First road bike to loose weight

RayCun

crispydolphin wrote: »

What I meant is that I want to lose weight and get fit which will improve my health and prevent any problem which I might have, just a precaution, and it would basically make me feel better and I'm interested in cycling, so the heart monitor would be very usefull to not put too much strain on my body and help mentaim
mentain a lot of things

I can see that you'd like the reassurance of a heart rate monitor... but, honestly, unless you know your heart rate zones accurately, a HRM telling you your heart rate is 155, 165, or 175 isn't providing you with any useful information. You will know yourself, from breathing and perceived effort, when you are working hard.

TychoCaine

I'd disagree. Most HRMs will not only display BPMs, but also your zone taking age into account. They're not much use on the road, (you should be looking at the road after all) but they're a huge help on a turbo trainer to ensure you work as hard as you should, but not too hard.

RayCun

TychoCaine wrote: »

I'd disagree. Most HRMs will not only display BPMs, but also your zone taking age into account. They're not much use on the road, (you should be looking at the road after all) but they're a huge help on a turbo trainer to ensure you work as hard as you should, but not too hard.

But 220-age is no more accurate for working out max HR than throwing darts at a board.
If you do a lab test, or an uphill-sprint-till-you-puke test, or some other reasonably well established method of working out HR zones, then cool, HR-based training is useful.
If you get some crappy Lidl HRM, enter your age, and then slow down because it tells you you've left your fat-burning zone...

petethedrummer

which zone is the fat burning zone?

RayCun

just south of the Bermuda triangle
http://www.builtlean.com/2013/04/01/fat-burning-zone-myth/
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fatburn.htm

Danjamin1

What are peoples opinions of the Carrera Zelos?

I'm currently on a Lapierre hybrid (Shaper 300) which I bought two years ago on the BTW scheme and I'm thinking of picking up a road bike as well. I plan on keeping the hybrid for short, casual cycles as I really like it, but I'd also like to get a road bike for longer cycles. my BTW allowance was used 2 years ago so I can't avail of it again.

I've been looking around and was thinking of getting another Lapierre in Cyclesuperstore for €750-900, but this seems like a great deal in Halfords at the moment as it's down from €750 to €320.

So should I look in to the Carrera or consider something else around the €750 mark?

crispydolphin

I'm bringin my Carrera back to the shop, the wheels gave in, rear brakes and dodgy and nearly fell on the road when the gear changed out of nowhere, I'll ask them if they'll fix it for free or give me my money back

keppler

Danjamin1 wrote: »

What are peoples opinions of the Carrera Zelos?

I'm currently on a Lapierre hybrid (Shaper 300) which I bought two years ago on the BTW scheme and I'm thinking of picking up a road bike as well. I plan on keeping the hybrid for short, casual cycles as I really like it, but I'd also like to get a road bike for longer cycles. my BTW allowance was used 2 years ago so I can't avail of it again.

I've been looking around and was thinking of getting another Lapierre in Cyclesuperstore for €750-900, but this seems like a great deal in Halfords at the moment as it's down from €750 to €320.

So should I look in to the Carrera or consider something else around the €750 mark?

Halford's prices are basically meaningless! They purposely inflate the listed price of their bikes so they can do exactly what they're doing now with the Zelos. If you look at the spec of the bike you'll find that its fairly basic by todays entry level standards. Steel forks, Tourney gears non-integrated shifters, tektro brakes. In my humble opinion that bike might have been worth 750 about twelve years ago but today its just about worth 320. So really, I don't think you're getting much of a bargain.

First thing I'd do if I were you is take a good look on adverts.ie and donedeal. If you're committed to buying new then I would take a look up at decathlon in belfast or on their website (they deliver to the republic for 20euro i think) they have the triban 5 for around €500 which has a vastly superior spec to the velos....carbon fork & sora groupset. There is another big cycling shop in derry but cant remember its name right now. Also take a look at wiggle sometimes they have good bargains on special offer and they deliver to Ireland too.
I'm sure there are some competitive shops in the republic too but you'll just have to do a bit of looking is all.

krissovo

crispydolphin wrote: »

I'm bringin my Carrera back to the shop, the wheels gave in, rear brakes and dodgy and nearly fell on the road when the gear changed out of nowhere, I'll ask them if they'll fix it for free or give me my money back

Wow, thats nuts! Sounds like is was setup badly, at a guess the spokes were lose and not checked in the shop

Danjamin1

That doesn't inspire much confidence in the Carrera so!!

