Sorry Im going.......To the DARK side

gb155

fossyant wrote:

Wow...you've been bitten big time.

GB155 means 32 or 36 spoked rims....

yup I sure have , I love that scott :-)

Oppppps yes 32/36 spokes :oops:

The Chingford Skinhead

gb155 wrote:

Right I need help.....I know...not like that......

I have always commuted on a MTB because I thought that 700c wheels would hold my lard ars*, No I have the Scott Sub Classic I know they can (and to be fair people have been telling me that too) I rode the Scott for 200 miles in 4 days (Commute and Blackpool ride) and im used to avoiding potholes and litfiting for some sections etc...Now I want to move to the darkside and get a full road bike.

My budget is limited to £500..MAYBE £550.....I will need something with 32/36 spokes and ideally a triple, I only used the Granny on the Scott twice but its better safe than sorry.

So PLEASE, Waddya think will do for me ?

Have you considered a hybrid? Better brakes, more comfortable ride, better vision, more practi.... Ah, revenge is sweet. Only joking you roadies, don't slip you're gears...

Gaz - I'm not as big as you but I weigh more than I should. I'd recommend you give whatever you choose a good test ride first. I found the light weight of my road bike a bit of a shock. The handling is v different. Yes it eats the hills but the slightest cross-wind and I felt like the bike was going to slip out from underneath me - quite scary. My bike was also a lot more jittery than my trusty hybrid. Good luck on whatever you decide to get.

gb155

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

gb155 wrote:

Right I need help.....I know...not like that......

I have always commuted on a MTB because I thought that 700c wheels would hold my lard ars*, No I have the Scott Sub Classic I know they can (and to be fair people have been telling me that too) I rode the Scott for 200 miles in 4 days (Commute and Blackpool ride) and im used to avoiding potholes and litfiting for some sections etc...Now I want to move to the darkside and get a full road bike.

My budget is limited to £500..MAYBE £550.....I will need something with 32/36 spokes and ideally a triple, I only used the Granny on the Scott twice but its better safe than sorry.

So PLEASE, Waddya think will do for me ?

Have you considered a hybrid? Better brakes, more comfortable ride, better vision, more practi.... Ah, revenge is sweet. Only joking you roadies, don't slip you're gears...

Gaz - I'm not as big as you but I weigh more than I should. I'd recommend you give whatever you choose a good test ride first. I found the light weight of my road bike a bit of a shock. The handling is v different. Yes it eats the hills but the slightest cross-wind and I felt like the bike was going to slip out from underneath me - quite scary. My bike was also a lot more jittery than my trusty hybrid. Good luck on whatever you decide to get.

Thanks for the heads up, I remeber getting on the Scott, narrow bars, thin tyres, I almost fell off throwing it into a corner lol

Jay dubbleU

Gaz what about one of these ?
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 372c012370

Its a triple and its within your budget

PS don't tell Keiran - you'll never hear the last of it

downwardslide

+1 on trying the ribble bike builder. Should be able to get an Audax or Alu road frame with a tiagra triple for around the £550 mark

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/BikeBuilder.asp#

gabriel959

That's if you are lucky with them. Ribble have got some really awful customer support.

I would really go for either the Giant Defy 3 or the Specialized Allez 27.

Gaz, I suggest you post this question in the Buying Advice Roadie forum as some of the regulars there never make it here!

Rockbuddy

oscarbudgie wrote:

gb155 wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

gb155 wrote:

tardington wrote:

A Giant Defy 4?
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c002912

And spend the difference on clippy pedals and shoes!

Hummmm ticks most boxes but isnt it a double ?

a double will give very close to the same range of gearing as a triple, you gain/ loose about a one gear shift down

Forgive me then but, what on earth is the point ?

Not much - its not a double though its a compact which gives you best of both worlds without the extra weight of a triple.

I have a Giant Defy 4, I think it's great and I manage the hills round here just fine. However, I would point out the gearing isn't quite as generous as compacts with a 50/34 set up, the defy 4 is 53/39 with a 12-25 cassette (8 gears). I would recommend the Defy 3, which has a triple (50/39/30 again with 12-25 but 9 gears), it is an extra £100 but a better group set for that as well. This would give at least 3 more gears (10 gear inches) at the bottom end for anyone having trouble on hills.

biondino

roger merriman wrote:

gb155 wrote:

tardington wrote:

A Giant Defy 4?
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c002912

And spend the difference on clippy pedals and shoes!

