... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was a choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike! Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air. Thanks for any advice, Stuart
My advice.. somewhat biased .. would be to get a nice conseravtive roady. Roadys with flat bars actually give you less hand postitions which is perfectly obvious.. and I cant see that having less positions to try is really a plus. (even tho lots of them wont be much use to you just the act of using them for a few second then shifting to another position will help) And if you are on the road a roady is the way to go.
My back aint wonderfull.. moving around works.. and of course riding makes it stronger
But I expect you will get some horrible cheap pseudo mountain bike that weighs a ton and has a sticker warning against off road use. Becouse it has flat bars. And then you will ride it with the seat far too low and after a while decide cycling is just too hard. I hope I am wrong tho. 😉
After dithering around for a few years I finally managed to get back into it after 50 years in the wilderness. My considered advice is........ get one with a frame, two wheels, a seat, brakes and handlebars,and a chain would help, and get out on the road.
Get a feel for what you've got yourself in for and save a few quid in the meantime so you can afford to get something special if you find that cycling is what you really want to do. By then you'll have a much better notion of what your needs are.
I found the indecision of what bike to get wasn't getting any easier and the years were slipping by rapidly, so I grabbed the first reasonable looking M/B on Ebay for under 20 pounds. I might yet get something new, but right now it's the least important thing on my mind. I'm just enjoying being free, mobile and fit again.
I just got back into cycling after nearly 20 years. My bike came from the local paper for £35 (Dawes racer funnily enough), I cleaned it up a bit then rode it. Riding around on it for 2 months helped clarify my thinking as to what proper bike I wanted, so I then got myself a good one. (Lighter bike , lower gears, different bars and a girlie frame in my case). Just bear in mind that the less good the bike is, the harder it is going to be to do hills and any distance. Don't get a mountain bike with knobbly tires for the road, it will slow you down and make pedalling harder, and don't (really don't) get a full suspension mountain bike for £99 from tesco/halfords/asda They are rubbish and will kill your enthusiasm for cycling as they break (if they work at all) and they are heavy and unsuited to either on road or off road.
It won't take you long to build up the muscles you use for cycling, but remember at the beginning you won't have these muscles, and you don't want to make life harder for yourself unneccesarily. Suggest local paper small ads to start with as something that was once ok is better than something cheap that will never be any good.
Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air. Thanks for any advice, Stuart
"Which" report gives Schwinn Sierra GS at GBP 230 top marks for comfortable ride. (but cheap chain set - replace after a year if you get into cycling). Agree with other posts that any new bike that is much cheaper is probably discouraging rubbish.
Best wishes
Paul
-- CTC Right to Ride Representative for Richmond upon Thames
... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss.
I often recommend people to go to Decathlon, if there is one near you.
A chap in my cycling club has a Trek, can't remember the model though. It has an adjustable handlebar stem, and he sits up quite straight on it. I would maybe think about one of these adjustable stems. Ask in the bike shop. You can tell them as they have a bolt at either end, and you can raise the angle of the stem.
"stuart" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was a choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike! Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air. Thanks for any advice, Stuart
Low gears will enable you to go up most hills without getting off to walk. A second hand mountain bike with smooth (road) tyres. You can fit riser handlebars to get your back even straighter. I have a Dawes Giro 200 for road use - I paid £275 for it new, it's got flat handlebars so riser bars could be fitted. I see them from time to time on eBay. The Dawes does not have such low gears as a mountain bike though.
"stuart" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was
a
Quoted message said:
choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike! Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air. Thanks for any advice,
Go and look at ridgeback bikes, they make bikes with good upright positions. Try to get something with road bike size (700c) rather than mountain bike 26" wheels. I've used both on the road, and road bike sized wheels just seem to roll better and be comfier on the road with narrow tyres.
.... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was a choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike! Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air. Thanks for any advice, Stuart
