Starting Cycling - Cyclocross

Spammeh

Spammeh

Spammeh

Associate
Joined
2 Aug 2005
Posts
589
So I'm looking at getting a bike for 2 reasons, a hobby that isn't so lazy and to lose a little bit of timber.

I'm fortunate that I live within 10 mins walk of the Transpennine Trail and live less than 6 miles to work (down hill in a morning, uphill on the way home). So eventually I'd like to use the bike to commute.

From what I've seen, Cyclocross bikes are perfect for what I'm after, a bit of road and a bit of 'off-road', does this seem right?

I haven't ridden a bike for probably 10-15 years, so honestly, I know its going to be tough. My only form of exercise at the moment in a 90 min 5-a-side football game on a Sunday morning...

I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a bike, and there is a Evan's Cycles not too far of a drive away. Does anyone have any recommendations on bike choice, and what is a necessity as far as accessories go?

Thanks in advance

Sam
 
Cyclocross bikes are good all rounders, yes, but if you're just sticking to roads/cycleways/light trails then you probably don't really need one over a normal road bike. Recommendations are really going to depend on budget, but also fit/personal preference, so if you can go along somewhere and try out a few that would really help. Accessories you can go overboard with very easily, so for the most part it's probably best to get things as and when you feel the need for them, clothing especially. But some essentials - helmet, spare inner tubes, pump, puncture repair kit, lights with winter coming up and probably chain lube and some kind of gloves.
 
As perma says if it's just light trails and cycle paths a regular road bike is fine.

I only carry with me.
pump
spare inner tube.
puncture repair stickers.
tyre levers
Ritchey key
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a couple of plasters
£20 for emergencies.
zip ties (long ones) ( useful if something on your bike breaks and starts hanging off, like last year a bolt on my saddle snapped so the saddle was just hanging from the bike, managed to secure it enough with zip ties that I could carefully sit on it for the ride home)

stored in a medium saddle bag.

Just buy tools and stuff as you need them and learn yourself from youtube videos

also I swear by schwalbe tyres with kevlar guard like the land cruisers
I've still never had a puncture since I took up cycling
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If a road bike would suffice that would be awesome, certainly from a wallet bashing point of view. What brands should I be looking at to start out?
 
I'm a bit overwhelmed by the number of road bikes around the £300-£500 price bracket. What kind of features am I looking for to make a good road bike capable of doing a little bit of cycle paths etc
 
Right well, there's a few things to consider:

1) Groupset: basically the brake levers/gear shifters, and front and rear dérailleurs. The quality of your groupset dictates the feel of the gear change, how snappy it is, and the build quality/how long it will last. Shimano's hierarchy goes Claris > Sora > Tiagra > 105, and at that budget you'll mainly be looking at Claris or Sora, maybe Tiagra. There's not much difference between those three, the main one is that Claris has 8 speeds at the back and Sora has 9, so i'd say try to stick to bikes with that but it's not an absolute must.

2) Forks - will either be aluminium, steel or carbon. Steel is alright but considering what you can get i'd say don't settle for anything without carbon forks, will help absorb some of the road vibration and it's definitely something that would help on trails.

3) Frame - bit harder to give general recommendations for, some will be better than others and it's often hard to tell until you ride them, see if there's any in depth reviews. Usually bigger name frames (Specialised, Cannondale, Felt etc. etc.) will be lighter and more comfortable than store brand frames but it's not the biggest issue if you're on a budget and they can be perfectly capable. You might find one or two steel frames, maybe a Genesis Volare 10 or something but they all seem to have gone out of stock lately, which can be worth considering or test riding, some people prefer them, but most of what you'll be looking at will be aluminium. The other big thing is geometry, some frames will just fit you better than others and most big manufacturers will offer two frame designs, and "endurance/sportive" one which is a bit more relaxed/upright and a "race" one which is a bit more aggressive/aerodynamic. Eg. the Canondale Synapse and the CAAD series. Worth riding both in that situation to see which you prefer.

To be honest though, none of that really matters much at this price point, almost any bikes sold today will serve you perfectly well just as long as they fit you properly. If you're looking for the best deal then you'll probably be pouncing on end of season offers as they pop up, easiest place to find those is probably hukd.
 
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