Best Bike For Beginner?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
User avatar
TrevA
Posts: 3545
Joined: 1 Jun 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Nottingham

Re: Help Of Choosing Correct Frame Size (Road Bike)

Post by TrevA »

It depends on how young and flexible you are. Young and flexible and you can probably cope with a racy position, but older riders prefer the bars a bit higher as we aren’t as flexible as we once were, and possibly have a bit of a gut. So I would (and did) go for something like a Domane over a Madone, or a Roubaix over a Tarmac.

If you are, or think you might be interested in racing or sportives, then you could go for a race bike, if you just want to do leisure rides and be comfortable on a long ride, go for an endurance bike.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
Cycling_Man
Posts: 61
Joined: 7 Apr 2021, 12:41pm

Re: Help Of Choosing Correct Frame Size (Road Bike)

Post by Cycling_Man »

TrevA wrote: 9 Apr 2021, 11:54pm It depends on how young and flexible you are. Young and flexible and you can probably cope with a racy position, but older riders prefer the bars a bit higher as we aren’t as flexible as we once were, and possibly have a bit of a gut. So I would (and did) go for something like a Domane over a Madone, or a Roubaix over a Tarmac.

If you are, or think you might be interested in racing or sportives, then you could go for a race bike, if you just want to do leisure rides and be comfortable on a long ride, go for an endurance bike.
I am getting into running more and wanted to get more into cycling because it is fun. I like running because I can see the progression, running faster and further. I would like a bike that I could go fast in and go far in and people say that with racy bike you can't go far in them but you probably can but might not be as comfy I guess.

Quick question - Can you possible help me on my other post that I just made about if this is a good first bike to pick up. Here is a link to it: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=145190&p=1595916#p1595916

If you could leave some advice that would be great. Many thanks, Cycling_Man.
User avatar
TrevA
Posts: 3545
Joined: 1 Jun 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Nottingham

Re: Help Of Choosing Correct Frame Size (Road Bike)

Post by TrevA »

Cycling_Man wrote: 10 Apr 2021, 12:00am
TrevA wrote: 9 Apr 2021, 11:54pm It depends on how young and flexible you are. Young and flexible and you can probably cope with a racy position, but older riders prefer the bars a bit higher as we aren’t as flexible as we once were, and possibly have a bit of a gut. So I would (and did) go for something like a Domane over a Madone, or a Roubaix over a Tarmac.

If you are, or think you might be interested in racing or sportives, then you could go for a race bike, if you just want to do leisure rides and be comfortable on a long ride, go for an endurance bike.
I am getting into running more and wanted to get more into cycling because it is fun. I like running because I can see the progression, running faster and further. I would like a bike that I could go fast in and go far in and people say that with racy bike you can't go far in them but you probably can but might not be as comfy I guess.

Quick question - Can you possible help me on my other post that I just made about if this is a good first bike to pick up. Here is a link to it: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=145190&p=1595916#p1595916

If you could leave some advice that would be great. Many thanks, Cycling_Man.
I’d say at £70 it’s worth a punt, even if you find you don’t get on with it, you could sell it at little or no loss. Actually riding a road bike will tell you what you like and don’t like and inform your next purchase. You might get lucky and love the bike, if you do you’re quids in.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
Cycling_Man
Posts: 61
Joined: 7 Apr 2021, 12:41pm

Re: Help Of Choosing Correct Frame Size (Road Bike)

Post by Cycling_Man »

TrevA wrote: 10 Apr 2021, 12:06am
Cycling_Man wrote: 10 Apr 2021, 12:00am
TrevA wrote: 9 Apr 2021, 11:54pm It depends on how young and flexible you are. Young and flexible and you can probably cope with a racy position, but older riders prefer the bars a bit higher as we aren’t as flexible as we once were, and possibly have a bit of a gut. So I would (and did) go for something like a Domane over a Madone, or a Roubaix over a Tarmac.

If you are, or think you might be interested in racing or sportives, then you could go for a race bike, if you just want to do leisure rides and be comfortable on a long ride, go for an endurance bike.
I am getting into running more and wanted to get more into cycling because it is fun. I like running because I can see the progression, running faster and further. I would like a bike that I could go fast in and go far in and people say that with racy bike you can't go far in them but you probably can but might not be as comfy I guess.

