How old are the newbies to road cycling?
Comments
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Age 25 and I'm so new to it that I don't get my bike til tomorrow! Ordered a Carrera Subway 2011 from Halfords which some of the 'purists' may sneer at I suppose but I want to get started straight away and didn't want to hang about waiting for replies on message boards - I don't know anyone who is massively into cycling to ask thier advice either!
Reasons for starting are purely to lose weight and get fitter. I'm a keen hillwalker but I'm too fond of the post-walk pint (or several)! Not ridden a bike since I was a kid, looking forward to getting cracking!0 -
Age 40
Not yet a re-beginner but will be ordering a bike this week when I finally decide which one to go for (see my post "Beginners Dilemma...") .
Previous kit: I used to build my own bikes from parts, usually starting with a decent frame and working up from there, including building the wheels.
Reason: Initially commuting to loose weight and get fitter but ultimately return to a hobby that I enjoyed as a teenager. I am also thinking of entering a race or two eventually.0 -
37 ive started on a MTB but after 8 months being overtaken by roadies and not having much knowledge on the subject of cycling i really want a road bike as all my cycling is road,but cant decide whether to get one now or wait until spring 2012,i cant see me getting many miles in once the dark nights close in.
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newbie3397 wrote:Age 25 and I'm so new to it that I don't get my bike til tomorrow! Ordered a Carrera Subway 2011 from Halfords which some of the 'purists' may sneer at I suppose but I want to get started straight away and didn't want to hang about waiting for replies on message boards - I don't know anyone who is massively into cycling to ask thier advice either!
Reasons for starting are purely to lose weight and get fitter. I'm a keen hillwalker but I'm too fond of the post-walk pint (or several)! Not ridden a bike since I was a kid, looking forward to getting cracking!
Good on you, it's a start. No one should be sneering at you on this board as it is a beginners board - although some people don't seem to get that - the majority of people on here are pretty friendly and helpful IMO - even if you are a dunce like me!
I started off on a hybrid - from mountain bike - loved it and made the transition to an entry level road bike. But I still have the hybrid just for hacking about on and carrying my daughter around in her bike trailer.
Best of luck.0 -
suffolk-commuter wrote:Age 40
Not yet a re-beginner but will be ordering a bike this week when I finally decide which one to go for (see my post "Beginners Dilemma...") .
Previous kit: I used to build my own bikes from parts, usually starting with a decent frame and working up from there, including building the wheels.
Reason: Initially commuting to loose weight and get fitter but ultimately return to a hobby that I enjoyed as a teenager. I am also thinking of entering a race or two eventually.
Hi - you sound very mechanically competent - wish I was!! So you have a really good start.
Because of your mechanical expertise I would suggest going down the route of the inspirational Gary Brennan http://theamazing39stonecyclist.wordpress.com/
He imported and built a full carbon frame from China off Ebay and built up a replica Trek Madone - I think he called it the Chi - Dong / Done.
Anyway - HTH0 -
Thebigbee wrote:
Good on you, it's a start. No one should be sneering at you on this board as it is a beginners board - although some people don't seem to get that - the majority of people on here are pretty friendly and helpful IMO - even if you are a dunce like me!
I started off on a hybrid - from mountain bike - loved it and made the transition to an entry level road bike. But I still have the hybrid just for hacking about on and carrying my daughter around in her bike trailer.
Best of luck.
Thanks thebigbee, went on my first ride today and did about 15 miles in about 1hr30mins on the Tissington Trail (Derbys) which i didn't think was too bad for my first time on a bike in so long! Got a numb arse but I suppose that's to be expected until I've tried different saddle settings and clothes!0 -
37 [36 when I started road cycling at the end of August.]
I ride in a mountain biking club. Decided to try road after watching the Tour de France this year.
I have a Boardman Race [the blue one]
Have got my first ride with a club [Solihull] this weekend. Am nervous about riding so close to other bikes!0 -
I am 24 and female and have got into road cycling though my job (which u may have already noticed) and opportunity to buy a very nice (imo) road bike through cycle to work scheme.
I have a Specialized Allex Comp (White with blue bits, 105 spec), got this one as like the colour and is 10speed (shop convinced me this is better :? ), have invested in clipless but still awaiting for pedals to be able to have a good ride (did not get on with toe clips!).
