Newbie Seeking Advice!

chris86uk

Good Evening to you all!

I have recently decided to have a go at commuting into work (exactly 10miles from my door step to the office) in a bid to reduce both the increasing amount of money I spend on petrol for my old car and my expanding waistline! I have a couple of questions that I hope you can answer for me..

Firstly is the choice of bike.. Now I only have a small budget of approx £350. Taking this into consideration I have shortlisted the following three bikes that take my fancy. I currently have no knowledge on bike parts and what is good, what is rubbish etc, so out of the three could I have your opinions on what is the best one to buy?

1) Carrera TDF Limited Edition - £350

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

2) Btwin Triban 3 - £299

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/triban-3- ... NFO-DETAIL

3) Btwin Fitness 2 £299

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/fitness-2-54-57-69567264/

2 out of 3 of these bikes have dropped handle bars, as a beginner does it make any difference whether I have a bike with dropped handle bars or flat?

Also my last question, are cycling shorts different from those ‘under armour’ and similar products on the market (such as nike, puma etc) worn beneath normal shorts for sport such as rugby / football?

Thanks

hokum

Spec wise alone there isn't much to choose from between the Carrera and Btwin, both have almost identical components. The advantage of the Carrera is that it's probably easy for you to get to a Halfords and try it out, and the fit is the most important thing. Also, going by nothing more than the picture on the Halfords web site that Carrera would seem to have a more upright position which, if you're a beginner, you'll find more comfortable.

The other option is to go second hand and for the price of a new budget bike you could pick up a very good 08 or 09 model, lots of stories on here about people getting Ultegra equipped bargains for those prices. The risk is that you may not be able to try it out first and ordering blind off Ebay could land you with something the wrong size or shape. Try local ads for something nearby, or once you've found one you like online go into a bike shop that stocks the latest model and ask to try it out.

As for flats vs drops...I'd say it depends on what you plan on doing with it, and where. If it's mostly going to be used for commuting and you're jostling for space with cars then flat bar may be the way to go, better control in heavy traffic and probably more immediately comfortable.

However, if you're lucky enough to commute along country lanes and think there's any possibility that you'll want to expand your riding beyond commuting, then get drops, they're way more fun to ride. My first road bike was a flat bar, and while it was a nice ride I was soon regretting that decision, ended up being cheaper and easier to just buy a whole new bike than try to convert it.

Super Domestique

I can't comment on the Decathlon, other than to say that owners of them on here seem happy enough.

However, my son has a TDF from last year. The latest version seems indentical bar one or two graphics but like everything, has gone up in price.

That said, last year a few people on here grabbed one with a further 10% discount by haggling instore. I was able to get 15% off as it was the last one in stock in the store we went in.

Also, you can see it on test in the lastest issue of Cycling Plus. As they state, it is not the lightest bike in the World but for it's price it rides very well indeed.

Super Domestique

This might be of interest to you:

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/forums/vi ... t=12776409

chris86uk

Thank you all for your replies.

I went for the Carrera in the end over the Decathlon ones, the 20% off tipped it for me really. Besides, I couldn't find much reviews / opinions of the btwin bikes online, and I do like the black / yellow colour scheme.

Picking up the bike tomorrow at my local halfords after they build it up for me, really looking forward to it, hope the first ride doesn't kill me too much!