
 
CGrieves said:
Cheers, I got it from cyclelane.co.uk, they had 15% off lots of bikes last month, so about £100 cheaper than wiggle. Heart said F95, but head decided on the Z100. To be honest now with a fair few miles under my belt I could easily cope with a twin chainring or a compact- the granny ring doesn't get much use at all (I dare say it'll get some on the Ditchling Beacon next weekend though). Would like a better groupset, but will swap bits as and when they wear.

I'm happy with the wheels for the price. The Alex rims it came with were OK but nothing special, plus the front was monstrously out of true from the factory- easily fixed but I've never really trusted them. Confusingly, the cheaper RS20s are a fair bit lighter, but the 30s have a good reputation for sturdiness (and they look nice :) )
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With the wheel that's part of the problem with online sales. My boss and I don't agree with it as we prefer setting up the bike and the customer picking it up in the shop. The shop can often do 15% or try to price match as best possible but you just have to call to see. Glad you're enjoying the bike anyway:D

How have the microshift levers held up? They do have a nice clunk to them but don't feel as well made as the shimano/sram stuff.
 
Jonny ///M said:
With the wheel that's part of the problem with online sales. My boss and I don't agree with it as we prefer setting up the bike and the customer picking it up in the shop. The shop can often do 15% or try to price match as best possible but you just have to call to see. Glad you're enjoying the bike anyway:D

How have the microshift levers held up? They do have a nice clunk to them but don't feel as well made as the shimano/sram stuff.
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Yeah I prefer to use an LBS wherever possible, with or without discount, but unfortunately a bike failure meant I needed a replacement quickly before a weekend ride.

The microshifts are OK, they do the job perfectly well but I don't expect them to last aeons- the important bits are well made, but there are some plastic components mainly in non-wear areas. The things I don't like about them is that they rattle over bumps, and the smaller clicker is too far up the lever to reach comfortably when you're in the drops. On the plus side they don't weight much!
 
Hey guys, I'm just about to get (back) into cycling and have been offered a Raleigh Airlite 200 (2011) for what seems to be quite a cheap price for a bike with carbon forks.
But I don't know a huge amount about new bikes, my last being a Concord Airflex.. 10years ago.. ish.
What are Raleigh's road bikes like?
Cheers.
 
CGrieves said:
Yeah I prefer to use an LBS wherever possible, with or without discount, but unfortunately a bike failure meant I needed a replacement quickly before a weekend ride.

The microshifts are OK, they do the job perfectly well but I don't expect them to last aeons- the important bits are well made, but there are some plastic components mainly in non-wear areas. The things I don't like about them is that they rattle over bumps, and the smaller clicker is too far up the lever to reach comfortably when you're in the drops. On the plus side they don't weight much!
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Good to get some feedback on the shifters as I've never had a shot of them on the road as yet.

Think I'll get a caad 8 sora over the felt when I come to get myself a bike.
 
Jonny ///M said:
With 15% off any of them you're still looking at around £600 mark which isn't cheap for what is supposed to be 'entry level'...
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That's unfortunately far more than I can afford, and wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it around uni (even fully locked up).

What are people's thoughts on buying second hand off the bay?
 
fen739 said:
That's unfortunately far more than I can afford, and wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it around uni (even fully locked up).

What are people's thoughts on buying second hand off the bay?
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How about a second hand fixed gear or single speed bike? They are the in thing around the Glasgow unis.

The mongoose maurice retails at £369.99 and can be run fixed or freewheel. Depends how hilly the area is you stay in really.
 
The fuji having a cromo steel frame will make it bomb proof and it will have a nice ride off it. The gearing ont he btwin is the lowest shimano do so it will work but I wouldn't be expecting too much of it in the long run.
 
Ok, I quite like the understated look of the Fuji (and hopefully it'll look less desirable), but I'll have a little test on whatever they'll let me.

Thanks Jonny!
 
fen739 said:
Ok, I quite like the understated look of the Fuji (and hopefully it'll look less desirable), but I'll have a little test on whatever they'll let me.

Thanks Jonny!
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For leaving around places and generaly running of a bike that's been lying around outside I'd always say fixed/single speed. Gear cables,mechs and freehub bodies don't like being left wet at all.
 
Hey guys. Excuse my ignorance but just looking at some road bikes some are £700 and look exactly the same as the £2,500 bikes and appear to be specced at similar weights (I know this probably varies).

So what's the big difference in price? And will it make any real life difference in speed when cycling/commuting? And will they be big enough to justify the difference in price?
 
Tonight's effort. Extra pic quality for 4:23am on a Saturday night, listening to Le Mans :D

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Bit of a mini rebuild: new jockey wheels in the derailleur with ball bearings, clean and repack of all the bearings including bb, wheel rebuild with stainless double butted spokes, new black Michelin Pro 3's and tubes, new cables, drop bars with black wraps, polished stem, polished seatpost.

Gone with all the bright red stuff, in with stealth black kit. Should suitably disappear into the background in this guise, which is the intention. Only giveaway is the 531 sticker near the bb.

She was getting a bit tired and needed the rebuild. Now it's ready for some mileage. Just need to put a few miles on next week so I can give the wheels a final tweak before L2B next weekend.
 
Guys, I'd really appreciate some advice. I'm lookng to get back in to cycling for commuting to work, 9 miles each way. I'll be getting the bike through the cycling to work scheme, so I've been looking at a few, and narrowed it down to the following:-
Specialised Sirrus sport
Specialised Sirrus elite
Giant Seek 3, or Seek 2

Does anyone have any opinions on these, or alternative suggestions to consider? I need to get the order form in by Thursday 16th.

Thanks in advance.
 
So Wiggo's looking in great form with less than a month to go till Le Tour.
Obviously not a star studded cast, but a good win, especially with a very convincing 2nd place in the TT (which will be the exact course used in the Tour).
 
Vegeta said:
Hey guys. Excuse my ignorance but just looking at some road bikes some are £700 and look exactly the same as the £2,500 bikes and appear to be specced at similar weights (I know this probably varies).

So what's the big difference in price? And will it make any real life difference in speed when cycling/commuting? And will they be big enough to justify the difference in price?
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The biggest difference between a £700 and £2.5k bike is that the cheaper one will be made of aluminium and the expensive one will be carbon fibre. Also all the components of the bike are going to be more expensive, higher quality, higher performance parts, brakes, gears, wheels are all going to be better.

Even as a novice there are big differences between cheaper and more expensive bikes that you would certainly notice when riding them but largely also a lot of subtle differences that aren't so obvious. Whether or not it's justifiable or even a wise idea to have a super expensive bike is really up to you.

I've had a £500 Specialized Allez for a year now and it was my first road bike and first bike since I was a kid and I'm glad I didn't get an expensive bike to start with. I've fallen off and bashed it a bit and generally just learnt to ride properly and now I'm looking at £1000 bikes and excited at the prospect because I know I'll really appreciate a good bike now.
 
Another stupid noob question. I want new bike tyres and mine are 700X28C. Could I replace it with 700X23C and keep the same wheels and inner tube?
 
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