Getting my next bike right! Any advice?

[Phantom38]

Hi All

Just joined the forum to try to work out what bike to get next, so looking for some advice from the more knowledgable . I have been cycling around 2 months, and purchased a Cyclocross, which is a great bike, aluminium frame and carbon forks. I then started riding with a local club, and the bike keeps up fine, but I seem to spending all my time on the road which I really enjoy, rather than the more bumpy tracks that the cyclocross was aimed at. With slightly fatter tyres and the gearing aimed more towards climbing hills, I find that on the flat I can easily 'pedal out' if that is the right term? whilst my colleagues seem to get that extra bit of speed.

So I am thinking of changing my bike for a road bike, but we now have a range of 'endurance', 'sportive' and others, and different frame layouts, with different gearing. I really don't want to get the 'wrong' bike, so I am after some help in understanding what I need do to get the right bike that ticks the boxes for my size (6ft) and style. Typical rides are 15-25 miles, reasonably level terrain, and I guess as I get fitter probably longer trips over the coming months.

I have been in a couple of shops, but would feel happier if I had a little more knowledge about what would suit me, then I can narrow it down to a couple of models, and buy something on that basis.

So assuming that I have already purchased a bike that probably wasn't right for what I wanted, any guidance on how to start properly and shortlist what might be more suited?

Thanks

[Graham]

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you really want a new bike to fit in with your club-mates.

I dare suggest that on this forum the concensus is ( or was ) that many new bikes are sold with a range of gears that are too high for ordinary folk.
However, as you state that you are buzzing around with your clubmates, that might imply two effects from group riding :-
1) Riding faster in a group because of the very significant drafting effect - wind friction greatly reduced behind the lead rider.
2) Extra motivation to ride faster with others - a group psychology effect.

What tyres do you have on your current bike ? WIdth and tread pattern/type are of particular interest.

What gears ( Make & model ) are on the current bike :-
How many chainrings : how many teeth on each one ?
How many sprockets at the back : how many teeth on each sprocket ?

[531colin]

You might be better to think about fitting your current bike with different tyres and gearing, although even the gearing might be OK once you have been riding a bit longer, and learned to spin the pedals quicker.....be worth looking to see if your mates are simply pedalling quicker than you are.
Can you link us to the exact bike you have? Different tyres/gearing could get you through next winter, ready for a new bike in the spring when you have had more time to decide?

[Phantom38]

Thanks for that - yes probably a bit of keeping up with the others is driving this, although I have started to do some early morning runs myself, which I really enjoy.

I spoke with the bike shop, and the Shimano Tiagra Chainset (50/34t 175mm) cannot be changed, and this is combined with a Shimano HG81 10spd 11-32.

I have just changed the tyres from 2 x continental 35mm to 28mm which is the smallest you can get on the rim. It felt like it made a bit of difference to speed, and it probably helped that they were better inflated as well.

The actual bike I have is an Orange RX9s - https://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/rx9-s which apart from being very Orange is nice bike to ride. I get aching in my neck/ shoulders when riding long distances, so not sure if that is the frame setup or just getting used to doing longer distances? Does everyone get the 'getting used to cycling' aches, or is that down to a good bike fit.

I am still of a mind to change the bike though!

Appreciate the feedback - thanks

[531colin]

Your ride buddies are pedalling quicker than you.....50 x 11 is just about the highest gear in common use.....the tour de france riders use 53 x 11
I think your bike shop did the decent thing....its possible to change your 50/34 chainset for a 53/39......thats a considerable expense for a paltry 6% increase in the top gear, and even worse the bottom gear goes up 12%
You will get used to turning the pedals quicker, and it also takes a while to get your body used to the contortions of riding a bike with low handlebars.
Stuff about riding position here http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=74985

[Eyebrox]

Your bike shop will hire you out a bike to try or lend you some of their test fleet if you commit to a purchase from them.

[Graham]

Two months of riding seems like an awfully short time to decide that you need to change the whole bike in order to resolve what might - in the fullness of time - be transient or marginal issues.

Most of us are looking to "gear down" for the hills and/or get fatter tyres on the wheels to cope with the ever-worsening road surfaces.

Most people take a bit of time to adapt to a new bike or to a different type of riding.

Longer distances are more demanding, of course.

[thirdcrank]

I'd say reflect long and hard about what Graham says about your mates. Peer pressure can be a powerful influence.

If it's the influence of your mates that is causing this, then you might as well ask them for advice. I say that because no matter what else your turn up riding, it may well be that it will cause comment. If they are all Campag users, then anything else may be seen as crap. This applies to the level of kit as well so that a better goupset is a waste of money, but anything from lower in the range is just more crap. In the end, it's the effort from a rider that makes a bike go. As others have said, 50x11 is a big gear by all but the standards of élite riders and I'd sy it's huge for most of us. Usually "spinning out" refers to a race situation where high speeds have been achieved downhill and a rider's top gear is inadequate to add a bit more by pedalling. Without being facetious or patronising, if you find that gear inadequate on the flat after only a couple of months of riding, then your potential is way above average.

I'm not suggesting that there's no point in another bike or three just take your time and be slow to part with your £££. Before long, your own experience will be your best guide. And if you can twiddle 50 x 11 your mates will probably be asking for your advice.

