New starter looking for advice

Welcome aboard, Sean.

Have you talked to your doctor about cycling to get his/her opinion of your ability to start that type of activity?

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by 64Paramount [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Welcome aboard, Sean.

Have you talked to your doctor about cycling to get his/her opinion of your ability to start that type of activity?

Absolutely
+1

Hi Guys,

I have spoken to my surgeon,

He advised after 3- 4 months going back to regular activity, however I gave myself a lot more time to recover now almost 10 months and when I asked about cycling, the responce was " what ever you feel comfortable doing"

I did some research on medical sites etc.... and alot of people have gone back cycling with no problem at all.

Question is, out of most of the models/types, what is recommend as the most comfortable ? without going to a hybrid.

thanks

Sean

Sean, good to hear your doctor is okay with you starting cycling.

I would recommend you go test ride several different brands of road bikes in your price range.

I would also recommend you try bikes with standard drop bar handlebars. These may seem awkward at first, but you'll get used to them pretty quickly and they give you a really good variety of hand positions you can use during a ride to help relieve any fatigue you may experience in your hands, arms, back, etc.

You'll want to make sure to get a bike that is the right size for you and then have the bike shop tweek it for you to make sure you get the best fit. For example, it might be more comfortable when you first start riding to have handle bars set a bit higher and then lower them as you get used to riding more often and for longer distances.

You'll probably want to start out with very short rides and slowly increase your mileage to determine how your back is going react.

Thanks lads for the responces, after further investigating, I am now moving closer to buying my bike,

torn between the Felt F 75 and ther Giant Defy 3 or 2

getting mixed messages about how better the 2011 Giant Defy 3 is a better bike than the defy 2 and cheaper? not sure if the sales person has stock that they need to shift of the defy 3.

any thoughts ?

or is the Felt F75 a far better bike as the price indicates

?????

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by 64Paramount [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Sean, good to hear your doctor is okay with you starting cycling.

I would recommend you go test ride several different brands of road bikes in your price range.

I would also recommend you try bikes with standard drop bar handlebars. These may seem awkward at first, but you'll get used to them pretty quickly and they give you a really good variety of hand positions you can use during a ride to help relieve any fatigue you may experience in your hands, arms, back, etc.

You'll want to make sure to get a bike that is the right size for you and then have the bike shop tweek it for you to make sure you get the best fit. For example, it might be more comfortable when you first start riding to have handle bars set a bit higher and then lower them as you get used to riding more often and for longer distances.

You'll probably want to start out with very short rides and slowly increase your mileage to determine how your back is going react.

Comparing the 2011 Felt F75 to the 2011 Giant Defy 2 or 3 is not an apples to apples comparison...the F75 needs to be compared to the Defy 1 for an even comparison.

Here's a bikepedia.com side by side comparison of the 2011 Felt F75 and the 2011 Giant Defy 3:

bikepedia.comSide2Side.aspxOpen ↗

Here's the 2011 Defy 2 which is nice, but I'd rather have a 105 equiped bike:

bikepedia.comBikeSpecs.aspxOpen ↗

And here's the 2011 Defy 3:

bikepedia.comBikeSpecs.aspxOpen ↗

Quoted post said:

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

torn between the Felt F 75 and ther Giant Defy 3 or 2

getting mixed messages about how better the 2011 Giant Defy 3 is a better bike than the defy 2 and cheaper? not sure if the sales person has stock that they need to shift of the defy 3.

any thoughts ?

or is the Felt F75 a far better bike as the price indicates

?????

I'm certainly not a geometry expert, but the F75 looks like a much more aggressive frame? A quick look at HT length for size 54 on the Felt is 130 mm vs. 165 mm on the size M Giant Defy. Maybe someone with more geometry knowledge can add...

Scott

Thanks so much for the feedback , really appreciate it,

The felt f75 was considered purely down to a special price offered and the first bike I took on a test ride. Since then I have been advised on the giant defy 3 due to comfort and frame being less aggressive, the last store I went to they advised that the defy 3 was a better bike than the defy 2 ( and cheaper) which I found strange so I suppose this is what I really need advice on. The sales guy was very good and could not have been nicer so really considering the giant. Anyone got any thoughts on the NEW defy 3 better than the 2. I would prefer to spend the extra on the 2 if it was worth it ?

​thanks again for the advice

Yes, it does appear that the new ( 2012 ) Defy 3 is better equiped than the new ( 2012 ) Defy 2, although the MSRP on the 2012 Defy 3 is higher than the 2012 Defy 2, not less as your salesman had indicated......

bikepedia.comSide2Side.aspxOpen ↗

In the 2012 version of the Defy bikes the Defy 3 is now the 105 equiped version. (It was the Defy 1 in 2011)

I'm not sure why Giant made this change from the 2011 versions of these bikes, it certainly adds to the confusion.

Sean, I would make sure you know exactly what the year model is of each of the Defy bikes the salesman is offering you and exactly what type of equipment they have.

It could be that he is mixing 2011 and 2012 year models, that's the only way I could see having the pricing confusion.....

Ok decision made, bought my bike today giant defy 1 2012 FEATURES - Shimano 105 20 speed shifters and derailleurs - Shimano R565 chainset - Giant Connect composite seat post - Colour: White / Blue / Black Delighted, thanks for all the help and advice,

Congrats Sean!! [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif[/IMG]

Sounds like bikepedia.com isn't an accurate reference for 2012 Giant Defy bikes.....