posted Jul 8, 2008

To be honest there`s not much difference in any decent bike these days they`re all similarly specced it`s usually down to personal taste, there nothing wrong with any of those two machines but I like the tarmacs!! Happy riding

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jul 8, 2008

Why not a hybrid, the Marin Mill Valley is a very nice bike, problem is the price you pay in the UK compared with the price it costs in the USA when it leaves the factory, the mark up can be close to 200% by the time it reaches the shop window so shop around.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jul 9, 2008

Go for the bike that inspires you - the one that feels right and looks great. There will be times you have to drag yourself onto the damn thing and every little helps

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jul 9, 2008

I have started off with a £500 scott roadbike it's a brilliant bike and have not had any problem whatsoever as of yet *touch wood*. It is down to your own preferrence really and how much your looking to spend. I got reasonably cheap bike until i get more and more into cycling which includes having time to cycle aswell.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jul 9, 2008

I have been cycling regulary for about a year now, I started with a Specialized Sirrus hybrid bike which was ideal. It was £400, which was expensive enough to make me use it out of guilt, but not so expensive that it was too much to write off if I lost the cycling bug.
As it happens I was hooked almost immediately, increasing to around 8 - 10 hours of riding a week after work and it was the pefect 'starter' bike.

I took delivery on Monday of my new bike, a Pinarello FR1 racer, cost me a grand, but having used it for the first time last night (bloody raining on Monday grrr) I have to say I think we are going to get on swimmingly.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Jul 10, 2008

Just to be clear, do you actually mean road racing or do you just mean road cycling? Because my recommendations would be different, depending on what you are actually looking to do. Either way I wouldn't spend any money just yet. Go to your LBS, have a look round, talk to the guys there. If they're any good they'll let you try a few out. Also, if you aren't already, go along to your local club. If you actually want to road race then you'll want to do that anyway, and talk to the guys and gals that race. They will definately have an opinion!

I see you've started to look at some pricey bikes! Personally I wouldn't spend that much. Upto a grand, but beyond that there are dimishing returns on your outlay. The price rises exponentially, but the performance increases are tiny. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how expensive your bike is, you still have to provide the engine to turn the pedals! As explained by the other posters you can get a decend steed for £500. In fact when I started racing it was on a 1991 Raleigh Dyna Tech that cost me £400. And I didn't start racing until '97 so it was 6 years old by then!

The most I have spent on a bike is £1000. That was for a Giant TCR that I upgraded from the Dyna Tech to for racing. Fantastic machine and I would definately recommend Giant's. I could've spent double that on a racing machine, but didn't - there's always a danger with racing that you could be in a pile up and I did not want to go home with a few grand of worthless scrap after a race. Plus, the way I see it - if you're good enough to warrent racing on bike costing a few thousand - someone's going to pay you to ride it!

Having said that, I have promised myself that I will one day own a super record equipped Colnago that will only ever come out on hot sunny sundays in July!

add comment | complain about this comment