Quick question - Can you possible help me on my other post that I just made about if this is a good first bike to pick up. Here is a link to it: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=145190&p=1595916#p1595916

If you could leave some advice that would be great. Many thanks, Cycling_Man.
I’d say at £70 it’s worth a punt, even if you find you don’t get on with it, you could sell it at little or no loss. Actually riding a road bike will tell you what you like and don’t like and inform your next purchase. You might get lucky and love the bike, if you do you’re quids in.
That is what I was thinking. I thought that it would be good as it will help me see what a road bike feels like and could always use it as a run around depending on how well it runs that is haha. I was thinking that for £70 it doesn't look too bad. I am going to see it tomorrow so I will see.
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Help Of Choosing Correct Frame Size (Road Bike)

Post by Jamesh »

If it starts and stops at that price it's a good buy the 105 chainset is worth £50 alone.

You can then use it as a winter bike if you do get a better bike.

Beware though that cycling dosen't burn the calories or maintain fitness like running does. (As a 3hr10 marathon runner)

Cheers James
Cycling_Man
Posts: 61
Joined: 7 Apr 2021, 12:41pm

Re: Help Of Choosing Correct Frame Size (Road Bike)

Post by Cycling_Man »

Jamesh wrote: 10 Apr 2021, 12:23am If it starts and stops at that price it's a good buy the 105 chainset is worth £50 alone.

You can then use it as a winter bike if you do get a better bike.

Beware though that cycling dosen't burn the calories or maintain fitness like running does. (As a 3hr10 marathon runner)

Cheers James
Thanks for your reply. Sadly the sleer messaged me when I was meant to see the biek saying that he had given it too his son and so is no longer available. I will keep looking though haha.

Also I know that cycling doesn't burn as many calories as running. I also do running. I can't remember if it was you that I told this to but I got into running during lockdown. In the first lockdown my longest run was probably 5k maybe 10k and I didn't too too many runs. Think I did a 10k once. When the gyms opened back up I stopped running altogether as I was going to the gym everyday again instead. However this February I was bored sat at home and just started running again. Started with 2.5k and in less than 2 months I have gotten my 5k time down to under 20 minutes and done my first marathon at 4hours. Would have probably been faster but had to stop twice for an emergency, if you know what I mean haha and if I'm honest I was quite happy with 4:06 for my first marathon. I won't be doing cycling to burn calories really and if I'm honest I don't really need to lose any weight anyway. I don't even run for weight loss I just run because it's fun and I also like cycling because it is fun. I like competing against myself to get better times, to go longer distances, etc.

When the gyms open back up I will probably be focussing more on the gym than running and want a bike to have fun, commute and to ride one. I would like to do with cycling what I have done with running, progressing to go faster and further and just having fun. I was thinking of one day completing an iron man if I get fit enough haha.
Cycling_Man
Posts: 61
Joined: 7 Apr 2021, 12:41pm

Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by Cycling_Man »

Hi Guys, it's me, Cycling_Man. This is going to be a long one but I really hope you have the time to read and give me some knowledgeable advice. However for you guys who don't wanna read I have left a bullet list at the bottom so you can quickly grasp what this is about. You may need to read some bits though as might have left some information out by accident.

I really want to get into cycling. I enjoy fitness a lot and want to start riding more and so I am on the lookout for a nice road bike.

Background information

I am a bigginer to cycling but I am not a binggner to fitness. I used to go to the gym everyday when they were open (recently starting going again since they opened Monday) and also started running this year in February Did a little last year when the gyms closed probably around 100-150km in total but stopped when gyms reopened. I've done around 350km's of running in about 3 months this year (starting in February), completed my first marathon and have a personal best 5k time of 18:45 (3:35km pace).

Goals / Why a bike
1.) Having Fun
2.) Triathalon / Iron Man Training
3.) Commuting
4.) Speed (like I said above)

As you can see from what background information I like to do long runs (endurance), but also like to train for speed too (Speed). I know many of you may say, "well just buy an endurance bike and a race bike" and to that I say I really don't want to buy two bikes at this moment in time which is why I think an endurance bike might be best for me as it will allow me to go longer distances and still be decently fast but again, I am not sure.

