Questions about my first road bike - bought last night!

El Selb

I've just picked up my first road bike (Trek 1.2 2009), primarily to do LEJOG with but also hopefully to commute a few days a week with once I move into London.

As a complete novice, just got a few questions.

- I paid £390 for the bike that is in excellent condition, with a rack, panniers and a few other bits and pieces thown in. Is that a fair price?

- I had a quick ride around my village when I got back late last night after collecting. Handlebars felt a bit weird! Can you fit conventional/ MTB style bars to it? Do many people do that and how much would it cost?

- How do you change gears??! Could only seem to go one way on those selectors...
- Is it suitable for LEJOG?

Many thanks

vaseline

Don't know anything about price but as a recent convertee from mountain to road, I have the following to tell you:

You will soon get used to the handlebars. They feel odd but so long as they are fitted correctly (not too high, not too low, not too far away, not too close) they will soon feel normal.

You can fit flat handlebars if you like but the cost would be prohibitive on a £350 bike. You would need to buy new bars plus new brake levers and new shifters. You would have been much better off either getting a hybrid or a MTB with slick tyres. And given the fact that you will soon get used to the drop handlebars, there is no need.

Get used to riding "on the hood" where you rest your hands on the bit that connects the brake lever to the handlebars. You will use your little, ring and possibly middle fingers to operate the brakes. At first, it appears on these bikes that you can only use the brakes when in crouch position.

Gears are changed using the brake levers. You will notice they move from side to side. Push them inwards to move the chain onto a larger cog. Depending on the age, the downshift will either be a little toggle on the inside of the brake lever or a thumb nob on the hinge of the lever. If its a nob, press it. It it is a lever, push it.

Pump your tyres up good and hard. You're looking for a PSI around the 100 mark.

stevec205gti

Why worry about the price now - you've spent the money!!! I can understand you asking before you purchased it, but it was obviously what you were willing to pay. Though from the rest of your post I'd say you paid too much as its not the bike you wanted :shock:

stephenswindley

Hi there,

Firstly the price sounds fair, a quick google shows a new 2010 trek 1.2 will set you back at least £540
Secondly you could put conventional style bars on but you would need new shifters and brake levers and it would require some fettling etc...I would leave it as it is, you should find you get used to it after a while anyway (I think conventional bars feel weird now as I'm so used to my road bike).
As for shifting your brake levers should be combined shift/brake levers so you rotate the lever inwards to change into an easier gear and click the little button on the inside of the shifter to change into a bigger gear (thats if they are shimano sora sti's)
Finally I don't know if its suitable for LEJOG as I haven't tried it!
Hope you enjoy your knew bike

teulk

I see no reason why it shouldnt be suitable for LEJOG, i guess as long as you dont overload it you should be ok. As for the gears if they are Shimano then the gears are part of the brake lever. Push the right lever (silver one) to the left and it will move you up the rear cog, push the little black lever behind it and it will take you down the rear cog. The left silver lever will shift you onto the big sprocket at the front and the black one wil take onto the smaller sprockets.

unixnerd

Pump your tyres up good and hard. You're looking for a PSI around the 100 mark.

Worth noting you'll need something called a track pump to do that, about 10-15 quid for a cheap one on ebay. A normal pump won't cut it.

As you're new to this sort of thing it's worth finding a few articles about setting the bike up. You'll want to get the saddle height, angle and fore-aft position sorted. You can also adjust the height of the handlebars and I'd suggest nice and high up to start with. Look for something called an A-Head stem on google to do that. I'll bet there's loads of videos on youtube showing all this.

Another thing to point out and I'm sorry if it sounds obvious. I nearly hit a guy last night because I couldn't see him. He was wearing dark grey cycle gear and I was driving into a setting sun. Either wear something bright or run a tail light, even in the day time.

Most important of all enjoy your new bike :-)

Lillywhite

unixnerd wrote:

Another thing to point out and I'm sorry if it sounds obvious. I nearly hit a guy last night because I couldn't see him. He was wearing dark grey cycle gear and I was driving into a setting sun. Either wear something bright or run a tail light, even in the day time.

The most important thing posted on this thread.

El Selb

Thanks all for your advice. Or nearly all at least...not particularly constructive was it Stevec...

Went out for my first real spin on Sunday, leisurely 30 miler. Cheers Vaseline - those 'on the hood' and gear changing tips really helped! So simple when you know...

Don't see any need to change the handlebars now, that was just my MTB experience talking!

It didn't actually FEEL a lot nippier than my MTB with road tyres, although perhaps it was. Haven't managed tu put any more air in the tyres yet, so perhaps that's a factor. How do you go about checking the pressure when you're looking at 100psi ish....presumably you can buy guages with that sort of range.

The gears did change of their own will on the odd occasion, and had a few problems in particular with the front 3 gears. Hoping the gear selectors (errr...rails or something?) jusy need realligning rather than anything more serious!!

Will check it in for a service when I can.[/i]

unixnerd

How do you go about checking the pressure when you're looking at 100psi ish..

Look on ebay for a track pump.

MaxwellBygraves

El Selb wrote:

It didn't actually FEEL a lot nippier than my MTB with road tyres, although perhaps it was.

By the sounds of it, you weren't running it at proper pressure. If you were running it at about 50 psi, then it definitely would feel sluggish!

mattshrops

glad youve got that weird flatbar nonsense out of your head now thought we might need an exorcism. :twisted:

Rich Hcp

You need a track pump to get 100PSI, minimum. Most pumps have a built in gauge.

Sounds like you need to get it adjusted, not expensive, but it'll change gear as sweet as a nut.

Once that is sorted it will feel a lot quicker with the right amount of air in the tyres!

Rich Hcp

mattshrops wrote:

glad youve got that weird flatbar nonsense out of your head now thought we might need an exorcism. :twisted:

+1

El Selb

Right then guys. On closer inspection some of the cogs are looking pretty (very) worn. I'm no expert (clearly!) but I do think definitely the front cogs (casette?) need changing - and am i right in thinking that back ones will need changing to/

What's the best way of me going about this - can I buy them and fit myself? (with a bit of help from my dad too)

Or is it a bike shop job?

What are the sort of costs involved?

unixnerd

The cassette at the back wear much faster than the chainrings at the front. Loads of tutorials and videos on how to do this. You'll need a chainwhip and the proper tool to unlock the old cassette.

optimisticbiker

El Selb wrote:

Right then guys. On closer inspection some of the cogs are looking pretty (very) worn. I'm no expert (clearly!) but I do think definitely the front cogs (casette?) need changing - and am i right in thinking that back ones will need changing to/

What's the best way of me going about this - can I buy them and fit myself? (with a bit of help from my dad too)

Or is it a bike shop job?

What are the sort of costs involved?

Dont confuse worn with the fact that the teeth on the cassette have different lengths/shapes to start with to aid gear shifts...

post a pic...

a new cassette (rear sprockets) is around £30 - £130 depending on the make, # of speeds and model. Have a look at the rear mech - does it have a make/model name on it. How many teeth on the smallest/largest sprocket on the cassette?

You'll also need a chainwhip and a cassette nut, about a fiver each.

Front chainrings may be purchased seperately or only as a complete set including the crank, again depending on the design - e.g. make/model. A single chainwheel might be £15 - £30, a complete set could be over £300.

And if you are replacing the cassette you'll almost certainly need a new chain (£10 - £30) and a chain tool (£5)

All perfectly do-able at home assuming you have the basic tools and mechanical skills. A bike work-stand is useful, saves doing your back in.

Bike shop will charge about an hours labour to change cassette and chain - say £50 - £90 depending on where you are in the UK + parts of course...