My cycling history is MTB as grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere and had to get about, paper round etc. Still love MTB which is mostly bridleways, nothing too serious, just love being away from traffic. I also enjoy football (coach for 3+years), Hockey, netball, tennis etc but always getting injured so took up running last year which was fun, but i like going faster so after trying a road bike I couldn't stop thinking about it until i got one, pretty unfit at the moment with no exercise for 3 1/2 months, also would like to loose a few kgs!!
I really want to get some miles in my legs, going to give spinning ago and save up for a turbo trainer. Planning on completing 4-5 sportives early next season, only one in the diary is Davinas Diva as i love Davina McCall. If all goes well gonna give 100+ miles a go in the summer!
Am going to set up a blog this week so check out my profile if interested in following later in the week.0 -
aged 48
second rebirth to cycling at 44, when previously I knew about GP4's, not I am in shamelessly in love with Carbon - preferably with an Italian name on it0 -
Not completely new, but this is the third winter running where I've decided I need to start taking it seriously...
Just turned 30 and recently built up a very nice CAAD9 frame with lovely bits so really have no excuse.0 -
44 years old and bought my first road bike 2 months ago (2010 Trek 1.4). Going through the process of buying all the other bits and pieces that seem to go hand in hand with a road bike .. lights, clothes, shoes, pumps, clipless pedals, etc etc
Commute 2-3 times a week (45 mile round trip) through the Cotswolds (awesome).
Have cycled a lot in the past (commuting mainly) but always on a MTB.
Looking to go as fast as I can .. and get the commute time down to under 1 hour (it's do-able but not just yet .. maybe in a couple of years time)
Fitness wise, after approx 1200 miles since May, I feel like I have something in reserve - it was pretty annoying when I first started out and putting my foot down only to discover that I'd hit empty almost immediately.
Reckon next year will be great though .. that'll be when the real fun begins come next spring/summer.
P.s. Already wanting to upgrade my bike :twisted:0 -
age: soon to be 26
Well, it is all thanks to the boris bikes that I found it IS dangerous but possible to cycle around London. I have rather got obsessed with the sport,0 -
I have a 2007 Ridgeback Genesis Day00, which, when I earn enough money to buy a road bike , will continue to learn my comfort for the next bike from. Straight handle bars are not my cup of tea so i am eager to swap them with road handle bars and the bike too. in the last few months there have been 80 mile rides (5 hours) which I have throroughly enjoyed. Cycling in London is a bit of a bugger though, especially within zones 1 and 2 which I often cycle enroute to work. My daily challenges are my own time trials to work of travelling 5.70m within 20 minutes. this is all possible until reaching Kensington where there are traffic lights even few metres. There have been times where I fell over, which hurt, but thinking of Jens Voight, Johnny Hoogerland and Fletcha, they are merely scratches one can brush off. Average speed has improved and keeps improving thanks to the 305! All one needs now is to get cadence sensor, and a recipe to my own homemade oat bars and scourer these forums to improve my cycling form.0
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I'm a 56 yr old Tennis coach, have played football and tennis all my life (footy boots hung up now), and have cycled for 20-odd years but not very seriously or consistently. I rode a 90s hybrid for ages until I had an epiphany on a modern Gary Fisher MTB (lightweight frame, sophisticated gearing, disc brakes etc) on an activity holiday in Greece in '06, the first high tech bike I had ever ridden. I bought a Spesh hardtail and have used it a lot, along with the old Ridgeback hybrid which still rides very nicely.
Now I am completely hooked and fed up with riding the wrong kind of bike on the road, and very keen to get my first ever road bike.
I have a budget of £400, and am haunting ebaY and my LBS, looking at Trek 1.2, Boardman Comp, Orbea etc. If anybody has any advice it would be very welcome !
