So the pressure increases...

Cafewanda

It's bad enough being passed oh so easily by the world and his wife on a bike in the mornings, but one of my cycling colleagues piled on the pressure when he informed me that he'd bought a road bike over the weekend.

The look on his face told me he'd been to the mountain-top and it was great. "You've got to get a road bike Wanda. You've just got to. The difference is *?** amazing. My friend is selling his bike at the end of the year, maybe you could get it".

He got his from De Vere cycles and he was very impressed by the range of bikes and the service. He did say there was a :oops: moment when he asked for reflectors to be added to the bike and he was looked at with astonishment

Hmmm :roll:

alfablue

Correct...you've just got to!

(Or maybe borrow one and see if you are convinced).

Cafewanda

alfa, you are not helping :roll:

Aguila

Do it.

The difference is ***** amazing! It was from my 15 yr old 2 ton montain bile anyhow.

Agent57

Cafewanda wrote:

He did say there was a :oops: moment when he asked for reflectors to be added to the bike and he was looked at with astonishment

Heheh, I picked up a new bike from my LBS on Sunday. The first thing I did when I got home was take all the reflectors off. \o/

PinkPedal

CW, road bikes are brilliant, you will not look back I promise!

I got my bike from de Ver too, and they were really helpful and spent ages with me getting one that I liked and which fitted properly. After riding a CX bike that was too big for me for a year or so, I can really appreciate how important a good fit is.

I still have the front reflector on mine :oops: But it didn't come with any wheel reflectors.

Harry B

The difference is like getting off your old cart horse and riding a champion race horse instead.

Go on, go and get one. You know you want to.....

Headhuunter

It does make a huge difference, even if you're used to a cheap MTB and you switch to a cheap road bike there is an improvement. I think it has a lot to do with the much lower rolling resistance and lower weight of road bike wheels as well as the more suitable range of gears. I found that not only do MTB tyres "hum" on the road with the heavy tread, I could never find a suitable gear as the ratios are much further apart than on a road bike.

Deadeye Duck

DOOOOO IIIIIT!

I stand as another one of those who didn't want drops untill they'd tried a roadie, then didn't want anything but a roadie. Ask if you can have a blast on this one that someone is selling. Where's the harm in finding out road bikes are amazing?....ahem....

stuaff

Red rear reflectors are actually a legal requirement for night riding....
While there are many variables to consider here (weight of bike, tyre choice, etc), and the most important factor remains the bod riding it, the basic point is that a road bike should be faster. As much as I like my two, I know they'll be getting a drop-bar brother sooner or later.....

Deadeye Duck

StuAff wrote:

Red rear reflectors are actually a legal requirement for night riding....
While there are many variables to consider here (weight of bike, tyre choice, etc), and the most important factor remains the bod riding it, the basic point is that a road bike should be faster. As much as I like my two, I know they'll be getting a drop-bar brother sooner or later.....

Did you see the bull-horn 700c folder in Cplus this month? That thing looked rather fetching. It was a SS if I remember correctly but the next one up from it had a compact+10sp I think.

stuaff

Deadeye Duck wrote:

StuAff wrote:

Red rear reflectors are actually a legal requirement for night riding....
While there are many variables to consider here (weight of bike, tyre choice, etc), and the most important factor remains the bod riding it, the basic point is that a road bike should be faster. As much as I like my two, I know they'll be getting a drop-bar brother sooner or later.....

Did you see the bull-horn 700c folder in Cplus this month? That thing looked rather fetching. It was a SS if I remember correctly but the next one up from it had a compact+10sp I think.

Dahon Cadenza Solo, I've got the '07 model derailleur version. Compact chainset, 8 speed Tiagra on 2007 & 2008 models, 9 speed (with 11-32 rather than 11- 28 ) plus disc brakes on '09.

soy_sauce

don't do it!!!!! think about the Hybrid group in this forum!!!!

as Deadeye Duck mentioned, ask the guy if you can try it first to see if you like the riding position and all that. even those my MTB is only 27lbs with semi-slicks and the roadie i tried was a 30 years old steel roadie, the different IS amazing regarding the rolling resistance and the acceleration.

woodyonthebeach

do it you know you want to, or even get a SS.

I want one of those. Just a case of the GF and a new hand bag she wants......... the saga continues.

Get the road bike, get the road bike. Its calling you

il_principe

Dooooooo iiiiittttt Wanda. You must have been tempted by the display on Saturday...

Cafewanda

You lot are so baaddddd Who would fly the hybrid flag if I left that camp?

I know I'm a speed merchant in my head with my legs trying to make it fact, so on that basis alone I should give it a go. My reasons for hesitation are:

I'm too short(?) Do they make road bikes for 4'11 wimmin? I have lower back problems (we won't mention long distance running, lousy sitting posture at work etc............) Aris up and head down style worries me (even though I've seen plenty of 'level'' riding styles)

If I think of anything else I'll come back

Just checked out De Ver website for opening hours to see if I can get there on Wednesday after work for a look see :roll:

Cafewanda

Il Principe wrote:

Dooooooo iiiiittttt Wanda. You must have been tempted by the display on Saturday...

