rookie help

RobAMerc

Some advice please,Guys

I have been thinking of returning to cycling for a while now and have come across 2 deals which have me interested. Firstly is cycleways have an 05 Specialized Allez with shoes/bottle/helmet for 799 and I am sure I could have them throw in shorts for that price too, or cycleogical have a 06 Trek 1000 which he said he will do for €650.

I am also considering a Sirrus Sport as I like the idea of the flat bars being perhaps more comfortable if I decided to commute with the bike too.

Does anyone know these bikes, any of them any good?

Many thanks
Rob

daymobrew

RobAMerc wrote:

if I decided to commute with the bike too.

I would recommend the road bikes for two reasons: 1) it sounds like your primary use would not be commuting, 2) road bars are very comfortable with multiple hand position options.

As the Sirrus is designed for commuting and the associated potholes, its tyres are wider (700x28) than the Allez (700x23).
So, I think the big factor in your decision should be your intended use of the bike.

Aside, since the Allez comes with shoes (presumably that means clipless pedals), just to let you know that I use clipless pedals on my commute. I leave a pair of shoes in the office. Clipless pedals are brilliant.

milod

RobAMerc wrote:

I am also considering a Sirrus Sport as I like the idea of the flat bars being perhaps more comfortable if I decided to commute with the bike too.

Does anyone know these bikes, any of them any good?

I've got a Sirrus which I like a lot - very manoeuverable in the city - great for commutes, though I've gone down to 23c on the front and 25c on the rear which works very well and still manages the potholes so long as you keep the tyres at 100psi or more. It's a very adaptable bike but there are too many gears on the damn thing and I could use one or two higher ratios. Also the sirrus comes (or used to..) with ****e strap pedals like me grandads 10 speed... I replaced them with big flat pedals for stop/start commuting...

As Daymo says, if you will principally race/tour, then you might want a road bike

Morgan

They're all good bikes - the important thing is what suits you, so take each of them for a test ride and then decide.

kincsem

RobAMerc wrote:

Some advice please,Guys

I have been thinking of returning to cycling for a while now and have come across 2 deals which have me interested. Firstly is cycleways have an 05 Specialized Allez with shoes/bottle/helmet for 799 and I am sure I could have them throw in shorts for that price too, or cycleogical have a 06 Trek 1000 which he said he will do for €650.

I am also considering a Sirrus Sport as I like the idea of the flat bars being perhaps more comfortable if I decided to commute with the bike too.

Does anyone know these bikes, any of them any good?

Many thanks
Rob

Believe it or not, I own a Specialized Sirrus Elite, and a Specialized Allez. Both are fitted with a triple chainring, so both have 24 gears. I bought the Sirrus last August for a bit of excercise, and with the idea of doing the Wicklow 100 in June 2006. I fitted the Sirrus with a carrier.

The Sirrus is a good bike, and plenty fast. My only adverse comment is I found the flat bar a bit restricting on long trips (say 70 km). My hands and wrists would suffer a little from being in one position.

I bought the Allez in April (base model). After the first ride (70 km) the chain jumped once on the back rings at the end of the trip. When I took it out the next time the chain was skipping gears. Cycleways adjusted it for me. No problem. In the week before the Wicklow 100 the front derailleur was rubbing the chain slightly so I tried to adjust it. Big mistake. It took me four hours. But I don't have a clue.

I like the Allez. It got 9/10 in a cycling magazine last month. It went perfectly in the Wicklow 100. It is reasonably fast and feels good. No possibility of carrying anything though, so probably not a commute bike, unless you use a rucksack.

The Sirrus is a 54 frame and the Allez a 52, both suggested by Cycleways.

Leading up to the W100 I tended to use the flat bar Sirrus for evening training spins (30km to 60km) and the Allez for the Saturday morning spin(60km to 100km).

milod

kincsem wrote:

My only adverse comment is I found the flat bar a bit restricting on long trips (say 70 km). My hands and wrists would suffer a little from being in one position.

I hear ya! after about 25k my hands start to go numb...

kincsem wrote:

When I took it out the next time the chain was skipping gears. Cycleways adjusted it for me. No problem.

Damn gear skipping is starting to wind me up - just got a new cassette fitted by cycleways because of that very problem - but it's still skipping!! reckon I'll let them adjust it though - I always seem to make the problem worse...

pete4130

I just got the Specialized Allez Sport a few weeks ago (fromMcconvey cycles in Blefast, 20% sale was on, so might be worth checking it out if it's still running). I've come from a flat bar Claude Butler which was a little on the heavy side.
The Allez is a fast bike. Nice and light. It has a decent enough groupset on it too. Its still running in so cables are stretching, spokes need to be tightened here and there. I'd totally recommend it as the parts on it are good quality for the price. The carbon forks and seat post absord alot of the bumps too for a smoother ride.
It's definitly more of a racing/touring bike compared to the Sirrus but perfect for commutes as well. The drop bars are really usefull for fast acceleration and climbing hills. I'd say go for the Allez.

daymobrew

kincsem wrote:

The Sirrus is a good bike, and plenty fast. My only adverse comment is I found the flat bar a bit restricting on long trips (say 70 km). My hands and wrists would suffer a little from being in one position.

