Cycling Newbie

mccutchie

Hey Guys,

I'm planning on taking up cycling as a hobby and the plan is to participate is some charity cycles over the coming years. I cycled very often in my younger days and enjoyed it very much.

I need advice on what gear to buy. Could anyone recommend a specific road \ race bike. I always had a mountain bike but I dont fancy cycling miles on one of those. I also dont want to spend a fortune. So if anyone could recommend something suitablewith manufacturer names that would be the first thing.

Secondly cycling gear, such as shorts, tops, termals, rain gear perhaps. Where is best to buy and whats the type of gear I should purchase. Finally of course is the cycling shoes.

Any advice appreciated lads, this is something i'll be taking seriously as your advice, tips, etc are very much apreciated.
Cheers,
Mccuthie

stuf

I'll leave the bike advice to others but I would definitely recommend DHB brand clothing from http://www.wiggle.co.uk - I've got shorts and jersey from them and they're very good for the price to my undereducated mind.

It's a budget brand and I think they're owned by Wiggle as all the products are named after villages in Hampshire which would definitely be the riding haunts of wiggle staff and of my teenage years

EDIT: that's the drinking haunts of my teenage years rather than riding haunts

blorg

I would get an entry level road bike from a local shop so you can get fitted on it and make sure it is right for you. Budget €750 or so and look for something like a Giant SCR3, Specialized Allez, Trek 1.2, etc.

Get cycling shorts and a jersey, again you may want to try them on but you could risk buying online and return if they don't fit, you can generally get better quality clothing for your money online and both Wiggle and Chainreactioncycles have good return policies; the latter it is cheaper to return stuff to as they are in Ireland. You will get away with around €40 for the shorts and €20 for the jersey and will definately get higher quality than I have seen in shops in Dublin.

These Cannondale shorts @ £23 are good (I have a pair, paid €50 in Cycleways) while Wiggle is doing what looks like a very good price on these Descente bibshorts this week only (don't have them but I am buying a pair.)

Jersey-wise both the Gill Oxygen @ £15 and dhb Buriton @ £16 are decent, I have each of these myself (the former in the long-sleeve version.) Make sure you get a proper cycling jersey with three back pockets; they are invaluable.

Note with Wiggle you get an extra 10% off items under £50 if you spend over £50- you should have no problems hitting this with the shorts/jersey and other stuff you will need (they have good prices on tubes for example.)

Shoes I would buy from a local shop, if it is your first pair it's important they fit. Get them with the pedals and bike and ask for a discount. Up to you whether you want to go for a road or MTB pedal system (most common is SPD), but the latter has a recessed cleat making the shoes walkable which is handy if you are going to be off the bike at any stage (commuting etc.) If you are _only_ using the bikes for spins you could go for a road system but if you are likely to be off the bike for any length of time I would go SPD (I have SPD on all my road bikes myself.)

As stuf says I have found the dhb stuff to be pretty good quality although I have had some issues with dhb tights developing holes in them. No issues with the jerseys, they are great.

DeepBlue

Have a gander at the Buying a bicycle wiki entry on the subject to get started.

If you have a definite budget it will probably be easier to get advice.

For clothing I found Tenn Outdoors pretty good and cheap as chips . They're probably not very sexy though .

There's a load of useful links in this thread that should help.

Budget wise you're probably looking at ¢500 - ¢600 for a decent commuter/hybrid and ¢700 for entry level road bike.

blorg

Apart from the stuff mentioned above you will also need a saddle bag filled with at a minimum:

- spare tube - Vittoria 80g Ultralite 700x19-23
- puncture repair kit - Park Tool pre-glued patches
- tyre lever(s) - I suggest a Crank Bros Speedlever
- Multitool with allen keys, screwdriver

I also carry:

- chain tool
- 5mm allen key
- zip-ties
- superglue
- saddle cover

For compact rain protection I use a Montane Smock which folds up to the size of a tennis ball and I stick it in my jersey pocket. This Descente Velom jacket could also be a good option, maybe better cut for cycling.

