Not sure what to do for first road bike.....

SimonGoesSideways

Hey everyone,

Just joined up on this forum but been a long time reader of the site.

My current bike is a 2014 Scott Scale 720 carbon hardtail which I use for everything, inc a Sportive last year !

I have been hankering after a road bike for while now and really liking the endurance style bikes but I have a problem which I can't solve........

My ideal bike would be a carbon framed endurance bike withdiscs and ultegra and around 8.5kgs......which means a cost of around £2500 - 3000. Think like BMC GF01, Giant Defy, Cannondale Synapse, Spesh Roubaix etc etc.

My initial concern though is buying a nice high-ish spec bike for my first one and then falling and damaging the frame (doesnt everyone fall off their road bike with clipless pedals first time out !!)

So that brings me to the next point. What about if I bought a capable roadbike for between £500 - 1000 which I can use and get used to, and then when certain deals come up (like cheap Ultegra groupset, or wheels, frames etc) slowly collect parts over the course of time, until I can put it all together and have the bike I really want and then the experience to ride it, and then keep the cheaper one and have a decent spare road bike

i'd like to know what you think about that ?

Cheers

Simon

fenix

Fit clipless to your hardtail and ride that for a bit ? FWIW - I swapped to clipless and never fell over so its not a sure bet that you will.

SimonGoesSideways

Yeh I could do that as a practice.

Or I could fit flat pedals to the road bike , that would get some 'interesting' looks lol

dstev55

If I were you I'd get down to Decathlon and buy something like this as your first foray into the world of road bikes:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-700-af-road-bike-105-id_8324331.html

It is more than you need to learn on, it has the latest 11 speed Shimano 105 groupset including brakes and with it being aluminium and not too expensive you won't be worried about how much it might cost if you did have an accident on it. The only thing I would replace are the clipless pedals it comes with as they aren't the best, but you can get 105 pedals for not much more than £50 and they are great.

Have a year riding it and learning what a road bike is all about, then you can look at spending a considerable amount on a nice carbon bike and use the alu bike as a winter bike, which is exactly what I've just done. I am definitely glad I went down the cheaper route first rather than taking the plunge on an expensive bike to start off with.

Incidentally I have had a couple of mishaps with the clipless pedals and done nothing more than damage my pride and ego.

mrb123

If you have a topple over due to pedal clipping or unclipping issues you're unlikely to do much damage to your frame. It tends to be your bar tape, saddle or pedal that takes the brunt of it but even them only minor scratches.

bigmitch41

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19782752#p19782752]Fenix[/url] wrote:

Fit clipless to your hardtail and ride that for a bit ? FWIW - I swapped to clipless and never fell over so its not a sure bet that you will.

This, it really wont take long before you get used to them anyway.

iron-clover

As above, I would definately add clipless pedals to your MTB. Shimano SPDs come in a wide range of pedal varieties, so it's easy to find a 'touring' type of pedal with flat on one side, and clipless on the other.

Definately don't go for mtb style cleats with road shoes though- they are both difficult to clip in with and downright dangerous to walk on. Besides, decent mtb shoes are fine (and more practical) for use on road bikes.

as for going in for an expensive bike right away, there is no reason why you can't, but I would go for a good (i.e. not just at your LBS) bike fit which would let you go for the right option for you. The only problem is that you will probably adapt to the road position and may become more flexible over time, which would change your ideal position.

Good luck!

dstev55

iron-clover wrote:

As above, I would definitely add clipless pedals to your MTB. Shimano SPDs come in a wide range of pedal varieties, so it's easy to find a 'touring' type of pedal with flat on one side, and clipless on the other.

definitely don't go for mtb style cleats with road shoes though- they are both difficult to clip in with and downright dangerous to walk on. Besides, decent mtb shoes are fine (and more practical) for use on road bikes.

as for going in for an expensive bike right away, there is no reason why you can't, but I would go for a good (i.e. not just at your LBS) bike fit which would let you go for the right option for you. The only problem is that you will probably adapt to the road position and may become more flexible over time, which would change your ideal position.

Good luck!

And for that reason I wouldn't worry too much about an expensive bike fit just yet. Go and sit on a few bikes, test ride them if you can and if you feel comfortable go for it. You can always tweak the position a little. That way you body can get used to riding a road bike for a few thousand miles and then you'll have a good idea of what type of more expensive bike you need and you can also utilise a bike fit with much more riding experience.

SimonGoesSideways

Thanks for the replies, so I guess I don't have to worry too much about falling and damaging the bike !!

I already own a B'Twin Rockrider 340 which is over in Hungary, I ride that whenever I'm out there. So anyway, they are great VFM bikes and they are on the shortlist if I want a cheaper road bike to start with .

Actually thinking about it , I own 4 bikes already lol .....n+1 indeed

1989 Raliegh Massif (b'day pressie when I was 13yrs old, still got it after all these years) steel 14.4kg
2011 Specialized Rockhopper Comp ally 12.5kg
2014 B'Twin Rockrider 340 ally 14.1kg
2014 Scott Scale 720 carbon 10.7kg

So since I've got 4 bikes that all do pretty much the same thing, it's deffo time for a road bike!

On my Scott I run DMR flat pedals with Shimano sticky sole shoes which works really well, I have stayed with a road bike group in their mini-peleton at around 30mph for a long period, although I was in my highest gear so not ideal !