Muir0 -
43 now......... :P got 1st roady March this yr,Genises aether 20 on cycle scheme and have loved every minute come rain or sunshine
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Have been into mtb for last 12 yrs,few knocks n bangs along the way but made the switch and now mtb hardly gets used
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So next yr may sell both and upgrade to something bigger n better :P0 -
Aged 41 when I started was a matter of keeping fit, and saving money on petrol ( how wrong was I on that one). still loving it.0
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Aged 41 when I started was a matter of keeping fit, and saving money on petrol ( how wrong was I on that one). still loving it.0
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muir.mackean wrote:I'm a 56 yr old Tennis coach, have played football and tennis all my life (footy boots hung up now), and have cycled for 20-odd years but not very seriously or consistently. I rode a 90s hybrid for ages until I had an epiphany on a modern Gary Fisher MTB (lightweight frame, sophisticated gearing, disc brakes etc) on an activity holiday in Greece in '06, the first high tech bike I had ever ridden. I bought a Spesh hardtail and have used it a lot, along with the old Ridgeback hybrid which still rides very nicely.
Now I am completely hooked and fed up with riding the wrong kind of bike on the road, and very keen to get my first ever road bike.
I have a budget of £400, and am haunting ebaY and my LBS, looking at Trek 1.2, Boardman Comp, Orbea etc. If anybody has any advice it would be very welcome !
Muir
£400 cash buyer - who knows a bit about bikes and their condition "should" be able to get you a very nice bike.
A friend of mine won a basically new Cannondale Caad ? and the seller had done under 200 miles on it for £220 on Ebay.
I have seen mint Spesh Elites, a few years old being sold on Gumtree for just over £400.
I am not too sure you will get a bike like you have stated at that price but a lot of 2011 bikes are massively reduced now.
One place I would reccomend is auction houses that sell Police items. You can get bikes for peanuts at them. Only problem I have with them is that the police seem to do nothing to attempt to re aquaint the bike with the rightful owner.
I tracked down one of my stolen bikes to an auction house. I had bought the bike second hand, had a receipt, original instructions and pictures of the bike.
The police didn't believe it was my bike!
So - buy a bike at a "police auction" so you have the auction houses and polices record of it. Just don't try reporting your own bike from there - cos they don't want to know!!0 -
Unfortunately I know people that are riding round on £2-3K bikes.
I have been offered these bikes at £5-700.
There is one guy - known as "Bristol Dave" - who is a full time bike thief.
I hate the guy. I hate bike thieves. But it makes me wonder. The police themselves either seem to be criminally inept or just criminally corrupt.
"Bristol Dave" doesn't live in Bristol but lives on benefits in Bournemouth with one of the many girls he has impregnated.
I find it bizarre that he has not been caught and spent more time in prison.
Scumbag!!0 -
Hi, I'm a proper, copper-bottomed newbie at the age of 43.
Never had a bike when I was a kid (yes, really), and taught myself to ride a cheap MTB at the age of 26. Had it for 2 years, lapsed back to pedestrian/motorist and since have had a couple of similar excursions into low-end MTB/hybrid territory but it never lasted.
Fast-forward to this time last year. I had done a couple of duathlons on my old hybrid as a bit of a laugh, and started to realise that at my advanced age, I was probably about to run my last marathon if I didn't want to keep getting painful feet and knees. Never been a great swimmer but I'm always up for a challenge so entered the Blenheim and London triathlons. After a few months training on a £130 road(ish) bike from Amazon, I went to to a bike shop and picked out a nice shiny Fuji which fitted me nicely. really pleased with it and it helped me beat my target time for the London Triathlon by nearly 6 mins.
Here's the funny thing: because I didn't have a bike as a kid, I was riding in cleats and trying to get a smooth circular motion from very early on - I didn't have any bad habits to unlearn from riding flat pedals to school every day. That meant that during the London Tri, I kept seeing the same people - I'd be overtaking them as I was spinning along flat straight bits, only for them to overtake me when I got to anything tricky like a corner or a slop (or even both), which I just don't have the skills/confidence to do fast! It all evens out in the end..
So, just started to plan my next year's training and competitions. Any clues on how to pick up some of them cornering skills would be great.0 -
Hi I'm 22, live on dartmoor, devon, but at uni in nottingham atm, grew up in amsterdam so cycled plenty there.
Parents both do triathalons so I,ve always nicked their bikes for casual rides but keen to get into it cycling properly now.