Information
Location
I live in the South and it is quite hilly where I live. Just for a quick reference my cycle to work is only around 8km but I do around 150m of climbing so it isn't too bad but those hills on the bike I currently ride is pretty hard sometimes haha.

Current Bike
As I said above I am currently borrowing a bike from my Dad. The bike is a Specalized Hard Rock Sport, not sure what year it is but it's an old one, probably around 5-6 years but it's still okay. The only issue is the bike is way to small for me. The frame is size 17 and I am 6ft 2in (189cm) so I have to have the seat so high up it is way above the handlebars (guess it will help me get used to a road bike position at least haha, jk). I feel cramped on the bike and it gets uncomortable to ride after a while.

Budget
The budget is £500. I know this is not a lot of money for a road bike as they can range up to tens of thousands for the elite level bikes. However that is the budget I have and I can go over if I find something I like so I would say the max amount I want to spend and not a penny over would be £1000 but I don't really want to spend that. Like I said, £500 is a good amount for me and anything under that is even better.

Bikes I have been Looking at
I have been looking at second hand and new bikes. Just doing lots of research really for around 1 month. The new bikes I have looked at are:

Triabn RC 120 (Disc)
Trek Domane AL 2 (Rim BRake)
Specalized Aellez (Rim Brake)

My thoughts on the bikes:

Triban RC 120 (Disc)
Pros
  • Looks to be a good bigginer bike with lots of good reviews
  • Withing budget, currently priced at around £500
Cons
  • Hate the colour and look of the bike (wish it looked like the Triban RC 100 with the black frame)
Trek Domane AL 2
Pros
  • Looks to be a good biggner bike with lots of good reviews
  • Love the colour and overall look of the bike
  • Endurance fit (not sure if that is good or bad yet, or neither)
Cons
  • Above budget
Specalized Allez
Pros
  • Looks to be a good biggner bike. Haven't seen many reviews
  • Okay colour, not the best fan but isn't as bad as the Triban
Cons
  • Not sure on the fit
  • Above Budget
Second Hand Bikes
Since my budget is so low I have been looking at second hand bikes as many of you will know from my posts asking if certain bikes are good buys. However, being so new to cycling I have no idea what to really look out for (apart from what you guys have helped me with), no idea how to tell if a bike is a good deal or not and no idea if I am getting ripped of or a bargin haha, making it a little nervrackig when trying to buy a bike. This is why I come to you guys, who know a lot more about bikes than me.

Conclusion
Overall I just want your advice from the informatoin provided on what bike you believe is best for me and if you can provided examples of certain bikes that would be even better. I will do a little recap of the points again so you don't have to go back and read for so long:
  • Want to Know What Bike Is Best For Me
  • Into Fitness (Running) and want to start cycling
  • £500 budget
  • Live in kind a hilly(ish) area
Want bike for:
  • Training
  • Comuting
  • Having Fun
  • Preferably looking for Second Hand Bike
  • Want To know what to look out for when buying second hand
Thanks for reading guys and look forward to your replies.

Bounus Question
I'm 6ft 2in, around 88-92cm (believe around 90cm) inside leg. What is the best frame size for me? From my research I need a 58 Specalized Allez and a 61 in Trek Domane AL 2.
De Sisti
Posts: 1507
Joined: 17 Jun 2007, 6:03pm

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by De Sisti »

Cycling_Man wrote: 15 Apr 2021, 9:43pm I'm 6ft 2in, around 88-92cm (believe around 90cm) inside leg. What is the best frame size for me? From my research I need a 58 Specalized Allez and a 61 in Trek Domane AL 2.
You have just answered your own (long) question. :idea: Now go and buy the bike from the ones that you've narrowed it down to and enjoy.
LollyKat
Posts: 3250
Joined: 28 May 2011, 11:25pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by LollyKat »

I would go for the Triban because:

1. It is well within budget
2. Will do the job more than adequately
3. Will give you the experience to work out what you really want without spending a lot
4. Can take mudguards so can be relegated to winter commuting once you have saved the money for your dream bike

But then, I love the colour!
Jdsk
Posts: 24478
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by Jdsk »

Others might like to read the discussion in a couple of previous threads:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=145132
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=145210

Jonathan
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by Jamesh »

By the bike that is available!