I'm still super tempted by the more expensive bikes (well who isn't?)

My LBS is Shorter Rochford so I am speaking to them about my options , I will also get along to my local Evans as I can test ride a bunch of different bikes there.

SimonGoesSideways

Some good advice as well thanks , I appreciate it!

ayjaycee

Sorry to be late to the party but I just wanted to say don't worry too much about the transition to clipless. After a lot of years using flats on MTBs and hybrids, I went over to SPDs on a road bike (with Shimano MT44 shoes) a couple of years ago and have never looked back as they very quickly became instinctive to use. My experience is a bit like Fenix in as much as I have never fallen off the bike as a result of using the SPds - plenty of other reasons (including stupidity!) but not that particular one (like the patch of ice that had me sliding across the road yesterday). Also, whatever pedals you have, don't worry about any 'funny looks' from other cyclists - some get a bit snobby about that sort of thing but it's really their problem, not yours.

kingrollo

Sensibly use the MTB.

You can also get pedals which are flat platform on one side and SPD on the other - I still use these for commuting (road bike)
Wellgo make a good set of such pedals ...

kingrollo

Sensibly use the MTB.

You can also get pedals which are flat platform on one side and SPD on the other - I still use these for commuting (road bike)
Wellgo make a good set of such pedals ...

mroli

You can get a Giant Defy 4 for £349 at Rutland cycles. It has a carbon fork, Claris gears and takes mudguards. It won't be brilliant, but the frame is fine, Claris is acceptable and you can always turn it into your winter/turbo bike should you wish. You can get used to riding a road bike, see if you like it, work out what it is exactly that you want from your bike and then you'll be in a better place to buy something you really like that is suitable for your riding in the summer.

I built my own winter bike (Genesis Aether/Claris/Mavic Aksiums) and it was absolutely fine for riding - I enjoyed riding it.

SimonGoesSideways

Good to know about the SPD's not being much of a problem .

I have tried the dual sided ones before, the flat side, and found them lacking in grip compared to my mtb pedals and sticky shoes .

I've the Defy's at cheap prices as well as other bikes too but I always seem to end up looking at the Cannondale Synapse Hi Mod Red at £3k lol

kajjal

If you get something like the giant defy you can see if you take to road biking and also work out what you want from a road bike. Easy enough to trade it in for a better bike. I ended up with a specialized diverge due to wanting hydraulic brakes, good handling, smooth ride on road and the ability to handle smoother off road trails well. Also being very tall it came in the right size for me.

SimonGoesSideways

For me the adventure/gravel/off-road bikes don't make sense to me since I already have a high spec hardtail that covers that job. I'd rather get a road bike for road riding.

So it has to be a road bike with discs with endurance geo and good comfort, cheers though

kajjal

I understand what you mean, i also have an xc hardtail. I wasn't suggesting getting a gravel bike just to be careful spending a significant amount of money if you are not clear on what you want. I started Road riding on a cheaper bike which showed i disliked rim brakes and wanted a smoother more rugged Road bike than an out and out race bike.

AK_jnr

Cannondale CAAD 8 and then on to a Supersix when a decent second hand one came along was the route I took. CAAD went to winter duties while the superset has been gradually upgraded to something well under 7kg for less than 2 grand. Same geo and stopped me throwing money away if I didn't enjoy it!

SimonGoesSideways

Kajjal wrote:

I understand what you mean, i also have an xc hardtail. I wasn't suggesting getting a gravel bike just to be careful spending a significant amount of money if you are not clear on what you want. I started Road riding on a cheaper bike which showed i disliked rim brakes and wanted a smoother more rugged Road bike than an out and out race bike.

Yeh thats fair enough, I want a road bike with disc brakes as well, I'm going to the London Bike Show in 2 weeks so I will have a look at a few in the flesh (even though I remember the show not being that great a couple years back).

AK_jnr wrote:

Cannondale CAAD 8 and then on to a Supersix when a decent second hand one came along was the route I took. CAAD went to winter duties while the superset has been gradually upgraded to something well under 7kg for less than 2 grand. Same geo and stopped me throwing money away if I didn't enjoy it!

Nice nice, how do you find the SuperSix on comfort wise, do you flinch as you go over road ruts, cracks etc? or does it soak it all up? I see varying reports on this, and wonder if the Synapse is worth it if the more racier bikes in their range have similar comfort levels !!

AK_jnr

Its smoother than the CAAD but thats just down to the carbon. Cant really say without trying a Synapse for example but I have no problems.
If I ever get a new bike I would like to try a Synapse.

SimonGoesSideways

That's good to know ! thanks

SimonGoesSideways

I've gone against all my initial ideas......endurance bike, comfort, disc brakes...........all out the window !!

Arriving on Wednesday will be a 2015 Cervelo R3

I was really eyeing up the 51cm R3 in the classifieds but I decided to get one from a proper Cervelo dealer for the warranty.

Really can't wait to get out on it !

dstev55

SimonGoesSideways wrote:

I've gone against all my initial ideas......endurance bike, comfort, disc brakes...........all out the window !!

Arriving on Wednesday will be a 2015 Cervelo R3

I was really eyeing up the 51cm R3 in the classifieds but I decided to get one from a proper Cervelo dealer for the warranty.

Really can't wait to get out on it !

Not a bad first road bike that. Enjoy :-)

SimonGoesSideways

Cheers !