stuf

Here's a handy link giving a run down of what's on the market:

http://independent.net-genie.co.uk/Outdoor_Activity/22213/the_50_best_bicycles.html

If you were thinking along the lines of single speed then you couldn't do much better than number 9

stuf

blorg wrote: »

- tyre lever(s) - I suggest a Crank Bros Speedlever

I've got one of these and had to use it in anger for the first time on Monday. After an initial "why isn't this thing working" it's now in my list of Top 1 inventions of the 21st Century - amazing piece of kit.

seamus

stuf wrote: »

I've got one of these and had to use it in anger for the first time on Monday. After an initial "why isn't this thing working" it's now in my list of Top 1 inventions of the 21st Century - amazing piece of kit.

Just googled it. :eek:

Totally getting one, right now. Damn thin rims and small tyres. Constantly hurting myself/my wheels getting tyres on and off.

blorg

Honestly Seamus you won't regret it. I almost look forward to punctures, it makes tyre removal (and more importantly, reattachment!) so easy.

seamus

I've just ordered one

gaffmaster

Hi there,

I'm in the same boat as you OP.

What do the seasoned cyclists think of the starter kits from cyclesuperstore.ie?

I'm thinking of getting started in the world of self propelled wheel transit myself and feel totally lost. i've a budget of about €500 for a hybrid/road bike. and it can increase slightly for add ons and such (helmet, shorts, shoes etc).

here's a link to one i was thinking about..

link

Fatloss08

for a beginner i cant recommend a hybrid highly enough

giant do a big range of hybrids with all u need on them

stuf

gaffmaster wrote: »

here's a link to one i was thinking about..

link

Personally wouldn't have look pedals on a bike like an RCR100 - those are something that you would only use on a bike for long spins.

SPD pedals make much more sense if you want to walk more than 10 feet after getting off the bike.

I have the RCR100 and love it to bits - have just changed the cassette from 11-30 to 12-23 losing 2 low gears and 1 high gear in the process but the mid-range control is so much better than before. The 11-30 cassette is very much a mountain bike component and with quite small rings on the front the low gears are pretty much redundant. Much happier now.

kit looks good - I didn't do that when I bought mine and have ended up buying things constantly since then

Look at lock and mudguards too

Gavin

gaffmaster wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm in the same boat as you OP.

What do the seasoned cyclists think of the starter kits from cyclesuperstore.ie?

I'm thinking of getting started in the world of self propelled wheel transit myself and feel totally lost. i've a budget of about €500 for a hybrid/road bike. and it can increase slightly for add ons and such (helmet, shorts, shoes etc).

here's a link to one i was thinking about..

link

If you want to take up cycling as a hobby/sport, then an entry level road bike would be the way to go. Hybrids are really designed for urban commuting.

gaffmaster

Hmmmm i see,

A friend advised me to go for a hybrid since slick tyres burst too often. Is there a medium between - a full on road bike's speed and sensitivity, and a hybrids handyness and better puncture record?

In other words - is it crazy to put hybrid wheels on a racer? Does it defeat the purpose?

stuf

gaffmaster wrote: »

Hmmmm i see,

A friend advised me to go for a hybrid since slick tyres burst too often. Is there a medium between - a full on road bike's speed and sensitivity, and a hybrids handyness and better puncture record?

In other words - is it crazy to put hybrid wheels on a racer? Does it defeat the purpose?

The RCR100 and similar bikes are that medium - the tyres are 700x25C which would be similar to most entry level racers. The difference between RCR100 and a full on racer would be frame geometry and therefore riding position. It's not really a hybrid in the traditional sense.

blorg

For the OP's goal of charity rides, if they are going to be 100km+ I would go for an entry level road bike/racer.

For generally getting into cycling, a light hybrid is an excellent choice, probably better than a road bike if you have not cycled before.

You will not have more problems with punctures on a racer than you would on a hybrid. If you stick Armadillos on a racer you can wave punctures goodbye (along with cornering at high speed ) Continental Gatorskins are a happy compromise, in 700x25c if you want the added comfort.