Many bikes are out if stock ATM.

The decathlon will be less nickable too.

But the frames on the other two will probably be lighter and more polished.

Cheers James
philvantwo
Posts: 1730
Joined: 8 Dec 2012, 6:08pm

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by philvantwo »

You normally recommend Boardman James? What's happened?
markjohnobrien
Posts: 1037
Joined: 4 Oct 2007, 8:15pm

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by markjohnobrien »

Cycling_Man wrote: 15 Apr 2021, 9:43pm Hi Guys, it's me, Cycling_Man. This is going to be a long one but I really hope you have the time to read and give me some knowledgeable advice. However for you guys who don't wanna read I have left a bullet list at the bottom so you can quickly grasp what this is about. You may need to read some bits though as might have left some information out by accident.

I really want to get into cycling. I enjoy fitness a lot and want to start riding more and so I am on the lookout for a nice road bike.

Background information

I am a bigginer to cycling but I am not a binggner to fitness. I used to go to the gym everyday when they were open (recently starting going again since they opened Monday) and also started running this year in February Did a little last year when the gyms closed probably around 100-150km in total but stopped when gyms reopened. I've done around 350km's of running in about 3 months this year (starting in February), completed my first marathon and have a personal best 5k time of 18:45 (3:35km pace).

Goals / Why a bike
1.) Having Fun
2.) Triathalon / Iron Man Training
3.) Commuting
4.) Speed (like I said above)

As you can see from what background information I like to do long runs (endurance), but also like to train for speed too (Speed). I know many of you may say, "well just buy an endurance bike and a race bike" and to that I say I really don't want to buy two bikes at this moment in time which is why I think an endurance bike might be best for me as it will allow me to go longer distances and still be decently fast but again, I am not sure.

Information
Location
I live in the South and it is quite hilly where I live. Just for a quick reference my cycle to work is only around 8km but I do around 150m of climbing so it isn't too bad but those hills on the bike I currently ride is pretty hard sometimes haha.

Current Bike
As I said above I am currently borrowing a bike from my Dad. The bike is a Specalized Hard Rock Sport, not sure what year it is but it's an old one, probably around 5-6 years but it's still okay. The only issue is the bike is way to small for me. The frame is size 17 and I am 6ft 2in (189cm) so I have to have the seat so high up it is way above the handlebars (guess it will help me get used to a road bike position at least haha, jk). I feel cramped on the bike and it gets uncomortable to ride after a while.

Budget
The budget is £500. I know this is not a lot of money for a road bike as they can range up to tens of thousands for the elite level bikes. However that is the budget I have and I can go over if I find something I like so I would say the max amount I want to spend and not a penny over would be £1000 but I don't really want to spend that. Like I said, £500 is a good amount for me and anything under that is even better.

Bikes I have been Looking at
I have been looking at second hand and new bikes. Just doing lots of research really for around 1 month. The new bikes I have looked at are:

Triabn RC 120 (Disc)
Trek Domane AL 2 (Rim BRake)
Specalized Aellez (Rim Brake)

My thoughts on the bikes:

Triban RC 120 (Disc)
Pros
  • Looks to be a good bigginer bike with lots of good reviews
  • Withing budget, currently priced at around £500
Cons
  • Hate the colour and look of the bike (wish it looked like the Triban RC 100 with the black frame)
Trek Domane AL 2
Pros
  • Looks to be a good biggner bike with lots of good reviews
  • Love the colour and overall look of the bike
  • Endurance fit (not sure if that is good or bad yet, or neither)
Cons
  • Above budget
Specalized Allez
Pros
  • Looks to be a good biggner bike. Haven't seen many reviews
  • Okay colour, not the best fan but isn't as bad as the Triban
Cons
  • Not sure on the fit
  • Above Budget
Second Hand Bikes
Since my budget is so low I have been looking at second hand bikes as many of you will know from my posts asking if certain bikes are good buys. However, being so new to cycling I have no idea what to really look out for (apart from what you guys have helped me with), no idea how to tell if a bike is a good deal or not and no idea if I am getting ripped of or a bargin haha, making it a little nervrackig when trying to buy a bike. This is why I come to you guys, who know a lot more about bikes than me.

