Newbie

sheep911uk

Hi i am new to road cycling after riding MTB for years, mate of mine is doing a 100 mile ride and asked me if i was up for it so it got me thinking!!!
I know i am probably going to get ripped for this but here goes, i have been offered a legit brand new boxed Carrera 2010 virtuoso for £200.
Is this a good bike to start out on for the money?
I have done some research and everyone seems to say peddles and tyres are def items to replace.
I have toe clips on my mountain bike and get on well with them so my question is what are the best budget peddles and toe clips?
Thanks
Nick

night_porter

For £200 the Carrera is an excellent price. BR did a review on it recently and it came out very well, try searching for it.

If it is boxed then you won't know that it already comes with perfectly good pedals with toe clips. If anyone says that you should upgrade the pedals they probably mean changing to clipless pedals but why not ask them what they mean and why?

I think the tyres would be okay to start with and there are only really 2 reasons you would need to change them 1) they are worn out 2) you keep getting punctures. As you haven't ridden the bike yet I would just stick to what it has got for now.

unixnerd

For 200 quid it's worth buying, it's a decent bike. Tyres will be fine. But if you enjoy road biking and want to upgrade it don't. Sell it for what you paid for it and get something a bit lighter and more upmarket with a higher end frame and better kit.

It's worth putting on SPD pedals and getting shoes to match. If you go SPD you can use similar pedals on your mtb and have one set of shoes to cover both bikes. Keep the original pedals for when/if you sell it.

sheep911uk

Thanks for the replys, i am a 45yo recently retired rugby player and to be honest retirement doesnt suit me or my waist line, so i was thinking of getting a road bike to try and keep my fitness level up and lose a few pounds and inches at the same time.
I wont be entering any competitions or joining a club so its purely for fun really.
After riding a fairly old but good specialized mountain bike i want something thats a suitable and capable bike for a beginner and at the same time not going to coast the earth.
I have read that a good cheapish upgrade is a set of carbon forks is this the case?

merak

I wouldn't. Many carbon forks will cost more than the Carrera and the cheapest will be about £60 - £70, and you won't notice much difference. The Carrera is not worth upgrading. Buy it, use it and if you get the bug, sell it and buy a good bike.

sheep911uk

So are you saying its not a good bike??

night_porter

Changing the forks from steel to carbon will not give you any real benefits apart from a very small amount of weight.

It is said that alu forks give a harsher ride but to be honest I have never noticed a difference and I have 2 alu bikes with alu forks, 2 alu bikes with carbon forks and a full carbon bike. I used to own a alu bike with steel forks too and as I said no difference in ride quality.

As unixnerd says keep the bike as it is and enjoy riding it.

merak

sheep911uk wrote:

So are you saying its not a good bike??

It's OK as a first bike to see if you like riding the road, but it's not a "good bike". The frame is an unspecified aluminium alloy and it's simply not worth spending money upgrading it. (The frame will be relatively heavy and will probably give a relatively harsh ride). The components are near bottom of the range and won't be the most durable or sweet to use. It weighs 10.5kg which is more than 23lbs so it's heavy for a road bike (but lighter than most mountain bikes).

But, it'll give you a reasonable ride for a while until you know whether you like this road cycling lark.

Your alternatives are:
1) Spend the same on a much better quality second hand bike that's been looked after. Pros: better value for money. Cons: you need to know a little bit about what you're buying.
2) Save up and spend ~£600 on a new bike - then you should get a frame that you can ride for a few years and would be worth upgrading.

night_porter

Without wishing to be confrontational but put simply that last post is wrong!

Read this review and you will see why

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -09-34691/

I have ridden the Virtuoso and can highly recommend it for the normal price and for the price you are being offered it is an excellent buy and I would be surprised if you could find much better.

2nd hand bikes have their place but if it is any good and been looked after then you will pay a high price for it. The only bargains are to be had from people who buy and then realise cycling takes effort so never really ride their bike. If these are put on ebay then there are loads of potential buyers so they go for high prices. With the caveat that if you are really large or really small you might find a bargain in good condition.

Most bikes that go for £200 will be low end components and they probably need chains/cassettes/chainrings replacing anyway.

ravoire

sheep911uk wrote:

Thanks for the replys, i am a 45yo recently retired rugby player and to be honest retirement doesnt suit me or my waist line, so i was thinking of getting a road bike to try and keep my fitness level up and lose a few pounds and inches at the same time.
I wont be entering any competitions or joining a club so its purely for fun really.
After riding a fairly old but good specialized mountain bike i want something thats a suitable and capable bike for a beginner and at the same time not going to coast the earth.
I have read that a good cheapish upgrade is a set of carbon forks is this the case?

If you statement " I wont be entering any competitions or joining a club so it's purely for pleasure" is true, then the bike should be fine for you, it's fitted with Shimano 16 speed which should give you an adequate range. The MOST IMPORTANT factor is that the bike is the correct size for you, get measured.

sheep911uk

Thanks for the replys i am just over 6" with a 32 inside leg, the bike is a large so by my reckoning it should be ok.
Also as the bike is new in the box is it worth paying £20 for Halfords to assemble it,although with that you do get a free 6 week check and free checks for a year after that.?

merak

night_porter wrote:

Without wishing to be confrontational but put simply that last post is wrong!

Read this review and you will see why

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -09-34691/

I have ridden the Virtuoso and can highly recommend it for the normal price and for the price you are being offered it is an excellent buy and I would be surprised if you could find much better.

I didn't say it's not value for money or a good bargain, or that it's not fit for the OP's purposes. It probably is all of these things. But if I think a road bike that weighs in at 23lbs+ can't really be called a "good bike" or a frame that builds up to 23lbs+ is not worth upgrading with better components or a carbon fork (which was the question), and I think if you advise him otherwise you'd be doing him a disservice.

PeeDee

Hi Nick,

I agree with those people who say buy it now and ride it for a few months. Affter this time it should be clear to you whether you are getting hooked by the road cycling game or not.

Then you can sell it next spring at a small loss and buy a better bike if you still want to. By this time you will have a better idea of what it is you really want/need.

You can try the size by sitting on the 2011 model in Halfords, it won't have changed that much.

It will not be as fast/comfy etc as bikes costing 3 times as much - of course it won't. Its not a "bad" bike, just and entry level model, as the price-point suggests.

unixnerd

Also as the bike is new in the box is it worth paying £20 for Halfords to assemble it

Halfords have a pretty bad reputation on here, although there are a few good branches. You'd be better finding a good local bike shop (called LBS on here) and having them do it. But it's possible to do the work yourself and well worth learning how to, maybe invite a cyclist friend round to offer a few pointers. You don't want to have to head to a bike shop whenever there's a problem - learn the basics yourself :-)