[TrevA]

Consider perhaps investing in another set of wheels, that will take narrower tyres - 23 or 25mm, and changing your cassette. An 11-32 will have quite big gaps between gears, so a closer spaced cassette might help - not sure what's available with an 11, but you can get 12-23, 12-25 or 12-27 cassettes that will give you a more usable range of gears. I can't beleive that you are pedalling out on 50-11. I ride at 18-20 mph in a group and I'm still in the 39 ring. A common problem with new riders is that they tend to use a big gear. Learn to pedal faster, perhaps buy a computer with cadence and aim for 80-100 rpm.

[Samuel D]

I get aching in my neck/ shoulders when riding long distances, so not sure if that is the frame setup or just getting used to doing longer distances? Does everyone get the 'getting used to cycling' aches, or is that down to a good bike fit.

In my experience, it’s normal to get aches and pains for weeks or months when starting out or even returning to cycling after a break). Some people claim not to get these discomforts, but don’t worry if you’re not one of them.

However, you could trawl through 531colin’s linked thread (paying special attention to his comments) to get a good idea where to start. At a guess, your saddle position may not be ideal (often beginners with sporty bikes have their saddles too far forward for the power they can sustain, leading to excess weight on the hands).

As others have said, 50x11 is a big gear by all but the standards of élite riders and I'd sy it's huge for most of us.

That’s around 120 gear inches, which even the pros don’t spin out on the flat. Bradley Wiggins used a significantly lower gear than that for his hour record!

I’d suggest the gears are fine and so are likely the tyres.

The position is the thing you should work on, because that gives you comfort, speed (if you want that), reduces the risk of injury, and must be nailed if you want a chance of getting your “next bike right”. The only sure way to get the next bike right is to have an opinion on every aspect of its design: geometry, materials, brake type, wheel type, tyre choice, gear ratios etc. It takes a little time to learn about all those things.

[PH]

Typical rides are 15-25 miles, reasonably level terrain, and I guess as I get fitter probably longer trips over the coming months.

Your bike is fine, just ride more. On these short flat rides changing to a road bike isn't going to make much difference. When it comes to longer rides, there's more to consider than which bike would be faster over a short distance. Working on getting the right position to being comfortable will I think make more of a difference than changing bikes.
And when you do go for a new bike I'd keep this one as well rather than change it. The wider tyres and the space to fit mudguards will be very much an advantage when the weather is bad. Also, maybe you don't yet know where your cycling interests may take you, this bike will be a lot more versatile than a road bike, carrying luggage for example.

[Phantom38]

Thanks for all the comments - its spun everything I started to think about 180 degrees in the opposite direction!

The whole thread on position is quite fascinating, so I will sit quietly and run through the measurements relevant to my own, but straight away I think I have too much pressure on my wrists, as I seem to lean forward with quite a lot of weight, which seems to show a position change may be due.

The comments re pedalling out were interesting, I assumed that an extra couple of extra teeth were required, as most of the guys have a 52/54 crank, so the amount of rpm needed would be less to achieve the same speed, but looking at all your comments its a lot more complex than that relative to the whole gear system. It seems at times on a long flat that I was pedalling faster, but sounds like I may have been just wrong!

I really appreciate the (honest) feedback, and think that I am going to stick with the current bike for the rest of this year (and the advantage it gives me when the weather starts to turn), and get some more longer runs under my belt and review it again next year, when as you all say, I will be a bit more experienced and knowledgeable.

Thanks Samuel, TrevA, thirdcrank, Graham, Eyebrox, PH and 531Colin for the comments

Martyn

[Tonyf33]

If you feel the need you can just of course exchange the 50 tooth chainring for a 52 or larger, a compact chainset like yours accepts a whole host of chainrings to suit.
As pointed out though a 50x11 top gear should be more than ample.
I also doubt very much that the 28mm tyres were the narrowest that could be fitted onto your Mavic A119 rims, 25s would have fitted no problem at all though there are lots of factors as to whether a 28 or 25mm in the same tyre would be quicker for you personally.

The original fit tyres would have slowed you down by a couple of mph very easily, tyres can make a huge difference so not sure what 28mm conti tyres you went for but you want out and out slicks for riding with the group though don't sacrifice a bit of puncture protection (GP4000s are popular for continental fans)
From the bike radar review it also says that the fork is aluminium and that the frame is pretty stiff so that will definitely add up on the negative side comfort wise.

ATEOTD you'll improve fitness and awareness as to when to change geear, when to accelerate to keep up and keeping your position so you're not left lagging/playing catch up at certain points.
Most of all though it supposed to be fun, if it isn't you're with the wrong crowd IMHO

[Paulatic]

36 mph at 100 rpm how much faster do you need to go?

[Phantom38]

For the first time last night I paid more attention to the other riders legs, and I was with a 2 level group, so beginners like me took off early and then the faster group followed. I picked up the faster group on the return and kept up pretty well, but on a long straight i eventually lagged behind. One thing that surprised me was that in a couple of cases on the faster bikers the chain was around the middle cog of the rear mechanism, so they were peddling faster and going faster than me, whilst I was on the highest gearing (the fastest) so peddling less but not keeping up.

Logic says that the higher the gearing the more speed you get per RPM, and these guys are running about 20-22mph in front of me, yet they are pulling away.

So is there a good discussion thread to understand how to use gears correctly? I spend the majority of my time on the flat or downhill in the highest gear, which the faster riders in front of me did not, so some guidance in that area would be great!

Thanks