Conclusion
Overall I just want your advice from the informatoin provided on what bike you believe is best for me and if you can provided examples of certain bikes that would be even better. I will do a little recap of the points again so you don't have to go back and read for so long:
  • Want to Know What Bike Is Best For Me
  • Into Fitness (Running) and want to start cycling
  • £500 budget
  • Live in kind a hilly(ish) area
Want bike for:
  • Training
  • Comuting
  • Having Fun
  • Preferably looking for Second Hand Bike
  • Want To know what to look out for when buying second hand
Thanks for reading guys and look forward to your replies.

Bounus Question
I'm 6ft 2in, around 88-92cm (believe around 90cm) inside leg. What is the best frame size for me? From my research I need a 58 Specalized Allez and a 61 in Trek Domane AL 2.
Triban for me:practicality, can take mudguards, excellent review in Road CC, and great service from Decathlon.
Raleigh Randonneur 708 (Magura hydraulic brakes); Blue Raleigh Randonneur 708 dynamo; Pearson Compass 631 tourer; Dawes One Down 631 dynamo winter bike;Raleigh Travelogue 708 tourer dynamo; Kona Sutra; Trek 920 disc Sram Force.
Jamesh
Posts: 2963
Joined: 2 Jan 2017, 5:56pm

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by Jamesh »

philvantwo wrote: 16 Apr 2021, 11:53am You normally recommend Boardman James? What's happened?
I thought it might become too obvious that I am Chris Boardman!!

Cheers James
Cycling_Man
Posts: 61
Joined: 7 Apr 2021, 12:41pm

Re: Best Bike For Beginner?

Post by Cycling_Man »

LollyKat wrote: 16 Apr 2021, 11:03am I would go for the Triban because:

1. It is well within budget
2. Will do the job more than adequately
3. Will give you the experience to work out what you really want without spending a lot
4. Can take mudguards so can be relegated to winter commuting once you have saved the money for your dream bike

But then, I love the colour!
Jamesh wrote: 16 Apr 2021, 11:17am By the bike that is available!

Many bikes are out if stock ATM.

The decathlon will be less nickable too.

But the frames on the other two will probably be lighter and more polished.

Cheers James
markjohnobrien wrote: 16 Apr 2021, 9:53pm

Triban for me:practicality, can take mudguards, excellent review in Road CC, and great service from Decathlon.
Thanks for your replies guys. When I first started looking at gettign a road bike the first bike I looked at was the Triban. The only thing holding me back is the colour. I know I might be being a bit picky here with not choosing a bike because of the colour but I just feel like I wouldn't enjoy the bike as much. Do you think that the Triban RC 120 (Rim Brake Edition) would be a good bike. I prefer the colour of this one but it doesn't have disc brakes. The rim breaks aren't a deal breaker for me but the difference in the price between the rim brake and the disc break is only £70 so I wouldn't mind paying that little extra to get the disc break edition but I just wish they did the disc break edition in the black colour, the same as the rim break edition. The only thing holding me back on the bikes at the moment is the price.

I was looking at some of the reviews for the Triban RC120 disc and they were saying things like, "this is a great bike for £400" etc, then I look at the price and it's £100 extra. I know bike prices increased in the lockdkown due to demand but it was a little annoying to see that a bike someone got a few months ago was now 25% more than what it was then but guess that's what happens when everyone decides to take up cycling. I think I might wait for a bit and look on the second hand market. I'm hoping as lockdown restrictions ease people will maybe sell their bikes that they don't want and maybe possibly companies will lower their prices on bikes since people aren't buying them as much. However I believe that a company would not lower it's price once it has increased. They only ever seem to do "discounts" but keep the price of the bike the same so not holding much hope on new bikes going down in price haha.

Thanks for your help guys. Hopefully I'll find something.
Post Reply