Saturday's display of droolness factor didn't help :roll:

Cafewanda

PinkPedal wrote:

CW, road bikes are brilliant, you will not look back I promise!

I got my bike from de Ver too, and they were really helpful and spent ages with me getting one that I liked and which fitted properly. After riding a CX bike that was too big for me for a year or so, I can really appreciate how important a good fit is.

I still have the front reflector on mine :oops: But it didn't come with any wheel reflectors.

Pink, I may need to borrow you when/if I stop resisting. Bikes are not something my 'girl's are into, especially as they are convinced I am nuts for getting on one to commute to/from work in the first place.

Kieran_Burns

Cafewanda wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Dooooooo iiiiittttt Wanda. You must have been tempted by the display on Saturday...

Saturday's display of droolness factor didn't help :roll:

Bikes? Or Legs?

blu3cat

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Cafewanda wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Dooooooo iiiiittttt Wanda. You must have been tempted by the display on Saturday...

Saturday's display of droolness factor didn't help :roll:

Bikes? Or Legs?

Well obviously both. A road bike does make you instantly more sophisticated and attractive to everyone.

We all thought you may eventually crack.

Cafewanda

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Cafewanda wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Dooooooo iiiiittttt Wanda. You must have been tempted by the display on Saturday...

Saturday's display of droolness factor didn't help :roll:

Bikes? Or Legs?

Bikes of course!

Blue, I'll remember you can't be trusted with a secret :roll:

gabriel959

You might be too short even for Giants womens sizes! I remember having a look last week at them and they only went down to 5' 2"!

You could always see what Specialized, Orbea, Trek and Scott have got though!

Roastie

My suggestion is don't sell the hybrid just yet, but def try a road bike to see if it is for you.

If you decide to get one, given your petiteness I suggest that possibly you look at bikes with 650C wheels or 24" wheels (which may be "junior bikes"). These will have fewer of the compromises usually associated with small sized 700C bikes (like toe overlap and awkward handling).

sarajoy

Was just looking (having a dull day today), do you mean this sort of thing? http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/islabikes/luath-26-2006

Cool!

Oh, and lots of stuff here - seems you really need to be pretty small for the Luath 26: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23810

Roastie

Yeah, something like that. Kinesis also do a nice ladies/junior frame, tho' I think it might be a 700C.

PinkPedal

Borrow away CW! I'm lucky in that my girly best mate is well into bikes too. Though she doesn't share my fondness for all things pink!

Without sounding like an internet weirdo I have the XS Giant (men's) bike (I'm 5'3) which you'd be welcome to try out for size, though I think it might be too big. I stubbornly resisted a women's specific frame but you are very petite so might be something to look at?

Be prepared for it to take a while to do a bike fit at de Ver! I seem to remember taking over an hour.

lardboy

Specialized Dolce frames go down to 44cm. My girlfriend who's 5'1" with a 27" inside leg felt a bit stretched on the 48cm, so you might be able to get on a 44.

The Dolce's come in not TOO girly colours as well:

Click the pic for Evans details.

rolf_f

Cafewanda wrote:

You lot are so baaddddd Who would fly the hybrid flag if I left that camp?

Precisely! Or more precisely, who would slap the wrists of those who dis hybrids if you left the fold?

The Chingford Skinhead

Oh FFS :roll: The queen of the hybrid defence league kicks the door open and invites the followers of the Church of Christ the Roadie into the house, thumping their bibles (Tour de France books) and proclaiming all non-believers in the sacred drop-bar to be sinners.

Can't we please please please just have one month when we use the COMMUTING forum to discuss commuting issues and the Roadie bretheran go onto the ample ROAD forum when they feel the need to scream from the pulpit of carbon forks, telling us to leave our family saloons and get into a two seat boxter because it's so much faster....

lost_in_thought

*claps hands in time while shouting*

DO IT DO IT DO IT

With your size, it might even be a cunning plan to check out bikes aimed at youngsters who want to race - you could pick up a real bargain.

Someone's suggested 650c wheels - sounds like a cunning plan! And do get yourself down to a good cycle shop - they'll be able to help.

blu3cat

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

Oh FFS :roll: The queen of the hybrid defence league kicks the door open and invites the followers of the Church of Christ the Roadie into the house, thumping their bibles (Tour de France books) and proclaiming all non-believers in the sacred drop-bar to be sinners.

Can't we please please please just have one month when we use the COMMUTING forum to discuss commuting issues and the Roadie bretheran go onto the ample ROAD forum when they feel the need to scream from the pulpit of carbon forks, telling us to leave our family saloons and get into a two seat boxter because it's so much faster....

Oh FFS can we please have a thread that doesn't go from light hearted self depricating humour from the OP into a troll fest because someone doesn't agree with the tone of the thread.