New Bike - How far for your first ride?

gotwood25

After much deliberation I took the plunge and bought a Scott Foil 15 today which should be winging its way over from Belgium as we speak. Take delivery of it on Saturday...

Now here is the conundrum, the lads who I normally cycle with are going for a jaunt into the Northumberland countryside for a 100 mile ride (this is 30 more than my biggest although no problems with the distance) on Sunday. Now I am desperate to take out my new steed and if I'm honest desperate to show it off.

Do I go for it, what can go wrong right?
Or is this a recipe for disaster, I swallow my price and go out on my big slow heavy Boardman?

Please share your experiences and or disaster stories of first rides.

turnerjohn

get out for a quick "shake down ride" before....if all stays together then happy days !
your be fine on a hundred....just make sure you set the bike up the same dimensions as your old hack !

markhewitt1978

The main question is why are they going to Northumberland to do a ride on the same day that The Beast is on? http://www.durhambigride.co.uk/

cougie

I'd not do a ride bigger than my longest by almost 50% on a new bike.

The shakedown ride is a good idea - but I think a shorter ride would be better for you to get used to the new position.

If its slightly different a 100 miler could really be a pain in the proverbial.

It wouldnt be fair to your mates either turning up on an untested bike.

trek_dan

I dived straight into doing a 100 miler on my new bike, same scenario as you and was mostly ok. Only problem for me was the new frameset came supplied with a layback post so I couldn't quite get the saddle far enough forward for my dimensions and ended up sitting on the uncomfortable part of the saddle for 100 miles, ouch. If you can match your old dimensions no reason you shouldn't be ok.

gotwood25

Looking like I will get a short 20 miler in on the Saturday so if that goes well I will be on the ride come Sunday.

The adrenalin of having a shiny new bike should see me through any ride issues I might have.

kajjal

I just did eight miles with a couple of steep climbs and some good cornering to give the bike a good workout. After that I adjusted the setup to fit me and really enjoying the bike now.

Crankbrother

Can you stick your old/usual saddle on it? *

Other than that just make sure the reach is the same and the drop similar-ish and get on with it ...

* Unless your new bike came with a £100 saddle, in which case just use it ... Bling points and also will be fine in the long run if set up correctly ...

craigmorgan

gotwood25 wrote:

After much deliberation I took the plunge and bought a Scott Foil 15 today which should be winging its way over from Belgium as we speak. Take delivery of it on Saturday...

Now here is the conundrum, the lads who I normally cycle with are going for a jaunt into the Northumberland countryside for a 100 mile ride (this is 30 more than my biggest although no problems with the distance) on Sunday. Now I am desperate to take out my new steed and if I'm honest desperate to show it off.

Do I go for it, what can go wrong right?
Or is this a recipe for disaster, I swallow my price and go out on my big slow heavy Boardman?

Please share your experiences and or disaster stories of first rides.

Im in the same boat, with the same bike on order!

gotwood25

Its a pretty good boat to be in though isn't it
I really can't wait for the weekend.

southdownswolf

Crankbrother wrote:

Can you stick your old/usual saddle on it? *

Other than that just make sure the reach is the same and the drop similar-ish and get on with it ...

* Unless your new bike came with a £100 saddle, in which case just use it ... Bling points and also will be fine in the long run if set up correctly ...

Since when has the cost of a saddle made it fit the bum that sits on it?

tonye_n

Crankbrother wrote:

...* Unless your new bike came with a £100 saddle, in which case just use it ... Bling points and also will be fine in the long run if set up correctly ...

Oh dear... the mind boggles. :roll:

rickyrider

You'll be fine I'm sure. When I got my first road bike some years ago, I spent about 10 mins spinning up and down the road to get saddle etc sorted and fiddle with odd gears (coming from mtb) and then did a 75 mile sportive the next day in my fastest average time yet!

simonhead

I have a nice 7 mile circuit that has a couple of small hills, a nice flat straight, some sharp corners and roundabouts and various types of road surface (super smooth to incredibly pot holed as well as the concrete slabs). Anytime i do some tinkering first thing i do is a circuit just to see how it feels. If Its fine on the circuit iw will be fine on a longer ride.