Noob first buy! Help/Advice

Arbaaz11

Hello,

I'm a complete noob when it comes to cycling. However, i really wanna ride a road bike. And i've been thinking about buying one.

1. My first question is: Which of those two bikes is the best one??

http://archive.fujibikes.com/archivebikes.php?prodid=2792&prodname=Sportif%202.3%20C

or

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-in/bikes/model/scr.0/18183/74944/

2. My second question: As i said, i am a complete noob and i do not have really much time to ride because of work and i'm quite taken up during weekends. I'm thinking about buying one of these two bikes mentioned abouve, solely for fun/because i really want to try a road bike. Can anybody of you advise me whether it is worth the while spending this kind of money for a bike in this situation? (Because it's costing me quite a lot, a quarter of my assets to be exact)

3. My third and last question: Is it really fun to ride a road bike in quite rough surfaces?? Can these two bikes handle rough surfaces well??

I look forward to your responses/advice and help

Thank you

arlowood

What's your budget. Can't find any pricing on either of the 2 bikes you have suggested. They look to be either 2013 or 2014 models so may be in short supply as new bikes,

Also for a noob the Giant's gearing is not particularly friendly with a standard 52/39 chainset and a 12-25 cassette. The worst thing you can do (apart from buying the wrong size) is to get a bike that is over geared for your abilities and you end up getting discouraged because you have to walk up too many steep hills.

Tell us what you want to spend and you will get a few more sensible answers

dj58

Where are you based and what is the terrain like that you will be riding. Giant don't sell the SCR bike here in the UK, we get the TCR, Defy and Propel. As arlowood says the gearing on the Giant is considered high for a beginner theses days, the Fuji has 50/34 and 11-32T which is more beginner friendly.

Arbaaz11

@arlowood - I have already seen the bikes and are the cheapest one available to me. Even cheaper than the secondhand on the market (cause all the second hand are carbon or cannondales etc).

The Fuji is USD 660 and the Giant is USD 590.

I wanted to spend less, but these are the only one that are available at this kind of price in Mauritius.

Also my interest lies in riding a road bike. I've been riding a cheap USD 50 bike with no dampers .And i'm sure the frame would be nowhere near as good as the one on the fuji or giant and it wasn't even from a particular brand, it was called rodeo bike. The only thing is that it had bigger rubber ... which i think contributed in tolerating rough surfaces. So which would be more comfortable? A road bike with better specs, frame but with skinny rubber or a heavier cheap bike with bigger rubber?? Example of rough surfaces which i may encouter each 15 metres in worst places http://media.graytvinc.com/images/rough+roads2.jpg

@dj58 - yeah so the surfaces will be pretty much like that ... but there are smoother one... i can dodge these most of the time. Let's say that 2/10 times i will have not choice but to go over them. Is that damaging to the bike?? I can't handle the shocks, i've been handling them with my USD 50 bike... i'm more worried about the new bike being damaged... so is a skinnier tyre really more painful???


Also another thing which is making me have a craze for a road bike is the shifters, see i'm a fan of Formula One, and it seems i have a passion for switching gears and i'm itching to try and master the art of switching gears on these bikes... they switch like F1 ... and yeah the fuji has carbon fork... carbon is a material so attractive to me i can't resist it. hahah

But it's good to note that i'll be riding alone all the time.

Kindly advise.

Thank you again for your reply.

arlowood

Buy the Fuji - as DJ58 says, it has much better gearing than the Giant for someone new to road bikes.

You can always put some larger 25mm tyres on it (if the frame spacing will allow) and that will help to improve the ride quality over the rough roads. Eventually you may want to upgrade the wheels to a set with wider rims which will be a further improvement along with the 25mm tyres.

Arbaaz11

@Arlowood - could you explain why the Giant's gear is hard for a beginner???

keef66

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19628696#p19628696]Arbaaz11[/url] wrote:

@Arlowood - could you explain why the Giant's gear is hard for a beginner???

The smaller the front chainring and the larger the rear sprocket, the easier it is to pedal uphill.

The Fuji has a compact chainset with a smaller chainring of 34 teeth vs 39 on the Giant.

The cassette on the Fuji has a largest sprocket of 32 vs 25 on the Giant.

The Fuji has much better gearing for a newcomer to road cycling

kajjal

To give you a comparison my road bike has 50/34 at the front and 12-30 1 0 speed gearing at the rear. Using 34 & 30 makes easy work of any hill. In comparison 39 & 25 is much harder work. Do the maths and workout the gear ratios.

dean7879

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p4333/CANNONDALE-CAAD8-SORA-2012

perfect first road bike

arlowood

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19630130#p19630130]dean7879[/url] wrote:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p4333/CANNONDALE-CAAD8-SORA-2012

perfect first road bike

Eminently reasonable suggestion but the OP lives in Mauritius so I guess he is really limited to what he can pick up locally, otherwise he will be clobbered with import duties and the like.

dj58

@Arbaaz11

If you prefer the Giant SCR bike, you could ask the bike shop to swop the 52/39T crankset for a Tiagra FC-4650 50/30T compact and swop the rear cassette for a CS-4600 12/30T as they would be compatible with the 10sp Tiagra STI, BB and RD-4601 already fitted to the bike.

You would then have similar gearing as the FUJI bike, there would be an extra cost involved in, though you can use your negotiating skills to get a deal. Also check that the SCR can take 25x700C tyres.