My gears did the same thing on me before and I ended up going over the handlebars right on my face. It resulted in a trip to the emergeny room and some stitches to hold my face together

I found out later that what happened was cross-chaining. If you're not aware of it, it happens when your gear selection isn't quite right and your chain ends up being stretched as it's going between the wrong cogs. When I moved my pedal back at a set of traffic lights it shifted gears on me, then when the light turned green and I took off it shifted back rapidly and sent me flying.

Rookie mistake that won't happen again!!

Here's some info about it:

http://www.activesports.co.zw/train_health_nutrition/mtb_cross_chain.htm

crispydolphin

I used same gear and the chain was straight

Danjamin1

Think I'll look at other bikes in that case.

Out of curiosity how did you find getting your bike in Halfords? I'd feel more comfortable going back to a dedicated bike shop.

Nothing against Halfords, I just feel in bike shops the advice they give is from first hand experience and they're in a better position to advise you.

kittytwister

I got a kaulkauff. Electric bike two years ago and it has changed my life for the better. Before you shout cheat, I am of a pension age and you do have to peddle. Makes going up a hill that bit easier. Have done Ring, of Kerry, sheeps head and Mizen Head as well as the Greenway in Mayo. Nice thing is, no tax, no insurance or driving licence and one can enjoy the countryside in a much more leisurely pace than driving a car. Only downside are the inconsiderate motorists and lorry drivers who fly past far too close for comfort.

crispydolphin

They sugar coat it, I went into a bike shop in Wexford and he had a look and told me that it wasn't assembled properly, so I'm going back to get my money back, it felt.dangerous, I have rode the Carrera today, only dragged along with me since it didn't feel safe

iMADEtheBBC

Something I have found useful and motivating is the endomondo tracker on my phone. I linked it to Facebook so my friends would see me "giving up" or "skipping". A little bit of not being able to hide helped motivate me. Also trying to 'draw' rude images on the route map seemed to go down well with the filthier-minded of my friends....

It helped me see improvement - doing the same route a little faster, seeing the calories burned (a good partnership with myfitnesspal.com) and when stopped at lights I checked it one day to see I was only 3km off hitting 40km for the first time... that really motivated me to give it another few minutes.

Might not work for everyone... seems to have worked for me and I'm on a hybrid and look like a feckin' eejit out there !

crispydolphin

Well done I might try that as well and back the Carrera Zelos and I got my money back since they have sold me a faulty product, so I went into The Bike Shop in Wexford town and put my money on the account to save up for Giant Defy 5 Compact for 629, and it felt a lot lighter and durable than the Carrera and had a better set up too

joxerjohn

Crispy, you should check the spec. on the wheelset on the Giant for how much weight they are designed to carry. A lot of wheels on racing bikes will put a max rider weight limit of around 110 Kg or less. I see you are tipping the scales at 118 Kg which means you will need a sturdier set of wheels starting off.

The bike shop should be able to supply a wheelset fit for purpose with your new bike, but you will need to ask. Also if you point this issue out now then at least if you do have problems breaking spokes etc. they should see you right with repairs or a replacement set.

Having said that it would be best to avoid the hassle and just make sure you get the right wheels to carry your weight in the first place and not a set that could give you trouble.

Youl'll be able to treat yourself to nice lightweight ones when the weight comes off, as it undoubtably will !

Valentine1

Have to Jump in and defend the Carrera, have done well over 1000KM on my virtuoso since I bought it in May and haven't had a single problem with it. the Tyres and pedals supplied are fairly brutal though.

I would qualify all this by saying that the after sales was fairly poor, only one or two members of the bike staff actually knew even the basics of the bikes they were selling and I would never use a Halfords store for servicing or otherwise.

As for the Zelos, it is an old model and is probably only worth €320 considering the spec.