Newbie

jamieblackford
jamieblackford Posts: 59
edited May 2015 in Road beginners
Hi everyone. I'm Jamie from Redditch, 26 years old. I'm new to road cycling but have been into mountain biking/ cross country biking for 12 months or so. I found myself looking into road bikes more and more and finally took the plunge and ordered a Specialized Allez sport 2015 in monster green. Having never ridden a road bike before Ive nothing to compare it to except my mountain to which the differences are obvious. Collected the bike yesterday and completed a quick 5 miles this evening to see how it feels. I'm probably not the perfect fit to the bike as yet regarding saddle hight, clear position etc but I've followed guides and videos best I can and all seems pretty good with my current setup. This was my first time with clipless pedals and cleats and suprised myself how confident and simple i found it. I will be looking to get some proper mileage under my belt as soon as I have the correct accessories, saddle bag/puncture kit etc. All in all enjoyed my first road bike experience and quickly gained confidence throughout the ride, and am looking forward to the next one.

C1685C35-880C-4A66-BFDB-56018A694E66.jpg
"Great minds think a bike"

Comments

  • wotnoshoeseh
    wotnoshoeseh Posts: 531
    Welcome - congrats on the new bike.
    Lovin' that colour
  • jamieblackford
    jamieblackford Posts: 59
    Thanks pal. The other option in this version Allez was matt black which I usually would of opted for, but the more I looked at this colour the more it grew on me. I'm really happy with it.
    "Great minds think a bike"
  • jamieblackford
    jamieblackford Posts: 59
    Can anybody tell me if the wheels on my bike are compatible with tubeless wheels? The wheels are Axis Classic.
    "Great minds think a bike"
  • Record11Ti
    Record11Ti Posts: 74
    Can anybody tell me if the wheels on my bike are compatible with tubeless wheels? The wheels are Axis Classic.

    No, they are not.
  • Philly8mt
    Philly8mt Posts: 552
    Liking the green! Allez is a cracking bike .... Enjoy it :)
    Still thinking of something clever to say!
  • hanhamreds
    hanhamreds Posts: 100
    Nice!
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,505
    Great choice of bike - enjoy the ride!
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • JayKosta
    JayKosta Posts: 635
    jamieblackford wrote:
    ...
    as soon as I have the correct accessories, saddle bag/puncture kit etc.
    ...
    I carry 2 tubes, 3 small tire levers, a pump, and a pair of plastic gloves (working on the rear wheel can be greasy). I also carry a small 'patch kit' that I have never needed to use.
    I carry the levers and other small bits (cash, coins, band-aids, etc. in a plastic bottle that fits my bag.

    When time comes to replace the tires, consider if your riding conditions would be suitable for lighter weight tires and tubes. Tubeless has some 'posible' advantages, but there are few problems with good regular tires & tubes.

    Jay Kosta
    Endwell NY USA
  • jamieblackford
    jamieblackford Posts: 59
    Thanks for the comments and advice. Completed my longest ride yet this bank holiday monday with a 16 mile ride around my local area. I've completed this route once before on my mountain bike and strava tells me I was 11 minutes faster on the Allez, with the greatest improvement on time coming from the huge climb. First gear on the Allez is a little tougher than on my mountain bike which I was surprised about but would explain the quicker time. Also having read reviews on the tyres that came with the bike I'm not as eager to upgrade to tubeless now having read that the espoir sports currently on the bike give a good puncture resistance. Overall I'm extremely pleased with my purchase and will keep riding and improving.
    "Great minds think a bike"
  • CrazyRider
    CrazyRider Posts: 6
    Nice Ride!
  • fatdaz
    fatdaz Posts: 348
    There are some great rides round North and West of Redditch. You're prettyclose to the Lickey Hills there as well and you can create some surprisingly tricky routes around the Lickeys. There's also a ridge North of Redditch through Beoley that has some great undulating country roads. If you want a challenge to aim for look for the MacRide / Dynamic Rides sportives - some of their routes loop North and West round Redditch.

    There's also nice riding to the East of you round Henley, Alcester, Spernal, Great Alne. Reasonably flat but nice, quiet country roads. The only trick for you with planning routes round there will be finding ways across the A435, there are only a few places to get across it and it's a crap bit of road to end up riding on
  • jamieblackford
    jamieblackford Posts: 59
    Thanks for the suggestions Dazz. Are you local to Redditch? I do enjoy the lickey hills, Alvechurch and Barnt green routes, but am yet to venture North East toward Solihull but will deffinately look into it more.
    "Great minds think a bike"
  • fatdaz
    fatdaz Posts: 348
    I'm Solihull based so we do lots of riding out through the Lickeys and across the Severn. We also ride a lot round Henley, Alcester, Snitrerfield, Claverdon , Budford which is what I meant by East of you. It's not particularly challenging riding round there but there's a network of reasonably surfaced, quiet roads through some lovely countryside and there are some decent pubs around Lapwirth, Rowington, Shrewley. If you have transport for the bike and fancy a challenge you have the Cotswolds less than 30 minutes away and there is some beautiful and tough riding there

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