First Road Bike! Advice please :)

Hi Stu and welcome to the forums. Seeing as you are 19 and currently enrolled in Law School (Good For You) I would suggest that you go to your LBS and check out an entry level road bike. Entry level road bikes should servre you well getting around campus and doing the occasional charity ride. Invest in your education and when you have completed it and entered into the world of the working you can look into buying something flashy and exotic. Unless of course you have parents with money than get your self something we all dream of. Good luck to you.

Haha cheers, yeah I have been planning s trip down to the bike store. Would people not recommend buying a bike online? I'm not completely sure of the selection they have at the store. Cheers Stu

I'm a big advocate of the LBS but if you're unsure of usage or money is an issue then I suggest going to Craigslist. If you are diligent and watch, you will find a number of bikes that have very low mileage that are gathering dust in garages that people bought with the best of intentions of riding to get fit.....and never did. You can usually save hundreds going that route. There are so many bikes out there that need a good home. Adopt one today!

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by doctorold [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I'm a big advocate of the LBS but if you're unsure of usage or money is an issue then I suggest going to Craigslist. If you are diligent and watch, you will find a number of bikes that have very low mileage that are gathering dust in garages that people bought with the best of intentions of riding to get fit.....and never did. You can usually save hundreds going that route. There are so many bikes out there that need a good home. Adopt one today!

+1 for the LBS and Adoption [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif[/IMG]

do your homework and alot of it. IT will pay off for you . lots of good bikes out there . check out a few LBS's to see what brands they are carrying and start narrowing it down slowly . get back on this forum and fill us in on your progress , hopefully by then we will be discussing different frame types , components , geometries etc . you will be able to get alot of good info from this site , but your home work is crucial .

Stu,

Buying a road bike is easy - the hard part is getting the right sized bike given that all the dealers and places that offer bike fit in the US that I've been too seemingly want to stuff you on a bike that's 2 to 4cm too small. I have a 34.5" inside leg measurement and most of the dealers wanted to sell me a 54 or 56cm frame - which would put me in a position to gnaw my own bat off but completely useless for a fun day in the saddle.

A google search for Hinault Genzling will provide many links for frame sizing advice - but this one seems pretty good.

strawberrybicycle.comsizing.htmOpen ↗

It's the same system that Hinault and LeMond used back in the 80's and IMHO, they both have the best positions on a bike that I've ever seen.

Since you're still young and not saddled with the structural issues plagued by many who have sat behind office desks for years it should be pretty easy for you to get a good position on the bike.

What's the budget that you have in mind?

Before you get too involved with the lore and bullsh*t that seems to stink up the sport, just let me say that you'll go pretty much just as fast on a 2007 model Cannondale CAAD 7 or 8 bought off Craigslist as you would on a 09 Cannondale CAAD9 thats a current shop floor model on sale and could be had as new for a grand than you could on a $8,000 team issue Cannondale or $10,000 well equipped Look or Time bike. As you get better on the bike you'll find that the "pretty much just as fast" can be tweaked out with a nicer set of aero wheels that you really don't need right now. The saying "speed costs, how much do you have" does somewhat apply but in cycling that speed is many governed by you in the power that you can generate and your ability to scythe through the wind and most of the drag is caused by the rider and not the bike. If your position is all to [censored] then you won't be putting out the power or get very aero and $400 bike or $10,000 bike the end result will be the same. You'll hate riding and you'll basically suck at it.

Position and Training > Fancy bike.

All you need now is a bike that fits you well so you can get out and have some good times smashing your brains out and building memories of the good times that cycling can bring. If you want a fancy bike because you can afford it and accept that it won't necessarily make you faster, then fine but on that same train of thought don't let a dealer sweet talk you into spending a significant chunk of cash extra on a bike that'll be a talking point in the pre-ride chat before a ride on a Sunday morning but won't make you any faster by lunchtime when you've deposited a pint or two of sweat over the top tube.

Part of the money you do save should be spent on a really good pair of shorts and mitts and a well sized pair of shoes. This part is all personal preference and what we recommend may literally rub you up the wrong way and literally be a pain in the nether regions but ideally, if you find a pair of shorts that don't give you any discomfort during a ride then you've found the pair for you. Same with mitts and shoes.

Just in case you didn't know - Hinault was a 5 time Tour de France winner and perhaps the last of the true hard men and a king of the sport. He's also the guy who carries his "less than politically correct" attitude to fantasic effect to this day whenever there's a guy on the Tour podium protesting about some useless cause. He threw a great right hook as a rider and as technical director on the Tour and won all the major Tours and most of the Classics. Whether using his fists or his legs, his actions always spoke much louder than words ever could.

Hinault > Chuck Norris. 'nuff said.