Buying a new bike

RocketRaccoon

Hello there folks, I hope this isn't against any rules. I have actually just registered to ask some questions, based on the word of a friend who uses this forum. I am in the market for a new bike on the bike to work scheme, I did have a bike a couple of years ago and used to do regular 50km cycles with friends and really enjoyed myself. However they were all on much better bikes than mine which was a cheap donedeal job and moved on to longer, tougher cycles.

I want to get back involved and I'm not going to half arse it again so here I am with questions....

I am a "huskier" gentleman of about 18 stone. Are there any frames i should be avoiding for fear of damage?

When it comes to flat roads, I had no problem powering along but when it came to long, slow, drags/hills I just didn't have the gears to get up them at a decent pace which i hated as I was often left way behind. Shorter, steeper hills were no issue at all, I could power straight up them without struggling at all. What kind of cassette should I be looking at to help with the longer drags? Someone did mention a 105 groupset to me, does this make sense?

As you can see, I am basically an amateur starting out at the bottom again so all help is appreciated.

Unknown Soldier

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

Hello there folks, I hope this isn't against any rules. I have actually just registered to ask some questions, based on the word of a friend who uses this forum. I am in the market for a new bike on the bike to work scheme, I did have a bike a couple of years ago and used to do regular 50km cycles with friends and really enjoyed myself. However they were all on much better bikes than mine which was a cheap donedeal job and moved on to longer, tougher cycles.

I want to get back involved and I'm not going to half arse it again so here I am with questions....

I am a "huskier" gentleman of about 18 stone. Are there any frames i should be avoiding for fear of damage?

When it comes to flat roads, I had no problem powering along but when it came to long, slow, drags/hills I just didn't have the gears to get up them at a decent pace which i hated as I was often left way behind. Shorter, steeper hills were no issue at all, I could power straight up them without struggling at all. What kind of cassette should I be looking at to help with the longer drags? Someone did mention a 105 groupset to me, does this make sense?

As you can see, I am basically an amateur starting out at the bottom again so all help is appreciated.

Based on what you have said you might be looking for a bike with an 11-32 Cassette on the rear and a "compact" 50/34 up front? You'd also get away with an 11-28 at the rear but the 11-32 is very handy for long drags.

The current 105 (5800) group set is very, very good too by the way and there are lots of "endurance" type bike for sale that come with said group set and an 11-32 on the rear.

All that aside it would be nice to know what groupset you had when you were "struggling" I've done a few Charity spin over the last few years and have met people on second hand or borrowed bikes that were basical full on racing bikes with 53/39 cranks and a 11-25/23 on the rear! And they wondered why they were struggling on hills! Lower front and Bigger rear = easier btw.

RocketRaccoon

Ah I don't have that bike anymore, I passed it on to a family member a few weeks ago. Thank you very much for your reply, at least now I have some idea what to look for when I go in to the shop over the weekend.

Takca

You might also appreciate the extra stopping power of disk brakes if they are available in your price range. I recently got my first Road Bike (Giant Defy 1 2016) and I'm loving it. The only thing I was a little taken back by is how much harder it is to stop with caliper brakes when compared to disk brakes. I suspect it wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't have 16 stone to bring to a stop. Having said that I replaced the break pads on the front with KoolStop salmon and its noticeably better and enough that I'm now happy.

Although I'm also a newb so somebody here may say I'm crazy.

RocketRaccoon

I have been reading up about the Giant Contend both last night and again this morning and the only issue seemingly are the brakes. They are not cartridge brakes so maybe that will be something I will need to upgrade straight away.

RocketRaccoon

I'm delighted to say I'll be picking up the Giant Contend today, looking forward to getting back out on the road again especially in this weather.