Would those perpendicular bar ends help? You'd get to rotate your wrists 90 degrees. Or gloves with decent padding?

kincsem wrote:

I like the Allez. ... It is reasonably fast and feels good. No possibility of carrying anything though, so probably not a commute bike, unless you use a rucksack.

My Specialized Rockhopper mtn bike won't take a carrier so I use a rucksack. The Berghaus Freeflow 20 is good. The majority of the bag is kept off your back because of the 'freeflow' system. It means that my back is a lot less sweaty.

Civilian_Target

Interestingly - my commuter bike has toe clips which I removed after about a week because I found that the help they provided when I was pedalling was outweighed by the annoyance of having to get in and out of them every time I stopped. Does anyone else think same or am I just mad?

daymobrew

Civilian_Target wrote:

Interestingly - my commuter bike has toe clips which I removed after about a week because I found that the help they provided when I was pedalling was outweighed by the annoyance of having to get in and out of them every time I stopped. Does anyone else think same or am I just mad?

You're just mad.
Toeclips and clipless pedals do have that stop/start inconvenience, but they will keep your feet securely on the pedals when you are moving and lead to more effective power transfer to the pedals. Before toeclips I sometimes found my feet been bounced of the pedals by potholes. Having moved to clipless pedals a few years ago I could never go back.

Mucco

Civilian_Target wrote:

Interestingly - my commuter bike has toe clips which I removed after about a week because I found that the help they provided when I was pedalling was outweighed by the annoyance of having to get in and out of them every time I stopped. Does anyone else think same or am I just mad?

Trackstands are the way to go. Great for posing at the traffic lights (until you fall over sideways, but we won't talk about that).

M

milod

Civilian_Target wrote:

Interestingly - my commuter bike has toe clips which I removed after about a week because I found that the help they provided when I was pedalling was outweighed by the annoyance of having to get in and out of them every time I stopped. Does anyone else think same or am I just mad?

I did the same thing! commuting through the city was a nightmare with clips of any kind. Even the clipless pedals didn't work for me cos i wore out an expensive pair of shoes very quickly. In the end I settles for a nice wide grippy set of ATB pedals. With practice, you learn to position your feet properly on them...

Funsterdelux

milod wrote:

I've got a Sirrus which I like a lot - very manoeuverable in the city - great for commutes, though I've gone down to 23c on the front and 25c on the rear which works very well and still manages the potholes so long as you keep the tyres at 100psi or more. It's a very adaptable bike but there are too many gears on the damn thing and I could use one or two higher ratios. Also the sirrus comes (or used to..) with ****e strap pedals like me grandads 10 speed... I replaced them with big flat pedals for stop/start commuting...

As Daymo says, if you will principally race/tour, then you might want a road bike

I got a Sirrus too lately, great bike need to change the pedals also, i could also use a few higher gears and less gears in total,

what type of pedals did you get?

pete4130

Toeclips and spd pedals are great. The transfer of power through the cranks is much better than with regular flat pedals (especially accelerating and climbing hills). I will say though, in the city there is alot of clipping in and out (unless you are skilled at track stands) with traffic lights and having to stop. It takes a week or two to get used to toeclips so that you dont even notice that you are slotting in and out of them.
For convenience I've opted to go for a single sided clipless pedal, so I can clip in for the longer journeys or wear regular shoes and use the flat side of the pedal for shorter trips.
You can get panniers for the Allez (and any bike I think) that clamp onto the seatstays if your bike isn't drilled to take regular panniers too, so making it a commuter bike isn't a problem either. Cycleways have them in stock so maybe its worth checking it out?

blorg

TBH clipless are a lot easier to get in and out of in traffic than toeclips, which I used for years before I went clipless. There really is no issue once you get used to them.

I have a Specialized Sirrus Elite with drop bars, SPD pedals, clip-on mudguards and a rack. 105 derailleurs and shifters. I am sure it is still not as fast as a road bike - had a Trek 1000 previously but gave me back problems, could have been the wrong size as no problems with the drops on the Sirrus so far. Perfect though for commuting and touring in my experience, as well as shorter (40-100km) leisure rides around Dublin. It's very versatile.

I would be somewhat wary of sticking a rack and panniers onto a lightweight road bike personally. Even on my Sirrus handling with panniers/tent was a bit wobbly going down hills, although this seems to have got better since I got the drop bars.

If you do get a flat-bar bike make sure to get bar-ends, for only EUR 10-20 they give you a much better range of hand positions.

skidpatches

i find clips take some getting used to for commuting especially on my fixie, as I can't coast for a second or two to get sorted.

clipless are great. i use spds on my freewheel bikes. like daymo said, i leave a pair of shoes in the office.

however with clips, it's great to be able to go into to town in normal shoes, and not have the hassle of changing into cycling shoes.

must learn to trackstand one of these days :cool:

daymobrew

skidpatches wrote:

however with clips, it's great to be able to go into to town in normal shoes, and not have the hassle of changing into cycling shoes.

You can get clipless pedal shoes that are suitable for walking, like the Shimano MT20 for e58.