Hummmm ticks most boxes but isnt it a double ?

a double will give very close to the same range of gearing as a triple, you gain/ loose about a one gear shift down

Hmm, technically you're not wrong, but it's in an area that can make all the difference. A compact with a small ring of 34 and a 12/27 cassette will give you a lowest gear of 34 gear inches; a triple with a 30 tooth granny ring and the same cassette will give you 30 gear inches. That's a 13% difference!

skye3737

Cycling + reviwed road bikes in the under £400 bracket in june and this one came top Carrera Virtuoso. It dose have a compact chain set though.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

Deadeye Duck

All this talk about gearing reminds me that I really need to index my gears and clean it all up as it's hop skipping and jumping through gears when and if it feels like it. I've went from having 18 gears to about 6 in a week, and all because I thought I had cleaned, lubed, and fixed my bike. Woops. :oops:

Kieran_Burns

Oh, and by the way - Road Bikes are NOT the Dark Side. That's reserved for those of us who own a CX machine.

Road bikes are the pink and fuffy side

gb155

You guys have now TOTALLY lost me with your GI Diet stuff.

My Scott is 48/11, I want something 52/11 for the flats and ermm something granny for the steep hills and my 22 stone ass.

Now thats all lol

Might have a smooch on ebay later

roger_merriman

try the cycling god http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

about the lowest you'll get is 30t chainring to 29t cassette, you can use MTB cassette which will drop it a bit, but only a gear or so.

i'd not worry too much about the high gears i don't spin out on 50t 12t combo and i'll get past 40mph down some of the roads around surrey no worries.

how much do you use the granny ring? which ever way your going to loose maybe a gear or two. with luck it will not be a deal breaker.

your getting fitter and lighter and no dought faster, hills don't get easier just faster ;-)

Kieran_Burns

I have a 30/32 bottom gear on my triple and 50/11 in top. I've never gone anywhere near spinning out in top gear

gb155

Ok guys, Im pretty simple, Can someone dell me the diffrence between a double on this in the lower gears and the 11 in my granny on my Scott ?

http://www.surosa.co.uk/4352/products/S ... _Sora.aspx

biondino

You have an odd way of referring to gearing, Gaz - when you say 48/11 you mean your highest (i.e. hardest) gear, right?

FYI you shouldn't use the 11 sprocket with the granny ring as it stretches the chainline too far.

I have 50/12 as my hardest gear, and as Roger says you don't spin out until beyond 40mph (obviously on long descents you can get beyond this speed simply through gravity). Unless you're racing, you really don't need anything more. And believe me, you won't get close to 40mph on the flat

gb155

biondino wrote:

You have an odd way of referring to gearing, Gaz - when you say 48/11 you mean your highest (i.e. hardest) gear, right?

FYI you shouldn't use the 11 sprocket with the granny ring as it stretches the chainline too far.

I have 50/12 as my hardest gear, and as Roger says you don't spin out until beyond 40mph (obviously on long descents you can get beyond this speed simply through gravity). Unless you're racing, you really don't need anything more. And believe me, you won't get close to 40mph on the flat

Thats because im Odd :-)

48/11 is my highest, I hit around 36mph sprinting to the finish line in Blackpool and while I wasnt "spinning out" If I had gone 200 meters sooner I suspect I would have done, So while it wont happen every day I do want something a little harder (ohhhh matron)

I didnt know that, So I should be using middle/middle as opposed to Grann 11 then ?

:-) 4 mph was close lol

Its more the lower side that worries me TBH being 22 stone and having a couple of nasty hills on the commute

biondino

36mph is near superhuman - chapeau for that. I'm not sure I've ever hit 36mph on the flat myself - it feeling f***ing quick even going down a hill!

My lowest gear is 34/27. It's probably easiest to compare gear inches when talking about individual gears (see any fixie/SS thread) - easy to calculate at Sheldon's website.

34/27 is equal to 34 gear inches; a granny ring with MTB cassette might be 30/32, which is 25.3 gear inches. So 25% easier.

On the other hand, I have never encountered a hill that I didn't have enough gears for (I have also never encountered a hill about about 15% gradient), and I am not strong on hills at all. So if you went for a compact, even taking your weight into account, you will very seldom find yourself having to get off and push.

gb155

biondino wrote:

36mph is near superhuman - chapeau for that. I'm not sure I've ever hit 36mph on the flat myself - it feeling f***ing quick even going down a hill!

My lowest gear is 34/27. It's probably easiest to compare gear inches when talking about individual gears (see any fixie/SS thread) - easy to calculate at Sheldon's website.

34/27 is equal to 34 gear inches; a granny ring with MTB cassette might be 30/32, which is 25.3 gear inches. So 25% easier.

On the other hand, I have never encountered a hill that I didn't have enough gears for (I have also never encountered a hill about about 15% gradient), and I am not strong on hills at all. So if you went for a compact, even taking your weight into account, you will very seldom find yourself having to get off and push.

