help me buy my first road bike please

mad mik 925

Like kids during Wimbledon playing tennis, i have been watching the tour and find myself yearning for a road bike, i have in the distant past cycled but always mountain bikes, i have a budget of around £550 but would like SPD's and shoes for that as well, i have searched high and low on the inter web but would also like to support my local bike shop who has specialized allez 24 2011 for £490.

If any one could give me an opinion and some info / advice before parting with my cash i would be soooo grateful.


Many thanks in advance

Mik

BelgianBeerGeek

Have you ridden the Specialized? It's not a bad bike, and if you're not technically minded and need advice on setting out then you might find the back up from your LBS invaluable.

m00nd0g

The Allez is a great bike.
Do you live in a hilly area?
If not go for a compact or double.

Do you really need spds to start with?
I reckon the bike might come with toe clips

onegreenhill

I'd second that - the Allez is a good starter bike. Getting it from a local shop means you also get sized properly and get a bike that fits, and that you therefore enjoy a heck a lot more than one that's too small/ big.

You should budget for pedals and shoes - the pedals that ship with the Allez are awful plastic ones, with very poor toeclips (I just bought an Allez and the first thing that got replaced, in the shop, was the pedals). Shop about tho and you can find shoes and pedals for around 60-70 quid just about so you should start near your budget.

mad mik 925

Thanks for all the advice, put the order in today with shoes pedals and computer, the shop have been very good and given me a discount on all the stuff and am going in next week for measure and fitting.
I do live in quite a hilly area so glad I went for the granny option, I look forward to all the advice I will get from this forum.

Thanks again