buy me!!!

dcab
dcab Posts: 255
edited March 2008 in Road beginners
just how do u choose a road bike ? im moving to road from mountain bikes and am lucky enough to have a couple of £k to spend! i've been to a few shops but cant seem to get an answer as to what suits best.when i narrow the choices down sommat else in the shop shouts buy me ? were do u start??? :?
veritas vos liberabit

Comments

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,712
    You must take a spiritual journey. Visit the slopes of the Tourmalet, breath in the air at the top of Alpe de Huez, experience the cobbles of Belgium, consider the twists of your local B-roads. You must learn to fully appreciate the intricacies of the drop bars, to learn the difference between triples, compacts and doubles, to participate in the Campag vs Shimano debate. You must form a strong opinion regarding whether or not you should wear a helmet, and in which situations.

    After all that, buy the one that's shiniest.
  • guinea
    guinea Posts: 1,177
    whyamihere wrote:
    You must take a spiritual journey. Visit the slopes of the Tourmalet, breath in the air at the top of Alpe de Huez, experience the cobbles of Belgium, consider the twists of your local B-roads. You must learn to fully appreciate the intricacies of the drop bars, to learn the difference between triples, compacts and doubles, to participate in the Campag vs Shimano debate. You must form a strong opinion regarding whether or not you should wear a helmet, and in which situations.

    After all that, buy the one that's shiniest.

    That is almost exactly how I ended up with my steed. Although you'd have to swap Ventoux for Tourmalet.

    I really did end up buying the best looking bike I could afford.

    Oh, and I chose campag.
  • heavymental
    heavymental Posts: 2,079
    whyamihere wrote:
    You must take a spiritual journey. Visit the slopes of the Tourmalet, breath in the air at the top of Alpe de Huez, experience the cobbles of Belgium, consider the twists of your local B-roads. You must learn to fully appreciate the intricacies of the drop bars, to learn the difference between triples, compacts and doubles, to participate in the Campag vs Shimano debate. You must form a strong opinion regarding whether or not you should wear a helmet, and in which situations.

    After all that, buy the one that's shiniest.

    :lol::lol::lol:
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    whyamihere wrote:
    You must take a spiritual journey. Visit the slopes of the Tourmalet, breath in the air at the top of Alpe de Huez, experience the cobbles of Belgium, consider the twists of your local B-roads. You must learn to fully appreciate the intricacies of the drop bars, to learn the difference between triples, compacts and doubles, to participate in the Campag vs Shimano debate. You must form a strong opinion regarding whether or not you should wear a helmet, and in which situations.

    After all that, buy the one that's shiniest.

    Brilliant!! :D:D
  • DavidTQ
    DavidTQ Posts: 943
    Now you see I took an entirely different approach, I didnt give a damn about looks :D

    I looked at my journey Im making, looked at what I wanted to get out of a bike, comfort, good gear shitf, speed, reliability, hill climbing, acceleration from lights. Then went out to find the best fitting bike that would give me all this.

    From forum members I soon gathered dura ace was a waste of money on a commuter, and that 105 would shift just about as well ultegra and I wouldnt notice the weight differences, I knew I wanted carbon forks, and full mounts for guards and racks.

    What can I say Im techie by trade, specs are more important than style to me, fashion accessories arent my thing...

    Im still proudly on the run from the fashion police :lol:
  • stoobydale
    stoobydale Posts: 535
    Try to learn from the mistakes DavidTQ made. He went for Shimano..............Here we go again? :lol:
  • claash
    claash Posts: 145
    whyamihere wrote:
    You must take a spiritual journey. Visit the slopes of the Tourmalet, breath in the air at the top of Alpe de Huez, experience the cobbles of Belgium, consider the twists of your local B-roads. You must learn to fully appreciate the intricacies of the drop bars, to learn the difference between triples, compacts and doubles, to participate in the Campag vs Shimano debate. You must form a strong opinion regarding whether or not you should wear a helmet, and in which situations.

    After all that, buy the one that's shiniest.
    :lol:

    And of course there is always the love at first sight/ride that gets you!! It really is a meeting of souls across a crowded show room!!
    Mine is a BMC (and the most beautiful babe ever!)
    :D
  • DavidTQ
    DavidTQ Posts: 943
    stoobydale wrote:
    Try to learn from the mistakes DavidTQ made. He went for Shimano..............Here we go again? :lol:

    Its handy having somewhere to hang your kit to dry out... :lol:
  • feel
    feel Posts: 800
    buy your first bike for £700 then you will have something serious left over when you want to upgrade it :lol: TBH if you are serious you won't want just one bike :wink:
    We are born with the dead:
    See, they return, and bring us with them.
  • cycologist
    cycologist Posts: 721
    During a relatively short period of a couple of years i went through a process of upgrading from friction shift to indexed gears and then on to STI (sorry campag fans). This gave me an appreciation of how much things had improved over the years and also a better understanding of the mechanics of the systems which is usefull for repair and maintainance.. If you were to buy a relatively cheap ,second hand even, road bike, you could learn what you really need to know in order to later buy the bike that will best suit your needs.
    Two wheels good,four wheels bad