first road bike???

katel
katel Posts: 12
edited March 2008 in Road beginners
Hi,
I've been cycling quite a bit over the last year or so on my old mountain bike and am looking at buying my first road bike. I've been doing 20-30mile rides about 3 times a week but i'd like to go a bit faster for further! I'm looking to spend around £500.

My biggest question is should i be looking at the women specific bikes or go for a small mens bike (would nave to be very small, i'm only 5'3"!)? I want to try and get to my LBS next week to see what feels best, but has anyone got any advice on what to look at for starters? Any other advice on what to look out for with a first road bike would be great too!

Thanks,
Kate

Comments

  • wilkies80
    wilkies80 Posts: 67
    Definately go to your LBS and see what bikes they've got on display.Talk to the guys(or gals !) in there and explain what you'll be using the bike for,(commute race......etc) and see what they come up with for you.Hopefully you'll get a choice of about 4 or 5 within your price range( and a few outside it so you can drool over them and say sod it and get an expensive one instead). Don't forget tho helmet, pedals, lights, computer , clothing it all adds up. hpoe this helps.
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  • speckybecky
    speckybecky Posts: 83
    good luck! I've just spent ages hunting for a bike small enough for me - but not too small! I'm 5'4" and apparently my body dimensions are more man like than female :shock: with a long back and long thigh bone. This made it even harder to find a bike that fitted as the shops tended to stock small female specific frames >49cm, which had a really short reach, or men's frames from size 52 - too big! My advice would be to ring round your LBS to see whether they even stock anything that is remotely near your size before heading over to them. I ended up driving 80miles and still didn't find anything!
  • Bippa
    Bippa Posts: 28
    hi kate, my girlfriend rides a wsd 47cm trek, she's 5ft 2 and absolutely loves it

    she was measured up for it by the bikeworks tri shop in edinburgh and they then changed out the bars and stem, added spacers to the brakes, set up saddle height etc till it fit her perfectly. if your local shop offers a similar service i'd definatley look into it

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