Rode a Road bike today

Zombie_donkey
Zombie_donkey Posts: 359
edited August 2010 in Commuting general
A colleague has got a shiny new Haflords road bike and he let me have a go.

Rode it for a couple of miles in my lunch break... I think he only expected me to go round the car park :lol:

It was twitchy and less comfy but it did go faster than my Hybrid and I didn't get numb hands. Not sure though.
Giant Escape M1....
Penny Farthing
Unicycle
The bike the Goodies rode
Pogo Stick
Donkey on Roller skates.......OK I'm lying, but I am down to one bike right now and I feel bad about it,

Comments

  • Zachariah
    Zachariah Posts: 782
    Join usss...
  • Zombie_donkey
    Zombie_donkey Posts: 359
    I'll ask him for another go next time he's in work. He normally works weekends so I may see him tomorrow.

    He rides twice the distance as me including some rough ground and he seems chuffed with it.
    Giant Escape M1....
    Penny Farthing
    Unicycle
    The bike the Goodies rode
    Pogo Stick
    Donkey on Roller skates.......OK I'm lying, but I am down to one bike right now and I feel bad about it,
  • Wrath Rob
    Wrath Rob Posts: 2,918
    Join usss now...
    FCN3: Titanium Qoroz.
  • sc999cs
    sc999cs Posts: 596
    Which Halford's bike is it? A Carerra, Boardman, or one of the others?
    Steve C
  • EssexCyclist
    EssexCyclist Posts: 35
    You get numb hands? Is your current frame to small? Seat to high? Bars too low?

    I have 2 road bikes and love them to bits, horses for couses :D I also have a hybrid and 2x mtbs. Wouldn't want to be on the road ones when the shh hits the fan.
  • turnerjohn
    turnerjohn Posts: 1,069
    Zombie_donkey wrote:
    I'll ask him for another go next time he's in work. He normally works weekends so I may see him tomorrow.

    He rides twice the distance as me including some rough ground and he seems chuffed with it.

    You ever tried a cycloCross bike ? far stronger then a standard road bike (so better for commuting) and amost as fast as a road bike ! Also the higher weight gives you a better workout :D just a thought !
    Oh BTW I've two carbon road bikes, but love the crossbike for commuting as it feels indistructable ! (rather then me I might add)...its a Planet X Uncle John if your wondering !
  • mikeyboy12345
    mikeyboy12345 Posts: 187
    EssexCyclist wrote:
    Wouldn't want to be on the road ones when the shh hits the fan.

    What happens then?! Shh doesn't hit the fan for me an awful lot! Either I'm lucky or I just don't try hard enough :D
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,950
    Zombie_donkey wrote:
    A colleague has got a shiny new Haflords road bike and he let me have a go.

    Rode it for a couple of miles in my lunch break... I think he only expected me to go round the car park :lol:

    It was twitchy and less comfy     but it did go faster than my Hybrid and I didn't get numb hands. Not sure though.

    That twitchy feeling IME goes away very quickly as you get used to a more responsive bike. It is a bit disconcerting to begin with, especially when you stand up to climb.

    This may be due to the riding postion on the drops placing your hands in a more natural position.

    Overall I would say that the hybrid is more instantly comfortable, while the road bike may take a couple of rides to get used to but is the better long term bet.

    There a IMO only two drawbacks to a roadbike - presta valves which are the very work of Satan and that they are completely unsuitable for very low speed pootles with the kids.

    There is a school of thought that newbies shouldn't buy hybrids as they will only end up buying roadbikes in the long run. Personally I think this nonsense. You bought a hybrid, fell in love with cycling and now want a roadbike....job done.

    BTW Keep the subway...you need a winter bike
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • richred_uk
    richred_uk Posts: 167
    :D Rode my first roadie today too - took a Specialised Allez and a Cannondale Caad 8 out for test rides from Evans.

    First impressions - how light are these bikes! I have been riding a Dahon Espresso and it must be about twice the weight. These just went from 0 - 60 (figuratively) in seconds.

    Brake Lever gear stuff - bit fiddly, but definitely getting Tiagra over Sora - just seemed cleaner and more instinctive.

    At first I was a bit nervy as they felt very twitchy, but within a few mins I felt pretty comfy on them.

    I liked the Cannondale over the Specialised for the overall ride - although as it was second, that may have been me getting used to the position etc - will definitely take it out for another spin to make sure.

    Going to test a Trek 1.5 next week and if my directors OK CtW I might be riding something shiny home :)
  • Zombie_donkey
    Zombie_donkey Posts: 359
    sc999cs wrote:
    Which Halford's bike is it? A Carerra, Boardman, or one of the others?

    It was a Carrera. I didn't see him today so did not get the name written down so as to remember it... I should go on the Halfords website to check...


    I don't think he would have let me have a go on it if it was a Boardman.

    I'm off to Wales next week so I won't see him for at least 8 days.
    Giant Escape M1....
    Penny Farthing
    Unicycle
    The bike the Goodies rode
    Pogo Stick
    Donkey on Roller skates.......OK I'm lying, but I am down to one bike right now and I feel bad about it,
  • Hrun
    Hrun Posts: 116
    I have moved from a Raleigh Oakland onto a Carrera TDF and love it.