I was out of the saddle, feeling superhuman TBH mate, I was finishing the biggest challenge of my life and only a few hours before I didnt think I would make it to the end becuase of pain, the accident, my giant ass etc

I refuse to get off and push, I just stand up and grunt/sweat/cry or all of the above. :-)

I think THINK I have a better understand now, This time next year I might have even chosen a bike :-)

mudcovered

biondino wrote:

36mph is near superhuman - chapeau for that. I'm not sure I've ever hit 36mph on the flat myself - it feeling f***ing quick even going down a hill!

My lowest gear is 34/27. It's probably easiest to compare gear inches when talking about individual gears (see any fixie/SS thread) - easy to calculate at Sheldon's website.

34/27 is equal to 34 gear inches; a granny ring with MTB cassette might be 30/32, which is 25.3 gear inches. So 25% easier.

MTB gearing could be as low as 22/34. Yes thats a 22teeth front ring coupled with a 34 tooth ring on the cassette.

Switching from 22/32 as the lowest gear on my MTB to 36/25 on the CX bike was a huge shock. Especially the first time I came to a seriously steep hill. Worryingly I can remember riding the same hills when younger with a 39/18 ratio. :shock:

Mike

gabriel959

36mph on the flat mate it is serious speed - nearly 60km/h. That is close to Cavendish speeds when sprinting. Are you sure it wasn't 36km/h? It is still a very respectable 22.5mph!!!

gb155

gabriel959 wrote:

36mph on the flat mate it is serious speed - nearly 60km/h. That is close to Cavendish speeds when sprinting. Are you sure it wasn't 36km/h? It is still a very respectable 22.5mph!!!

lol yeah Im sure, cycling at 34 stone has build amazing muscles , The annonucer even told me to slow down, It might be same as a pro but I couldnt cycling 200km at the speeds they do and then do the same sprint, my was after 62 miles of pretty flat riding with so much adrenalin pumping through my body I thought I was going to make the earths rotation change

Mettan

Gaz - in terms of low-gearing, you've basically got the choice of:

1) - A Compact - 50/34 chainset - with a 27 cassette - 34 inches

2) - A Triple - 50/39/30 chainset - with a:

25 cassette - 32.4 inches
27 cassette - 30 inches

Check out this gear table below to see how your current setup matches-up to the above. You'll be able to gauge what you need gear-wise hopefully.

http://home.i1.net/~dwolfe/gerz/

(as a foot-note, it is possible to use a MTB rear derailuer and MTB cassette on a Compact-geared Road bike to get say a 34/32 or 34/34 low gear - this is an option if you need lower gearing than a typical Compact setup, but don't want a triple).

gb155

Mettan wrote:

Gaz - in terms of low-gearing, you've basically got the choice of:

1) - A Compact - 50/34 chainset - with a 27 cassette - 34 inches

2) - A Triple - 50/39/30 chainset - with a:

25 cassette - 32.4 inches
27 cassette - 30 inches

Check out this gear table below to see how your current setup matches-up to the above. You'll be able to gauge what you need gear-wise hopefully.

http://home.i1.net/~dwolfe/gerz/

(as a foot-note, it is possible to use a MTB rear derailuer and MTB cassette on a Compact-geared Road bike to get say a 34/32 or 34/34 low gear - this is an option if you need lower gearing than a typical Compact setup, but don't want a triple).

Right the penny seems to have dropped, What do people think of the Surosa I posted ?

gb155

Right, Any reason for me NOT to consider either

Pinnacle Sentinal 1.0 2009

Or

Dawes Giro 400 2009

I really really fancy a Ribble too but there is shocking stuff about the customer service they offer and after the Trek issues Im not sure I want to go there again.

ratherbeintobago

Spesh Allez Sport triple? Might be in the price range if you can get them to give you a discount, which I'd have thought most bike shops would do if you've bought a couple of bikes in the last year.

RBIT

gb155

ratherbeintobago wrote:

Spesh Allez Sport triple? Might be in the price range if you can get them to give you a discount, which I'd have thought most bike shops would do if you've bought a couple of bikes in the last year.

RBIT

What does that bike offer over the other 2 ? I work in a dodgy part of town and have avoided Spesh for that reason.

cjcp

Surosa loks fine, mate. It'll be a great winter bike too when you lose more weight and, inevitably, look for a new bike.

gb155

cjcp wrote:

Surosa loks fine, mate. It'll be a great winter bike too when you lose more weight and, inevitably, look for a new bike.

Thats the plan, Use the Scott every day till the winter, use the road bike at weekends and maybe Fridays :-) Then though the winter as it will be new bike time by then :-)

edhornby

I'd go with the surosa as well, they're a good bike shop and will make sure it fits you properly