Which bike to I get following accident?

betherly

Hi folks! Thanks so much in advance for your help!

I previously had a flat bar road bike Merida Speeder T2 which I got at 18 (9 years ago) but recently it got stolen. I am now wondering what bike I should go for now.

I am looking at going for a drop handle road bike but don't know if I would be able to deal with the nerves on it as I have had a bad accident downhill before and it took a while to deal with that even on the flat bar, but will I just get used to it and deal with it? My other consideration here is whether I get a turbo trainer to get used to it and train off road...?

Also, the other consideration of an adventure road bike so I can go on slightly rougher paths. I want to train to go down from Bristol to North Devon eventually so perhaps that could come in useful?? But then would I even slightly be able to keep up with people on group rides.

Sorry for all the questions. Have pretty much no idea what I'm doing but well up for learning.

Heres some bikes I've looked at so far:
Flat bar (like the Merida): https://www.evanscycles.com/scott-speed ... e-EV286217
Drop bar: https://www.evanscycles.com/trek-domane ... e-EV311990
Drop bar: https://www.evanscycles.com/scott-conte ... e-EV286252
Adventure road bike: https://www.evanscycles.com/jamis-reneg ... e-EV275251

fenix

What do you want the bike for ?

Drop bars aren't any more dangerous than flat - most TdF riders can cope riding down the mountains at >50mph with them.

Turbo trainers are hard work. I can only stick with them as I need to do it to race well. If I didn't race then I'm not going to be using one.

Road bikes can take a lot of pounding - look at the Paris Roubaix race to see what thats like.

To me a road bike that can take wide tyres - so 28mm or so would be just about perfect as a do it all bike.

dannbodge

Drop bars will probably be safer than flat bars downhill. Especially when riding on the drops as your CoG will be lower.

betherly

Thanks so much for the replies!

I am likely going to be mostly on roads but also track roads and lanes due to planning to cycle from Bristol to North Devon and down to Plymouth (eventually!).

Would you go for the Scott or trek bike or something totally different?

betherly

I should also mention that I have to get it from Evans Cycles due to cycle to work scheme

apreading

You will get alot more for your money if you go for Evans own brand Pinnacle, something like: https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-la ... e-EV299417

That gets you carbon forks, mainly 5800 drivetrain etc

apreading

Or if you want disc, this: https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ar ... e-EV275626

agentorange88

Dannbodge wrote:

Drop bars will probably be safer than flat bars downhill. Especially when riding on the drops as your CoG will be lower.

What sort of wild reasoning lies behind that? Probably safer means that you have no actual idea if thats true. If we follow the logic, down hill mountianbikers would be using drop bars rather than riser bars that are twice as wide as road bars.

Ive just acquired a road bike, and inital fears of stability on the road over my MTB with 2.3" tyres has soon been forgotten.
Thats not to say they are more stable but ive yet to find them less so. im not reckless but did enjoy taking the racing line through corners on a road circuit course and pushing the entry speed up each lap to see where the limits were.

apreading

agentorange88 wrote:

Dannbodge wrote:

Drop bars will probably be safer than flat bars downhill. Especially when riding on the drops as your CoG will be lower.

What sort of wild reasoning lies behind that? Probably safer means that you have no actual idea if thats true. If we follow the logic, down hill mountianbikers would be using drop bars rather than riser bars that are twice as wide as road bars.

I think I may be able to help with that.

I rode a flat bar road bike for years and now have a year on a drop bar road bike. I was always nervous on fast descents on the flat bar bike. I am still nervous so I think part of that is just the way I am, but I am less nervous now.

Now the initial 'probably' statement is not strictly accurate. Lower COG will make you more stable, granted. But you CAN get just as low on a flat bar bike - just that your elbows are bent much more accutely to get there. But the manner in which you lower your position on a flat bar bike feels less secure than on a drop bar bike where your arms are more in a more relaxed position. Such that some people wont get that low on a flat bar bike because they feel incomfortable or exposed and therefore SOME people on flat bar bikes wont get so low so the original 'probably' comes true.

My confidence is a little better on drop bars. It is also considerably better since I realised I was shifting my weight too far back on descents (as you would mountain biking) and actually taking too much weight off the front wheel - to the extend it felt light and floaty.

Thats only on descents though. Flat bars are much better around traffic because you have better braking leverage from a higher position (good braking leverage generally needs you to be in the drops on a drop bar bike) and wider bars are more stable.

Narrow bars on a drop bar bike make for a much more twitchy and nervous proposition when out of the saddle and this takes some adjustment for mountain bikers in particular.

So there is no single right answer - neither is perfect but neither is wrong either.

And downhill riders dont ride drops is because they dont want stability the way a road biker does on fast descents, they want an agile bike they can move around rapidly - so the demands are totally different.

cld531c

Probably get shot for this but in circa 25 years of riding a dropped bar bike I have never ridden on the drops. So if you dont like riding on drops there are plenty more positions on the tops and the hoods!

apreading

cld531c wrote:

Probably get shot for this but in circa 25 years of riding a dropped bar bike I have never ridden on the drops. So if you dont like riding on drops there are plenty more positions on the tops and the hoods!

None of which give you good leverage on the brakes.

So if you discount the drops themselves, you are effectively riding a bike with really narrow bars and bar ends.

betherly

Thank you all so so much for your help and advise! I have decided to go for a drop bar road bike (EEP!). Test rode a few and actually ended up increasing my budget a bit and going for https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized ... e-EV306364 which felt much more similar to my last bike, just with the drop bars. I will let you know how I go! Definitely will be in lanes and cycle paths for a long while until my confidence is up for traffic! Don't want to be a danger to other people and myself

bigmitch41

Good choice that's a great bike, confidence will come with miles so enjoy it.

apreading

Many people riding Allez bikes - very well regarded.

cld531c

apreading wrote:

cld531c wrote:

Probably get shot for this but in circa 25 years of riding a dropped bar bike I have never ridden on the drops. So if you dont like riding on drops there are plenty more positions on the tops and the hoods!

None of which give you good leverage on the brakes.

So if you discount the drops themselves, you are effectively riding a bike with really narrow bars and bar ends.

Perhaps not but, touch wood, never had an issue braking.
Each to their own.

kajjal

The handling on road bikes is very similar to early 1990's xc mountain bikes with narrow bars and bar ends, it is twitchy until you get used to it. Gravel bikes are more stable with shorter reach, wider bars and differing geometry. Mountain bikes with wider flat bars are much more stable and manoeuvrable which is why xc, enduro and downhill riders use this setup.