First road bike help

St50vec

Morning all. So after having issues with my old apollo and finally realising that there was really no point throwing money on her I went and brought my self a road bike from halfords it's the 13 intrinsic beta it's my first ever road bike so am a little bit nervous about my first ride is there any major do's or donts? Andy

father_jack

Make sure you pedal otherwise you won't go anywhere.

ForumNewbie

St50vec wrote:

Morning all. So after having issues with my old apollo and finally realising that there was really no point throwing money on her I went and brought my self a road bike from halfords it's the 13 intrinsic beta it's my first ever road bike so am a little bit nervous about my first ride is there any major do's or donts? Andy

Use the first ride or two to get used to the gears, as I recall you said you ran out of gears on your hybrid. What sort of pedals are you putting on it? Don't feel that it's absolutely necessary to go clipless right away, but if you do I'd recommend going for SPD MTB pedals and shoes as they are double-sided and easier to use than one-sided SPD-SL road pedals.

dj58

Find a quiet route and familiarise yourself with the gears and brakes and how the bike feels and handles. Watch out for toe overlap with the front wheel when turning. Don't over inflate the tyres as you will have a harsher ride than necessary, enjoy your new bike.

Do double check that the brakes and gears work correctly before you go for a ride, take a set of allen wrenches with you and a spare inner tube/tyre levers/pump if you don't already have them.

St50vec

Thank you for the replies. I've got a set of boardman hybrid pedals and some flr 55 shoes which seem ok so will put those on. I'd never even thought of toe overlap.

Anonymous

Never turn your bike upside down to remove wheel/fix puncture, as it will make it incredibly unlucky!

homers_double

Carbonator wrote:

Never turn your bike upside down to remove wheel/fix puncture, as it will make it incredibly unlucky!

/\ This.

I have my team of minions follow me everywhere and select the tallest to hold my bike up whilst their colleagues fix the mechanicals.

And if you need anything, buy it in red.

markhewitt1978

St50vec wrote:

Morning all. So after having issues with my old apollo and finally realising that there was really no point throwing money on her I went and brought my self a road bike from halfords it's the 13 intrinsic beta it's my first ever road bike so am a little bit nervous about my first ride is there any major do's or donts? Andy

Set up the seat height correctly. You may find the bars are too close / too far away in which case you'd need a new stem.

Make sure your tyres aren't flat and since it's from Halfords that your front fork is on facing frontwardways.

photonic69

Balance on a road bike is a little different to a MTB and you might find it a little twitchy and over responsive as your hand spacing is closer together on the bars. Brakes are also likely to be woefully inadequate compared to V-Brakes on a MTB! Take it easy.

Seems like a well specc'd starter bike. Sora is a good basic groupset. The brakes are so-so but a simple effective upgrade is Swiss Stop or Koolstop brake inserts

Plenty of online youtube vids of setting up bikes. Most importantly get out on it and ride.

Vslowpace

Make sure you are comfortable with changing a tube.

You don't want to be out on the road and find you are not.

father_jack

Make sure you don't go head first into a combine harvester thresher that's in operation.

Taeo1

Take it easy and you'll be fine

markhewitt1978

Father Jack wrote:

Make sure you don't go head first into a combine harvester thresher that's in operation.

I hear this is a particular problem for mountain bikers, road biking is relatively safe in contrast.

St50vec

Thank you for the replies I went out yesterday just for a few miles and couldn't believe how different everything felt suppose it's like most things practice makes perfect