I've bought a budget road bike and plan a tour in the south of france next july so just starting out and trying to get my mileage up!0 -
29 year old from Coventry. Been riding a few months and surprised at how immersed I've become in it. Looking forward to a few good long distances at the weekends over winter and cracking on with the Turbo-trainer during the week.0
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39 - From Tonbridge, Kent. Fixed up an old MTB in July and started commuting to work (5 miles each way). Bought a cheap retro road bike in August and am now regularly riding over the 50 mile mark, furthest ride so far has been 75.
Really loving it and looking forward to the south downs 70 miler on Sunday.0 -
23. Got bored of running.
Bought a bike. Its substantially more fun than a pair of trainers.Canyon AL Ultimate 9.00 -
Age - 36. Got back into road cycling about a year ago.
Loved road cycling as a teenager up until my early 20s when I moved from the north of Scotland to Coventry in 1998. Took a look at the roads down here, got scared, and decided to leave my bike in Scotland - which subsequently got neglected being left in a shed at my parents.
I neglected myself too and gained a lot of weight over the years since I moved south, but I shifted it all through starting a punishing swimming regime about three years ago (currently swim 14km per week) and decided as a result of my new trim figure and fitness to get back into cycling so bought a Trek 1.1 late on last year. At the moment I am usually doing 2 x 20km circuits on country roads near Coventry each weekend, typically getting an average speed of 17-18mph, and my aim is to get my average speed up to 20mph for this circuit and also get myself doing some longer runs in the 30-40 mile category. I ride with clipless pedals and make use of a pair of Profile Jammer aerobars as well.
In addition to this I have been doing up my old bike in Scotland to get it back on the road, and also to help give me confidence in doing various maintenance jobs myself instead of having to pay someone to do them for me.0 -
Hi,
44 yrs old and back in the saddle after 27 years!
Been using a hybrid - Ridgeback Velocity - for small commute to work around sunny Liverpool and loved it. Bought an old (1990) Raleigh Scorpio off EBay in June to 'sample' road biking. Love that too. Squeezed into some lycra and doing just 20 mile runs approx twice per week atm. Averaging 18mph and improving. Hope to do sportif next year.
Pal about to purchase road bike too. Bit lonely atm! lol
Cheers0 -
I'm starting cycling because I had a go on a friends bike and loved it, it's also a good way to get around and spend time off my PC.
I'm a county rugby player and athlete, I train excessively for athletics in my summer term doing 200/400. and I do plenty of fitness over the holidays for rugby. I've always been good at running (coming 3rd in a 1km race when I was 8 against 11yr olds).
I'm currently deciding on my first road-bike, I have a choice of three:
-Wilier La Triestina
-Trek 2.3 Compact
-Felt Z6
But I'm unsure about which, it will definiutely be one of those, mind.
Edit: Forgot about age, I'm fourteen.0 -
I'm back after a 20 year layoff, I got into Mountainbiking in 1999 and that lasted until early last year when I did a 50 mile charity ride and that when the road bug bit again!
My last road bike 20 years ago was built with reynolds steel 653 and had a campag C Record groupset with the lovely delta brakes and gear levers (non indexed) on the down tube, it weighed about 21Ibs. I now have a CAAD10 custom build with campag and am already looking to upgrade.
Its not until I got back into this sport how I realised how much I missed it, the solitary car journey to get to one of my MTB spots always lacked something....now I leave the front door on the roadbike and just go. Every Sunday I look forward to the local clubrun and in the summer - love the challenge of getting in on the chaingang and the general feeling of belonging to something 'good'
This sport has made me give up smoking and cut down on drinking, as I near 40 - I've never felt better...why did I leave it so long?!?!0 -
Hello, i'm 23 and just starting to commute 16 miles to work (32 round trip) buying my bike tomorrow!
had a bike 6 months ago and had it for a year before it was stolen, just a cheap £100 bike that i used to commute 1 mile to my old job and uni.
Looking forward to the challenge of cycling to work but the fun and fitness as rewards 0 -
27, from Dublin, still mostly a runner, but got myself a Trek Lexa S on the Bike to Work scheme. Before I got my new bike, I hadn't cycled at all since I went over the handlebars of a mountain bike on the way home from my last Junior Cert exam in 1999. Still a lot of nerves associated with cycling, but since I want to do sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons next year I'm going to have to deal with that!0
