Help needed

Philbolger

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a first bike and am almost settled on kuota kebel 2012. Does anyone have any experience of this bike? I am aiming to do a
450 mile sponsored charity ride and want something that I can train on, do the ride and enjoy thereafter. As a second point, what are your thoughts on SRAM force Vs ultegra.
Many thanks and all comments are well recieved as I totally new to biking.
Phil

jgsi

Kebel is a good bike, end of.
As you are at the beginning of a very long road , any discussion between the merits of groupsets is going to be pretty meaningless for you... especially the nuances between Ultegra and Force.
Get riding .

ShutUpLegs

Can say many people will be riding 2012 bikes yet.
Personal preference really over Force v Ultegra

Bobbinogs

Great bike but, without wishing to sound a bit dour, have you thought about something a bit more down the tree? Brand new to biking and looking for a first purchase...so you are settling on a bike the best part of £2.5k and advertised as "a top level road racing bike that displays all of the characteristics you would expect from a full-on race machine".

Bear in mind that any thing advertised as "race level" is not usually built for comfort (short head tube, tight angles and very stiff frame). Fine if you want that but a lot of folks don't (old hands included).

You could easily do any long ride on something for half the price and the competition at just sub £1k is fierce because of cycle-to-work. Also, there are many bargains to be had out there from folks who have spent a fortune on a first bike and then decided, a few months later, that cycling is not for them.

If you go for something second hand now, bought with some advice from a cycling buddy, then you could always trade up in a year's time when you know more about what you want from a bike, rather than what a magazine writer (who isn't actually buying a bike) says. Failing that, you could keep the bike for winter usage (n+1 and all that).

Don't forget to budget for all the stuff you will want now, like decent shorts, nice tyres, helmet, tools, shirts, lights, etc. You may be surprised how it all adds up.

Good luck either way, it can be a bit daunting just looking around and everyone has their ten bob's worth.

Philbolger

Thanks for all the sound advice. I guess my reason for spending what is a considerable amount stems from my first mountain bike that was £1500 some 18 years ago. The bike is still going strong today, so I guess if you divide total cost by years owned, a bike that you don't need to change offers a good return on investment.
The point about comfort is a worthy point as I am giving up playing front row rugby and am looking for a cardio based sport that does not make me feel like I am back in the scrum.
Thanks Phil