Hw long did you guys wait till you upgraded?!

x8swift9x

Hi guys...first post(but I have been reading for a whle now)

Recently I got myself a Dawes Giro 300 at a good price, obviously a starter bike. Just want to know how long you guys waited until you splashed out etc. Im only 19, and a student at uni....but in the 2 months I have had my bike I have almost been out everyday! How long did you wait till you spent 1k'ish on a bike?!

Also, is there anyone on here that is from bristol area/willing to take a newbie on rides once in a while? Many thanks guys

Mettan

Hi Swift, and welcome to BR.

The Giro 300's a fine starter budget Road bike - (I started on something similar). Couple of thoughts - As an alternative to immediately upgrading to a 1k bike, you could improve your riding experience by upgrading both the Wheels and Tyres. You'll end up with a slightly lighter, more responsive and better rolling bike. Wheels £90 - £110 for a pair RS-20's, Aksiums, Racing 7's, Tyres £30-£50 for a pair Rubino Pro's, Conti 4000's, Pro Race 3's. Certainly worth it IMHO. And if your bike's currently got Cromoly steel forks, you could pick up a pair of ITM Winter Visia Carbon forks (or similar) for £40 - this will make your bike even lighter again. Just a couple of options if your thinking of an upgrade??

stronginthesun

i started on a dawes giro , kept it for 12 months , great bike . i wouldnt bother upgrading it , you will still want something else , and it wont increase its second hand value .

brownbosh

Id say upgrade as son as you are confident biking is not a fad and your getting the time on the bikes to justify it. In less than 3 years ive gone from 0 'road' bikes to 5 and every one gets a lot of use so go with your gut instinct.

TheDrunkMonk

Me, me, me, me. I've got to join in!! I can save you ££££'s

I've got a Halfords bike which I've upgraded the components as they wore out or I had spare money (wheels were the best investment [METAN]). After 3 years as a commuter, I've started trying some of the shorter sportives with my friends. This meant I "had" to look at new bikes, as I was now a "serious rider". £1500 worth of titanium bike later (a large amount for me, if not others on the forum) I can now say with experience that the difference between the 2 bikes wasn't worth anywhere near £1500 and I'm still noticably faster and can go further on my Halfords crud. (Yes, I know its going to take a while to get used to new riding positions, etc) My point is, until you've got money that is really spare, don't worry about keeping up with the Joneses, just get out on your bike and enjoy!!
I expect there would be some added satisfaction in shooting past someone struggling on a £1500 titanium (or spanky carbon bling) bike on your budget dawes.

It's the rider not the bike.

SCOTT325SE

TheDrunkMonk wrote:

don't worry about keeping up with the Joneses, just get out on your bike and enjoy!!

I expect there would be some added satisfaction in shooting past someone struggling on a £1500 titanium (or spanky carbon bling) bike on your budget dawes.

It's the rider not the bike.

I'd have to agree with that!

At this moment in time, you'd probably skin me on any sort of ride, as I havnt ridden properly in about 6 months!
Just enjoy your bike as much as you can and when you NEED to buy something new for your bike, spend as much as you validate to yourself! That way, if you get the upgrade-bug, you will only end up buying 1 best-in-the-range rear mech, and not upgrading 3 times to the best mech in the range!

biondino

Bought a Trek 1200 in 2005 for £670 and didn't upgrade any of the bits other than the tyres (after about 1500 miles) until a couple of weeks ago, where I gave it new and better wheels, chain, cassette, pedals and bar tape so that it's be an efficient winter bike. However, I bought a Focus Cayo Expert (£1,650 with upgraded wheels) in June if that counts as upgrading!

biondino

Bought a Trek 1200 in 2005 for £670 and didn't upgrade any of the bits other than the tyres (after about 1500 miles) until a couple of weeks ago, where I gave it new and better wheels, chain, cassette, pedals and bar tape so that it's be an efficient winter bike. However, I bought a Focus Cayo Expert (£1,650 with upgraded wheels) in June if that counts as upgrading!

pneumatic

I started (back, after a 20 year break) on a 300 quid hybrid commuter.

I told myself that I wouldn't upgrade until I had recovered the cost of the bike in miles ridden not driven. Just work out how much it costs to drive your car one mile and how many miles it would take to pay for the bike. Took me a couple of years.

Mind you, in those days, fuel was half the price it is now and bikes are not twice the price they were then, so it's getting easier/quicker to recover your money.

duckson

Currently borrowing my Dad's road bike (1 month and counting) which he doesnt use and its ok but when my company gets the cycle scheme setup shortly i'll be splashing on a new bike...Ribble Nero Corsa i think as i'm local to Preston so that'll be a £1k ticket!

jojo90

Upgrade when you feel the bike is holding you back. Then go out and test ride a more expensive one for a couple of days. If you feel the benefits outweigh the cost then upgrade. If you can't then don't.

