New, seeking advice

fender87

Hello,
Im looking for some advice on buying my first road bike. Im not particulary a sporty person but would like to get a new hobby and get fit again!, heres two links of bikes i like the look off.

Cannondale Caad9 Ultegra Triple 2008 Road Bike
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86918
Felt Z35 2008 Road Bike
http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=87299

Im unsure about frame sizes so any info in this area would be great, im 6ft 3 ( 190cm). 33cm inner leg

if you have any other bikes you could recommend or advice please share it with me

Thanks.

topdude

Hi and welcome to the world or road bikes.
Sorry but i can't see the point of spending £1300+ on a first bike.
Until you have owned and ridden a road bike for some time it is impossible to know what suits you ie frame material, geometry,component spec, size and fit etc.
My advice is to start lower down ( Giant SCR / Specialized Allez / Pinnacle / Trek etc, etc ) and see if you like it. Then upgrade to a beautiful dream machine when you know what you really want.
Well, that is my opinion, undoubtedly others will have a different view.
Good luck.

Infamous

topdude is quite right.

Why not spend £300-400 on a bike, ride it for a while and then see if you want/need a better bike.

Then if you do get a more expensive one, you will have 2 bikes, one for winter/wet, one for summer/dry. You'll then notice the difference between the two and appreciate the expensive one more.... maybe.

meagain

What they said!

BTW, " im 6ft 3 ( 190cm). 33cm inner leg" I assume you mean 33 inches? But even that pretty short for your height - crotch to floor, NOT your trouser size, provides a starting point (nothing more) for deciding a bike size. In purely rule of thumb terms/traditional approach, I guess you are looking at c.24" frame, c to t seat tube assuming a horizontal top tube.

fender87

yea typo meant inches, ok thx for the advice guys i,ll look for a cheaper bike see what suits me and take it from there.

cheers

Mike Willcox

Personally I would go for the bike you wanted in the first place. I think you'll regret it later if you don't. Just take a bit of care on getting the size of the bike right.

If it's any help, I'm 6 ft 0 ins and my inside leg from crotch to floor is 90cm. The statistical avergae for my height is 88.1 cm so I've got proportionately long legs and short torso. My frame size is 23 ins. and use 175mm length cranks on my road bike and just bought 177.5 mm cranks for my TT bike.

meagain

BUT if one doesn't actually take to/like/get around to cycling one has lost 40% of 1500 quid rather than 40% of 400 quid! And many folk do just that. Great for we 2nd hand buyers I know - so perhaps we ought to encourage all such new questioners to splash out as much as possible!

HungryCol

I agree with Mike. Get a bike at the top of your budget (personally I'd go for the CAAD9 from the choice of the two). Remember to factor in clothing, pedals, etc. As for size based on your highht. Satrt at 58cm frame and go plus or minus from there.

Mike Willcox

meagain wrote:

BUT if one doesn't actually take to/like/get around to cycling one has lost 40% of 1500 quid rather than 40% of 400 quid! And many folk do just that. Great for we 2nd hand buyers I know - so perhaps we ought to encourage all such new questioners to splash out as much as possible!

I can see your point but it's only money and it's only an opinion. I'm sure your advice makes more sense from a cautious point of view but compare the joy and excitement of riding a really good road bike as opposed to something you only bought because there was a possibility (note only a possibility) that you might not like it.

If he takes to riding a bike (and why shouldn't he?) then he would be gutted if he had gone for the cheaper version.

Nah I would go for the one you want and follow your gut feeling.

redddraggon

Mike Willcox wrote:

If he takes to riding a bike (and why shouldn't he?) then he would be gutted if he had gone for the cheaper version.

Why would you be gutted? You still have the money - you can always save up some more money to make up for what you spent on the cheaper bike, while you are enjoying the cheap bike.

Then you'll have two bikes - one you could fit guards and use when the weather is nasty and a nice shiny expensive bike.

In my view 2 bikes is always better than one, even if one is a cheapish bike.

hodsgod

It is an interesting debate whether to go all in straight away or try something cheaper. I would even recommend buying a second hand bike. Try it for a few months, whatever happens you should be able to sell it again for a similar price. You will have some experience and then decide how much you want to spend on your dream.

thexvw

I would go with the 2 bike option, this is essentially what did. I bought a cheap allez off ebay (loads come up all the time). This got me back into cycling and after 6 months of riding and a few upgrades later I bought a Roubaix.

If you wait until next years models start coming out towards the end of the year you should be able to pick up a last years model bargain (as I did).

This gives you a winter and summer bike.

timbo58

I started off going the halfrauds route with an £80 torture instrument -fine to work 2 miles downhill but found myself pushing it uphill on the way home!
Then after a reccomendation from an ex semi-pro mate, I bought a good hybrid and used it a LOT (claude Butler chinook since you ask), I still love it but need a little more motivation now the warmer and longer days are here briefly so just spent (after a lot of research) £600 on a Bianchi road bike (arrived Yesterday -using clips for the 1st time TODAY -wish me luck!!), another £200 on gear and looking forward to dropping IRO 10kilos this year and getting fit enough to do maybe some sportives.
I have to say Ive also just started buying C+ and am inspired by Howard et al in the team!!

HungryCol

If someone had never driven before and had the option to buy one of two cars, say nice cars, say BMW's or Mercs and goes onto a chat forum and asks for advice. The advice s/he receives is that they're better off buying a Corsa (no offence to Corsa drivers) to see if they like driving first.

In my opinion that's nonsense. Buy a lovely BMW and you'll experience what good driving is all about. You are more likely to enjoy driving when it's in a nice car that one that isn't. Always buy to the max of your budget that way you won't be disappointed and looking for upgrading parts in a few months.

fender87

Thx for the advice guys

I've come across a Felt F55 07 model on the same site which is bit cheaper than the other models i linked. I'm thinking of getting this as i,ll have more to spend on gear and accessories then.

just another question on inner tubes whats the reason for the different valve sizes ? 42mm valve and 51mm valve might be a stupid question but hey im new

meagain

Valve lengths I imagine - long ones for deep section rims - else there'll be nothing protruding to which to attach the pump!

feel

I would definitely go along with the two bike option, starting cheap. Bear in mind that you will also want/need to spend £200+ on accessories (possibly a lot more). I don't go with the car analogy at all. Any keen cyclist will want at least two bikes, one for winter/rain and one for dry/best. If you start with a cheaper bike that becomes your winter bike when you have really decided what type of cycling (time trials, racing, general training/touring) you want to do. Plus if you decide it is not for you less money is wasted.

iga

fender87 wrote:

just another question on inner tubes whats the reason for the different valve sizes ? 42mm valve and 51mm valve might be a stupid question but hey im new

The sizes refer to the length of the valve stem. The longer stem is to accommodate deeper wheel rims, some rims have an 'aero' profile i.e. it is quite deep, so you need a longer valve stem for it to stick out above the rim.