Newbee

Graeme Jones

Hi All

I have been lurking for a while and have just signed up!

I have just put a deposit down for a Giant Defy 3 and I cant wait to get hold of it on Friday. I appreciate you buy road bike for up to £8-10k but as I am new to it I think £700 is enough for a new starter.

I have just had key hole surgery 3 weeks ago and am now wanting to rehabilitate and get fit after loosing 1.5stone through watching what I eat.

I had a test ride around the shop and it is so much lighter than my dodgy MTB i have been using on the road

I will post photos when I get it.

ALaPlage

Welcome. Enjoy your new bike

desweller

Enjoy your new bike!

My favourite bike is my touring bike that started life as a (new) £160 Dawes hybrid...who needs an expensive bike to have fun, eh?

kaptainscoot

Enjoy the new bike Im a newb myself and im loving every chance i get to ride again grats on the bike and get well soon.

JohnBoyUK

One of the lads in my club done his first ever 10 mile TT last week on a £300 BTwin Triban 3 and clocked 26:28 after only 4 months of cycling, so its not all about carbon superbikes

snoopsmydogg

DesWeller wrote:

Enjoy your new bike!

My favourite bike is my touring bike that started life as a (new) £160 Dawes hybrid...who needs an expensive bike to have fun, eh?

+1

OP if the bike suits you and you're enjoying it then it doesnt matter what it cost.

Graeme Jones

Picked it up looks brilliant. Had the shop do a bit of a fitting session so should be good to go. Waiting for the wife to go out late on and then I am going to give it a test. It feels very light when having a quick go up the hill where we live. I don't have any concerns about not going for a triple now as I thought I may have needed lower gearing for climbing but our road is pretty steep and it was a breeze to get up.
I think I will just to a few miles later to get used to it and give the knee some light work.

desweller

Fantastic! You certainly picked the right time of year!

Don't forget the photos!

Graeme Jones

I have not long got back from a quick 6 mile ride. I am happy with the progress with my knee an I felt the bike fits well and the quads are used much more taking pressure off my recently operated on knee joint.

So a quick review of the bike.

Very smooth through the gears with this being my first road bike and having nothing to compare to other than cheap MTBs the Sora gears slot in to place quite nicely with no effort. When dropping down a couple of times the lever didn't pop back but i think it was due to me not pressing with enough authority.
I was able to use the majority of gears within that 6 mile as there was a couple of decent slopes to climb and go down. When getting in to top gear I managed to near enough max speed it down a hill that is about 1/2 mile long and think I was doing around the 40mph mark (will buy a onboard gadget soon)
When climbing some minor inclines on the way back I was able to hold 4th or 5th gear fairly easily which is promising considering lack of fitness at this stage.

The seat offers little in the way of comfort. I bought some shorts with all the padding etc which helped but without would have been horrendous. Will this get better in a few weeks? or is it upgrade time soon?

Handlebar positioning is good I had the stem flipped when getting fitted as I felt that it was a little low and heavy on the hands. I did use all 3 positions on the top bar, hoods and on drops and all felt pretty good.

Drinking on a roadie is a bit of a bugger

All in all made up and if I can get used to the saddle then 12mile+ will be around the corner and my 24 mile commute (all round) hopefully will be doable before the sun goes in the UK.

Photos to follow in the week.

Graeme Jones

1st major ride today completing 15miles which was thoroughly enjoyable I have found I am getting used to the saddle quickly even since 2 days ago. A couple of good gradual hills on the way back which was good to push myself a bit.
I am glad I hadn't gone for anything other than a road bike as I love the speed this thing picks up. I beat a car away from the lights and it couldn't keep up with me for about 150 yards or further on the final sprint back.

I have attached a photo of it apologies for the slight finger in the corner of the photo!

rick_chasey

Excellent first post. Welcome.



I'll let you off posting your road bike here. In future hereis a cool place to put it too


Now. To get you on strava....

rick_chasey

Graeme Jones wrote:

I am glad I hadn't gone for anything other than a road bike

You're saying all the right things :P.

Chubby Rider

Glad you like it Graeme,

Loving my Defy as well as I think you've seen from my quick review, even managed an hour in the rain this morning.

Graeme Jones

Good stuff! Having a couple of days off unfortunately as I have a minor tear in my abdomen I guess must have done it either on the bike or picking up my son. The weather is horrendous so not too bad. Hoping to get back out tomorrow for a quick 10mile or so and then onwards and upwards. Weather stinks in this country!

Graeme Jones

Update. Completed an18 mile ride this morning averaging14mph with some good climbs totalling 700 feet. Bike going well but firm on some of the roads with broken Tarmac. Enjoying the climbs good challenge.

slowbike

Graeme Jones wrote:

Enjoying the climbs good challenge.

Yer - wait till you have to do the climbs on the commute - you won't enjoy them so much every time then ... they'll just be another bit to get over ... however, you'll enjoy having done it!

Graeme Jones

Don't think I am going to commute right now as I am happy going out in non peak traffic periods and enjoy a minimal stress free ride. I may consider it further down the line.

I may look in to a upgrade of bike in 12months and then use my current ride for winter training and possibly commuting the 12miles each way to work.

I may think about some cycling events sportives/TT and what not but need to research a bit more first.

Graeme Jones

After a couple of days with a niggly hip I though lets get out there and loosen things up after 3 days off.
I went out with the brother in law and his mate and clocked up 30miles in one ride. Well happy with that as I have been cycling less than a month! previous furthest ride 18mile!
Average speed 12.6miles per hour which was slower than usual as we went down the Wirral way for 30minutes which is a footpath with relatively decent surface but on a roadie I was not going to do anything daft on my new bike with loose gravel surface.
Climbing only 710 ft generally flat apart from a couple of good climbs. Picked up the pace back end of the ride which was good to finish a bit stronger.
This cycling malarky is brilliant! 8)

The Wirral has some great sights to see!

Mikey23

I love my giant defy too. Pleased to see you are enjoying your cycling

Ringo 68

I wouldn't really recommend the wirral way for a road bike. I have lost count over the years how many roadies I have seen fixing punctures as I have toodled along with my wife on our hybrids.

JockeyWheels

Hi Graeme,

We go out on the Wirral Way a lot. But a really good route is the millennium route around Chester.

It is easily accessible on traffic free routes and well tarmac'd.

PM me if you want any more info.

JockeyWheels

Graeme Jones

No wouldn't make a habit of the wirral way my brother in law has a Giant Rapid which is not much different from road bike harshness but has the sit up ride with straight bars and slightly thicker tyres and his mate or a proper Raleigh all purpose hybrid.

Jockeywheels I have pm'd you.