Okay so i've been looking to lose weight over the last year or so. And I'm about half way to my target. I went out cycling today and it dawned on me.
I have various pedals which I haven't used in years........So why don't I sell some of them (keep the ones I really want) and use that money to put towards funding a new road bike.
I'm looking to get up to £700 for a decent road bike. My problem is, I don't know the first thing about them. What's good/bad etc
I would love to change my username, but I fully understand the T&C's (it was an old band nickname). So please feel free to call me Dave.
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Cube are pretty new but have really gained a foothold in cycling due to their great quality frames :-)
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
It's definitely worth test riding before buying to find one that you find comfortable. When I bought mine, I originally put a deposit on a Pinnacle that Evans had in their sale, but when they got it into the local branch it was too aggressive. They let me transfer the deposit onto the Specialized that I ended up with which was good.
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
@crunchman thank you, it's tempting to pick up a half price bike from Paulscycles. Didn't even know about the different types of riding etc :P I don't want to end up with a bike which will give me back pain. Again need to think about intended usage
@joneve well i don't have to readies at the moment. It's just something for me to focus my weight loss on
For gears etc, SRAM and Shimano are the two most common. Shimano's range is easier to explain. They have different levels of mechanics which range from Claris at the cheap end right up to Dura-Ace which is what the pros use. Each step up gives various quality of materials and slight nuances in functionality. As I mentioned previously, the latest Tiagra range offers a good balance between the higher end stuff and lower end stuff. Order goes; Claris Sora Tiagra 105 Ultegra Dura-Ace Any and all of the various parts are interchangeable for the most part, so you can mis and match and have 105 front and rear derailleurs (the mechanisms that move the chain to change gear), but you can have Tiagra cranks and brake levers/gear shifters. I can't get enough of road riding these days. I won't do as much over the winter, but it's really good for general exercise and weightloss, so best of luck with it all.
http://images.evanscycles.com/product_image/image/6d0/619/02e/111794/large/cannondale-caad8-7-sora-2014-road-bike.jpg
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/caad8-7-sora-2014-road-bike-ec053957
Last year's model, so cheap for what you get. Carbon forks and the excellent Cannondale CAAD8 frame, only a Sora groupset but if you've not used modern STI stuff before it's a country mile away from old school downtube shifters.
£600 for a £750 bike, and you can do test rides at Evans to see if it's right for you (no affiliation!)
Did a forty three mile cycle today. I have seen those decathlon ones before, and was tempted to buy one when I picked mine up. At the moment I have a Boardman hybrid comp. It's not a bad bike just put together by Halfords. Not looking to start a flame war towards them, and in hindsight you think "can't be that bad". I'm hanging onto the bike and just going to use as a run around or a commuter for work
I think my first prot of call is to visit a bike shop and ask some questions, possibly go for a fitting. Even thinking about selling a guitar to fund this. I'm 15.5 atm, and want to get down to 14st before I get the bike. So possibly in the next few months. Depends if something tasty comes up.
But it's kind of the gold at the end of the rainbow. That sort of thing. But having said that...I am thinking about speaking to a shop soon :P
@benecol Thanks bud. I just made the mistake of gettting annoyed with some cyclists one day. And because I was out of shape. I went straight over the handle bars. Bent the front wheel ha ha. So yes want to make sure I'm a bit more slender before I drop some more money on something nice