Help getting first road bike

Mark Condon

Hi I wish to start cycling for fitness and for triathlon. I already own a hybrid I use for commuting but want a bike for triathlons & weekend road biking. I have looked at many web sites for advice and the number of products is overwhelming.
I will spend anything between €500-€1500: My Questions are should I:
1) Go new or second hand, 2) Buy Internet or shop, 3) Go carbon or aluminum frame

RobFowl

Mark Condon wrote: »

Hi I wish to start cycling for fitness and for triathlon. I already own a hybrid I use for commuting but want a bike for triathlons & weekend road biking. I have looked at many web sites for advice and the number of products is overwhelming.
I will spend anything between €500-€1500: My Questions are should I:
1) Go new or second hand, 2) Buy Internet or shop, 3) Go carbon or aluminum frame

Depends TBH
If you are mechanically minded buy on line
If not local bike shop though ask around re which one
Second hand is a good option but risky if you don't know exactly what you are looking at. Alot of bikes have have been crashed or have seriously worn parts.
Aluminium or carbon ?? I'd go for carbon but aluminium tend to be cheaper with a higher spec so it all about preference and what you want to use it for
See you on the road

Chips Lovell

If you know what size you need and are confident about tweaking your bike to suit you, then buying online will yield more bargains.

However, you say you are planning on using it for triathlons. Are you looking for a time trial or triathlon bike? In that case, I'd tread very carefully as the fit of a bike and your position on it is very important. Unlike with a road bike, you're maintaining the same position all the time. Your position not only affects aerodynamics, but also your power output. In other words, if you're going down this route, go to a shop.

You're budget range is pretty big. €500 buys a very basic, entry level aluminium road bike. €1,500 will get you quite a good bike and carbon is possible with this figure. If I had €1,500 to spend, then yes, I'd be hoping for carbon, but it wouldn't be at the expense of other stuff, such as good wheels.

There are a few forum members who do triathlons who may come along and give you better advice.

Mark Condon

el tonto wrote: »

If you know what size you need and are confident about tweaking your bike to suit you, then buying online will yield more bargains.

However, you say you are planning on using it for triathlons. Are you looking for a time trial or triathlon bike?

El Tonto I say road bike as I don't want to get too specialized. I'm not going to take the triathlons too serious and I wish to enjoy weekend cycling. Thus It seems I should not get something too specialized. However I don't know how far I will go down this path and getting the best bike for the long term seems most sensible

ba

for 1500eur stick with aluminium. for the money the groupo + wheelset will be far better than the advantages given by a carbon frame with lesser components. then for triathlons you can lob on some clip on aero bars.

just wondering how much lighter a 1500eur bike w/ carbon frame + entry level wheels will weigh in comparison to an alu bike with good wheelset and groupset?? anyone got the calculator out?:D

Lumen

ba wrote: »

just wondering how much lighter a 1500eur bike w/ carbon frame + entry level wheels will weigh in comparison to an alu bike with good wheelset and groupset?? anyone got the calculator out?:D

Happened to have the Cervelo site open, which rather blows the budget, but...

Cervelo S2 (carbon) - 1236g
105 3156g
Fulcrum Racing 7 1855g pair
---
6247g

Cervelo S1 (alu) - 1434g
DA 7800 2678g
Fulcrum Racing Zero 1425g pair
---
5537g

hunnymonster

Mark Condon wrote: »

Hi I wish to start cycling for fitness and for triathlon. I already own a hybrid I use for commuting but want a bike for triathlons & weekend road biking. I have looked at many web sites for advice and the number of products is overwhelming.
I will spend anything between €500-€1500: My Questions are should I:
1) Go new or second hand, 2) Buy Internet or shop, 3) Go carbon or aluminum frame

1. Unless you can get someone who knows a lot about bikes to go with you, then I would avoid second hand. There are some bargins out there but there are more duds.

2. Internet or shop. Internet is much better value (check places like wiggle.co.uk or planetx or chainreactioncycles) but you need to know what you are after and you can't pick the brains of experienced bikies while you browse. A bricks and mortar shop (in Ireland at least) will almost certainly be more expensive but you will get advice from the store and you'll have a follow up service. For example, with a new bike, you shouldservice it a couple of weeks in, to tighten anything that may have come loose, you can't sent a bike back to the internet for this. Again, if you have a friend who knows about bikes, you can avoid this.

3. Al or C
It's personal choice to a certain extent. A Carbon frame in your price range, will come with the more basic end components, of course you can upgrade these later but it is a more comfy ride. An alu frame may not last as long (or so I've heard, I've never had an alu bike) but you'll get better components. Of all your choices listed above, I think this is the one you should do a bit of reading around and see what looks best for you.

I answered here not in the tri forum as this gets more bike traffic.

blorg

I think there is an advantage going for carbon at the €1,500 price point, you can get a decent frame while stuff like the wheels in particular are upgradable in the future if you really get into it. Entry-level wheels are not going to hold you back starting off either.

To be honest I don't really see lots of alu bikes with killer groupsets and wheelsets around that price point, you are more likely to get the same groupset/wheelset you would see on the carbon bike while saving maybe €200 on the whole thing which to me seems like a false economy.

colblimp

If I had €1500 to spend, I'd buy this: http://www.theedge-sports.com/acatalog/Kuota_Kharma_RRP_1695.html

But take no notice of me, I'm useless lol...