Beginner Questions

uggers

I'm entirely new to road bikes, I used to ride MTB back in the 90's and as of May this year I picked up a new Specialised Stump-jumper 29er and enjoying riding that out in forests and general MTB trails

However, often due to working from home, its a lot easier for me to just use the local cycle paths and roads around here to get in some exercise/training which mostly involves tarmac.
I've started to notice the weight of my bike a little bit and rolling resistance of the tyres and because some of my friends do road routes. I am looking at picking up a cheapish 2nd hand bike to try it out (as I don't want to spend more money this year)

My budgets been around £200-400 and Covid19 seems to have set the prices for bikes quite high due to supply and demand,

I've seen a couple of 2014 Boardman Sport bikes for sale for around £250-350, not so many Specialized Allez or Tribans.

I guess I had a few questions

• I'm 5ft 10, I realise its a lot more complicated than just height, but that seems to sit me around a 56cm frame for most companies, (My MTB is a Large and feel comfortable on it) Wasn't sure if anyone had any advice here.
  
• Alot of the bikes I seem to see are older and 2x8 Speed, modern now seems to be 10+, am I like to run into any issues (I'm currently riding a 1x 30T / 11-50t)
  
• Other than FB Marketplace/GumTree and EBAY any other good sources I should be checking for. I'm down in Dorset all my LBS have sold out of their used bikes as well.
  
• Is it worth just saving up a bit more cash or would something like the 2014 Boardman Sport be more than sufficient to keep me going and get used to road biking?
  

FreddieVonRost

Hi and welcome.

Your height is to some degree irrelevant. Main measurements are inside leg and arm length. In ye olden days it it used to be inside leg minus 10 inches. So, in theory, if you are 32" a good measure is 22inches frame. It also depends on the frame geometry and your arm length. Best/worst case scenario is to buy a frame that is slightly too small but can be adapted. Worst/worst case a frame that is too large for you and cannot.
The only way to be certain is to get measured up at a proper bike shop or to try out listed secondhand bikes. Ebay has some real bargains if you are prepared to be patient.

Posters, who are much wiser than l ever will be, will also give you further advice.

HTH.

brundonbianchi

FreddieVonRost said:

Hi and welcome.

Your height is to some degree irrelevant. Main measurements are inside leg and arm length. In ye olden days it it used to be inside leg minus 10 inches. So, in theory, if you are 32" a good measure is 22inches frame. It also depends on the frame geometry and your arm length. Best/worst case scenario is to buy a frame that is slightly too small but can be adapted. Worst/worst case a frame that is too large for you and cannot.
The only way to be certain is to get measured up at a proper bike shop or to try out listed secondhand bikes. Ebay has some real bargains if you are prepared to be patient.

Posters, who are much wiser than l ever will be, will also give you further advice.

HTH.

That’s pretty much spot on advice there.
I’d add that maybe looking in the ‘for sale’ sections of some forums is a good place to look, and also joining an owners club for whichever bike brand you want, on Facebook is a good source of bikes for sale. Most will allow a prospective owner to join, once they are sure you’re not a Russian troll bot.
The 2014 Boardman you talked about is still a great bit of kit for a newbie as well.

uggers

Thanks to both of you,
Yeah all I can really do is some quick test rides when I go look at bikes. I guess though in my price range worst case I can probably re-sell it if its not comfortable in the long run, if i don't get a fitting before I hunt more.

FreddieVonRost

Go for it, huggers. Good luck regarding your search.