First Road Bike

[ndwgolf]

Guys
for the last two years I have been riding my mountain bike and have thoroughly enjoyed it........I would say the last 6 months most of that time has been spent riding on the road rather than off road with my last 4 rides being well over 50 kilometres. My current and only bike is the Santa Cruz Highball CC, I was initially thinking of modifying my Santa Cruz bike so that it would be easier and faster on the road but my riding mates say that I should invest in a Road Bike. I have been looking online and also in a few shops and have come down to these two bikes:
Trek Madone 6 SLR
Specialised Roubaix Comp

I really love the look of the Trek bike but I see it comes with the Shamno mechanical gear set not like the Specialized bike which has the Di2 gear set........ Is it that of a big deal to have electronic over mechanical gear changers??

Any feed back would be much appreciated

Neil

[whoof]

Mechanical gearing is less lightly to go wrong then electronic gearing. If it does go wrong most people are more likely to be able to maintain and repair mechanical gearing themselves compared to electronic gearing.

[Graham]

Di2 - for your sanity : the money in your pocket : the environment . . . . AVOID

We have discussed advantages vs disadvantages before on this forum e.g.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=117265

[ndwgolf]

Di2 - for your sanity : the money in your pocket : the environment . . . . AVOID

We have discussed advantages vs disadvantages before on this forum e.g.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=117265

Thanks for the link Graham........I'm now thinking the Trek with the mechanical gear set is going to be more than enough for me to get started with.....I'm nearly 61, 115 kg ride for pleasure and no interest in racing ........but I do like new shinny toys
Neil

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my CLT-L29 using hovercraft full of eels.

[roubaixtuesday]

I'm nearly 61, 115 kg ride for pleasure and no interest in racing ........but I do like new shinny toys

In which case, it matters not a jot which of these bikes (or indeed, pretty much any road bike in the £1000+range) you buy from a functional perspective for rides around the 50km mark. They'll all be great, and *miles* better than your mtb. So buy the one you like the look of the best - the shiniest toy!

Probably the only thing worth considering is its possible you may struggle a little up hills as the gearing will be a lot harder than your MTB and you don't have the build of a grimpeur, so it's worth ensuring you have a wide range rear cassette. I think the current maximum is 32T on ultegra? Don't get anything with a smaller rear cassette than that - some may come with a 28 or even a 25.

[ndwgolf]

Brian
I would like to understand a little bit more about this rear gearing. If I go for the Trek Madone 6 SLR it comes with 2x11 Shimano Ultegra drivetrain.........is that okay, and if so why?
Thanks
Neil

[random37]

Neil, it isn't the number of gears, it's the lowest gear.

If the cassette has a range of, 11-25t and 42/52 chainrings, as many bike of that kind do, the lowest gear is a similar ratio to somewhere on the big ring on your mountain bike. The tyres are skinnier and the bike is much more efficient on the road, but they are hard work on hills if you aren't used to them.

I'd suggest a bike fitting. Have a look at Paul Hewitt. It's free if you're buying a bike, and they are probably the best in the business.

http://www.hewittcycles.co.uk/Bike-Fitting-Charges

[roubaixtuesday]

What random said.

Shimano 11 speed can run different front chainrings and rear cassettes, so there is a range of possible gearing.

If you're relatively heavy and new to road cycling, I'd strongly recommend the lowest possible gearing - gears will be harder than on your MTB, so whilst you'll be able to go faster, it will almost certainly feel harder work up hills. And maybe a *lot* harder!

Look at the detailed spec on the exact model you're interested in, or post a link.

The front chainrings will be 50/34 or similar, and the cassette 11-32 or similar.

You want 50/34 and 11-32. Anything else will almost certainly be too high geared for you (I'm 30kg lighter than you and have a bike with this gearing).

A lot depends on the riding you anticipate doing. If you're in a very hilly area, you may need a completely different set up with lower gears than these bikes can provide.

[ndwgolf]

I ordered a pair of Road Bike Shoes From Wiggle but what do I do about the cleats......do they come with the peddles or will I need to buy them separately?
Neil

[NetworkMan]

As above.
Try before you buy. In particular make sure you are happy with the height of the handlebars. When I was 60 I had mine much higher than I see in the pictures of the Trek but I'm interested in comfort and YMMV. Others on here may offer a solution but I suspect that if the steerer is made of carbon fibre and cut off short it may not be possible to get the bars very much higher. In a hilly area like mine I'd want gearing of 1:1 or lower, so I'd look for the smallest chainring on the front having about the same number of teeth or even less than the largest sprocket on the back. On my road type bike (not a racer) I have 30 front, 32 rear. Remember too that bike weight hardly helps at all in climbing hills since a kilo or two off the bike weight is only a small part of overall weight which is what counts.

[ndwgolf]

Look at the detailed spec on the exact model you're interested in, or post a link.
.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bike ... c/p/24123/
Neil

[roubaixtuesday]

That's got an 11-28 cassette. I'd strongly advise getting that changed if you go for that bike.

It may need a different rear derailleur too for the larger cassette. Your bike shop can advise.

[RickH]

I ordered a pair of Road Bike Shoes From Wiggle but what do I do about the cleats......do they come with the peddles or will I need to buy them separately?
Neil

I used to do road pedals (Look) for road bike & SPDs for MTB but eventually settled on SPD for everything (apart from an old pair of shoes with Look cleats for if I go for a spin at the Manchester Velodrome). The fact that you can walk in them & not waddle like a penguin going into cafés is a big bonus.

If you aren't racing & have an MTB anyway I would stick with SPDs all round.

On gearing it depends on your local terrain. One day last week I did 12 miles locally with 1100ft of ascent, on Sunday I did a ride of nearly 62 miles near Chester & clocked up only 1400ft of ascent. I'll leave you to guess which ride I was glad of the lower than 1:1 gear.

[ndwgolf]

This was my last ride........there were a few hills that were torture, I'm going to punish myself again tomorrow.
Neil

[random37]

Alright. Try doing that route again, but only using your top three or four gears.