    But the Hybrid stays for weekend rides with Mrs Hrun. I think upgrading makes sense. I even keep the Woolworths BSO for when Mummy Hrun visits so she can ride out with us :)
    A biking runner :)
  • Ngalbrai
    Ngalbrai Posts: 279
    I started commuting 8 years ago and had always dismissed drop bars. However, I recently go the Kona Honky Inc and its awesome. yes its more twitchy at first but you get used to it and soon prefer it. The main thing that scared me was how sh1t brakes are on road bikes, honky inc has discs, steel frame, perfect!

    With changes in cyclocross rules re discs I suspect we will be seeing some cool disc/drop cyclocross bikes around soon. If I was still in the UK (am now i sydney) would have got the genesis crosser, but cant import it, just out of interest, anyone got one?
  • El Diego
    El Diego Posts: 440
    I defected to a road bike last year and wouldn't go back. As someone has mentioned, a lot of cyclists tend to start on hybrids and then end up on road bikes. Rarely do people go from road bikes to hybrid and there's good reason for that.

    My road bike made me want to ride further and faster. They make tackling hills less of a chore (or if your a sadist like me, enjoyable). If you do the majority of your riding on the road then get a road bike.
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    redblue_pill.jpg

    Do it.
  • sc999cs
    sc999cs Posts: 596
    A colleague has one of the TDF models as well. For what he paid, he highly recommends it.
    Steve C
  • Zombie_donkey
    Zombie_donkey Posts: 359
    I'll take it for another ride when I see him Tuesday next week. :lol:
    Giant Escape M1....
    Penny Farthing
    Unicycle
    The bike the Goodies rode
    Pogo Stick
    Donkey on Roller skates.......OK I'm lying, but I am down to one bike right now and I feel bad about it,
  • chadders81
    chadders81 Posts: 744
    Got a hybrid a few weeks ago (first bike in 15 years) and already want a road bike.

    Reckon I'll end up getting something second hand for £200ish (anyone selling anything/) and put the hybrid away for the winter.
  • bluesparx
    bluesparx Posts: 62
    I bought a Specialised sirrus 10 about 6 weeks ago as I didn't want to commute on my Stumpjumper. I soon began taking it out on longer rides and yes, I wanted a road bike almost immediately. Unfortunately it has now been stolen, so i am now going to get a road bike, but I'm afraid if i get a reasonable one it will be stolen too. Also, are they really bad in the winter? There's no way the missus will let me get away with 3 bikes in the garage!
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    bluesparx wrote:
    ...i am now going to get a road bike, ..., are they really bad in the winter?
    No, not really. Race orientated bikes lack clearance & fittings for mudguards & broader tyres, so perhaps arn't ideal (mudguards keep a lot of the salt & grit out of your drivetrain as well as off your clothes, punctures seem to happen more often in winter and fatter tyres can usually offer better resistance).
    Some people are more comfortable on an MTB when it's slippy (I believe the technical term for this is "wuss" :-) ) the rest of us just get on with it. When it's icy, fat tyres are no better than anything else, and when it's snowy I find narrow tyres cut through to the road better (proper snow tyres for cars are narrower than normal ones for this reason, though I don't know if the engineering is the same for bikes).
    The one thing that I would say is advantageous is a riding position that doesn't put too much weight on the front- if conditions are sketchy it's useful to be able to keep your weight on the rear wheel for grip (when pedalling) and to reduce the risk of front-wheel skids (when cornering). I guess(?) this is what many people find attractive in their MTBs but it's easily achievable on my road bikes, too.

    Cheers,
    W.
  • thebig25
    thebig25 Posts: 46
    Having not been on a road bike in years I fancied giving one a try to see if I could live with one on my commute, and compliment the Giant Seek 3 I currently use. So today I borrowed a mates Gary Fisher AR Super and took it for a spin.

    I have always been nervous about those skinny tyres and bum in the air position since a Raleigh Pusuit + front end washout = hospital stay experience in the mid 80's so I took it easy at first. As I got used to it the whole road bike thing began to make sense. It was the (relative!) ease of climbing that was the most obvious difference, along with the extra speed whilst on the flat. It certainly wasn't the skittish vibrating no grip death machine I thought I would find!

    I did about 20 miles this morning, and then this afternoon I tried my commute route (15 miles each way). Without really trying I easily beat my previous best time, and didn't feel at all uncomfortable, despite the frame being too small for me (53 frame for a 6'1ish rider).

    The only issue I found was that the brakes were poor compared to the discs on both my hybrid and MTB (and the levers were on opposite sides!), Is this difference in power normal?

    I really enjoyed it and it fixed some of the preconceptions I had. I'm still not sure I would trust those tyres in the pi$$ing rain though!

    So I'm going to try and pick up a second hand bike and give it a go. I'm looking for a bargain on ebay now..........
  • richred_uk
    richred_uk Posts: 167
    Went for second batch of test rides today and I found my bike :)

    Ordered a Cannondale Caad8 Tiagra which I hope to collect next week.

    Will have to ride it a bit before trusting myself on the 16 mile each way commute, but it did feel really nice to ride. At first I thought it would not be what I wanted, having the most 'aggressive' geometry of the ones I rode, but it just seemed to 'fit' right.

    Cant wait !
  • notsoblue
    notsoblue Posts: 5,756
    Zachariah wrote:
    Join usss...

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    FCN 4 PX SL Pro SRAM Red
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  • unclemalc
    unclemalc Posts: 563
    "There's no way the missus will let me get away with 3 bikes in the garage!"

    3!!!! :shock:

    If the garage is big enough, fill it....

    I'm on 8 if you include the BMX.... :D

    Its nice to have....choice.
    Spring!
    Singlespeeds in town rule.

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