Thinking of a new bike

rabsterw91

Hey guys so I took up road cycling last year as a way to stay fit after injuring my knee and was unable to run

I got the bike through my cycle to work scheme and picked up the 2015 carrera tdf I felt it has been a spill bike and got me from A to B no problem but I am now doing a sportive and has found the bike doesn't have the smallest gears for getting me up the big climbs

What I'm asking is where do I go from the TDF I'm looking for something faster and help me get up the steep hills I'm currently weighing around 18 stone / 115kg so it's a quite a load to move up a hill lol

Thanks guys

fat_cat

Without a clear idea of budget its difficult to recommend a specific bike, but based on what you have said, I would recommend:

- wheels with a high spoke count - 32 spokes preferably, otherwise you might run into problems breaking spokes.

- a Compact Chainset 50/34 on the front and 11/32 on the back, or even consider a triple chainset, for getting up hills.

Pretty much every brand will have these options , in a range of frame materials (Alloy / Carbon / Titanium) so my advise would be to go with whatever takes your eye in your local bike shop.

keef66

Depending on what you have on the Carrera you may be able to stick on a bigger cassette and / or a smaller chainring. Actually, scratch that; looks like it already has a compact chainset (34 tooth inner chainring) and a 28t cassette?

To get significantly lower gearing than that you'd need a triple chainset which should give you a 30 tooth inner chainring, and a bigger cassette maybe 30t. Then of course you'd need new shifters / front mech for the triple. Might be cheaper / simpler to sell the Carrera and buy a different bike...

I'm sure you know this already, but the cheapest way of improving your climbing is going to be to lose some of the weight. 18 stone is a lot to be carting up hill. In my personal experience it's a lot easier to lose weight by diet than exercise. After years of failing with calorie counting and lower fat foods, I found that 5:2 intermittent fasting works for me. 2 days a week I eat nothing till 6:30pm, and then it's a 600 calorie meal. The rest of the time I eat / drink more or less what I like. Dropped 18 pounds quite easily, and it's staying off despite my lack of willpower / gluttonous nature of feed days

markhewitt1978

It's impossible to say because you haven't told us your budget. It could literally be anything from another Halfords bike to a Team Sky issue Pinarello.

rabsterw91

keef66 wrote:

Depending on what you have on the Carrera you may be able to stick on a bigger cassette and / or a smaller chainring. Actually, scratch that; looks like it already has a compact chainset (34 tooth inner chainring) and a 28t cassette?

To get significantly lower gearing than that you'd need a triple chainset which should give you a 30 tooth inner chainring, and a bigger cassette maybe 30t. Then of course you'd need new shifters / front mech for the triple. Might be cheaper / simpler to sell the Carrera and buy a different bike...

I'm sure you know this already, but the cheapest way of improving your climbing is going to be to lose some of the weight. 18 stone is a lot to be carting up hill. In my personal experience it's a lot easier to lose weight by diet than exercise. After years of failing with calorie counting and lower fat foods, I found that 5:2 intermittent fasting works for me. 2 days a week I eat nothing till 6:30pm, and then it's a 600 calorie meal. The rest of the time I eat / drink more or less what I like. Dropped 18 pounds quite easily, and it's staying off despite my lack of willpower / gluttonous nature of feed days

Yeah I already looked into that and I'd be around 400 pound for decent shifters and gears which is more than I paid for the bike. My price range would probably be around the 600 -700 pound mark

Yeah 18 stone isn't the lightest but am far from a fat bloke dying in a bike I play rugby so a lot of its muscle so I'm a hybrid lol half fat dying bloke half muscle lol

markhewitt1978

This one is a bit more than your budget at £900 but it's worth it as it has an 11 speed Ultegra groupset, and carbon frame http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/EBPXSLP680 ... -road-bike

Bobbinogs

I don't get the need for a new bike. If the OP is running 50/34 12/28 (which I haven't seen confirmed anywhere) then this is another one for the "I need lower gears" thread. There are some easy solutions out there, mainly based around getting a 7 or 8 speed cassette with a 30T or 32T on the back (in fact, if the bike has Tourney then doesn't that offer a 14/34T cassette although that may need a new RD too). Either way there are some cheap options here that will keep the OP riding his bike.

If the OP needs something lower than a 34/32 combo then he would be better off wearing some decent SPD shoes so he can walk up the hills until he can cycle them :-)

OP, why not look at a cheap option for now and set a target of buying yourself a new bike if you hit 16 stone?

markhewitt1978

Bobbinogs wrote:

I don't get the need for a new bike. If the OP is running 50/34 12/28 (which I haven't seen confirmed anywhere) then this is another one for the "I need lower gears" thread. There are some easy solutions out there, mainly based around getting a 30T or 32T on the back (SRAM cassette territory, perhaps). If the OP needs something lower than a 34/32 combo then he would be better off wearing some decent SPD shoes so he can walk up the hills until he can cycle them :-)

IIRC those cheap Halfords bikes are renouned for having high gears e.g. 53/39 with 11-25, and considering they are just the bikes beginners would buy it's no wonder many struggle.

Bobbinogs

Yeah, you're right there Mark. I find it bonkers that a lot of the cheap carrera bikes come with a standard double. I don't think the one he mentions does though, looks like a compact on the Halfords website.