Help Choosing a First Bike

Jambo1060

Hi all,

Been looking into getting my first road bike. I have narrowed it down to two choices:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mekk-pinerolo-al-15-2015/

http://www.decathlon.fr/btwin-velo-route-triban-520-c1-id_8322663.html

As an extra note i live in the Alpes so i need to have a bike good for climbing. Do you think these bikes would be good as a total beginner? Which one would you choose?

I have a decathlon near me if that helps.

Thanks

arlowood

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19702855#p19702855]Jambo1060[/url] wrote:

Hi all,

Been looking into getting my first road bike. I have narrowed it down to two choices:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mekk-pinerolo-al-15-2015/

http://www.decathlon.fr/btwin-velo-route-triban-520-c1-id_8322663.html

As an extra note i live in the Alpes so i need to have a bike good for climbing. Do you think these bikes would be good as a total beginner? Which one would you choose?

I have a decathlon near me if that helps.

Thanks

Not a lot to choose between the two. Both 9-speed Sora but the BTwin has a triple chainset (50/39/30) whereas the Mekk has a compact chainset (50/34). In theory the triple chainset should be the better bet for a newbie tackling the Alpine cols but ironically the BTwin has a more race orientated cassette (12-25). The Mekk has a slightly wider ratio cassette (12-27) so in the end you will end up with an almost identical lowest gear ratio between the two bikes - 30/25 on the BTwin and 34/27 on the Mekk.

Unless you are super fit, neither of these lowest gears would be my choice for long and/or steep climbs.

Whichever bike you decide on I would advise considering switching to an 11-30 9-speed cassette to give you some lower gearing

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-hg50-9-speed-road-cassette/rp-prod387?gs=1&gclid=Cj0KEQjwg9-vBRCK7L7wmO2u0JcBEiQA_tzoaAPiv4dK1bkCO7dh37BdWr91Ks9rKiCKJQGVdzhjU38aAv-n8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

On first assessment, the Mekk would seem to be the one to go for since it is an £800 bike reduced to £480. However being close to a Decathlon means that you can at least try sitting on and riding a couple of different sizes to make sure you get the correct fit. This last factor is IMHO the most important one in choosing a bike. With online ordering you are to some extent guessing what size would be best.

My advice would be to check out what Decathlon has to offer first - and also ask if they would swap out the cassette for a wider ratio one.

dj58

^^ This is good advice, much better to go to a store/shop to try the bike for size/fit if it is your first bike. As arlowood suggests, ask them to swop the cassette so that you have a low gear of 30T - 30T on the triple set up.