Personally I can tell the difference between my £400 Halfords MTB, my £1500 Scott Scale 30, and a £2500 Carbon Sepcialized I test rode.

Others might not. Your call . Middle of the range is the sweet spot.

N4PALM

I could do with a riding partner. I try to get out as much as possible, at least while the weather is good. I dont know lots and lots of routes but I'm pretty creative with Google Earth. But because I find it a little bit boring going for Epic rides by myself I generally stick to the railway path. Most of my rides last about 30 miles when I'm out by myself but I'm definitely looking to do much longer rides.

Jez mon

Is there no cycling club at your Uni?

The Dawes Giro 300 is a good bike (unless it's the one i sold on eBay which was in dire need of TLC!)

I would say, it's coming up to Christmas (sort of!), it's time to give mummy and daddy a little push in the right direction. Cycling's a brilliant sport, and keeps you away from all the nasties at uni! I think you can see where this is going, obviously a bike is quite a big pressie, so you may just have to ask for something towards it, but every little helps.

For the record I waited about a year before upgrading, as £300 seemed a heck of lot of money for a bike when I started out

DavidBelcher

x8swift9x wrote:

Hi guys...first post(but I have been reading for a whle now)

Recently I got myself a Dawes Giro 300 at a good price, obviously a starter bike. Just want to know how long you guys waited until you splashed out etc. Im only 19, and a student at uni....but in the 2 months I have had my bike I have almost been out everyday! How long did you wait till you spent 1k'ish on a bike?!

Also, is there anyone on here that is from bristol area/willing to take a newbie on rides once in a while? Many thanks guys

Welcome to the forum, hope you are enjoying getting out & about on the Dawes so far. I'd be inclined to wait and see how your finances are at the end of the academic year before splashing out on any major purchases. Speaking from bitter experience here, having made large chunks of my PhD grant vanish into thin air through a glut of impulse purchases for the bike

David

gavintc

6 months. I knew within 2 months, I would be hooked. So bought a frame and built it up. But. I was 47, and had some spare cash. So, it was less of problem to me than a cash strapped teenager.

unclemalc

Hey x8....

I started serious cycling again on a Dawes (400) and in its 10 years it has had decent serious servicing by the LBS and plenty of 'amateur' work by me.
About 3 years ago I bought a Bianchi, which was twice the price of dear old Dawes. The Bianchi became the summer bike and I upgraded THAT with new wheels, chainset and pedals pretty soon after having it. Its MY Bianchi and I love it....
Last w/e I got Dawes out to check it over for the coming winter (yep - its the 'winter' bike now) and I came back with a big smile: riding it again was a great pleasure, even with its hand-me-down Bianchi wheels and raceblades fitted.
Point: the Bianchi rides like a 1K bike but it isn't worth 1K more than the Dawes. I'd keep up the miles on the Dawes and repair and replace as necessary, together with a regular good overhaul by a good LBS, together with TLC by you. Then, if and when you have 'serious' money to give for a much better bike, you'll appreciate the difference.
Enjoy.

fizz

f you're riding it every day and really enjoying it, then personally I woudlnt be that worried about ugprading it and just replace parts with better quality components as they wear out. Remember stuff like wheels is transferable to your next bike so IMHO its worth while saving up your money and investing rather than just replacing like for like all the time.

I was lucky I was in a position to be able to get myself a 1K bike to start with but as has already been said I doubt whether you'll notice a 1K difference between the bike you have now and the bike you might purchase.

I upgraded the wheels this year purely because I wanted to and had the spare cash to do so. There wasnt really any need to and TBH although I could feel the difference it didnt make a massive difference in my overal speed, but the bike does feel much nicer to ride. ( or thats what I keep telling myself :oops: )

stronginthesun

friends just traded his trek 1.5 for a trek madone 5.1 , that is a £ 1500 step . he is averaging about 1 mph faster on all his routes , swears its a better ride thou !!!

iloveshimano

upgraded my chro-mo to 7005 alu after 2 years on the road haha

but i've been on my 105s since 2000. I;ll "upgrade" those basturds if /when they break.

dombo6

I got my first proper road bike on ebay for 120 quid. Fitted decent tyres to it and put about 1,000 miles on it over 18 months. Decided I liked roadbiking and got a 1k bike in Evans sale (down from 1600). Changed the wheels on that one and it's about perfect for me now.

dombo6

I got my first proper road bike on ebay for 120 quid. Fitted decent tyres to it and put about 1,000 miles on it over 18 months. Decided I liked roadbiking and got a 1k bike in Evans sale (down from 1600). Changed the wheels on that one and it's about perfect for me now.