Daughter starting triathlon

mickrick1

Hi All,

I'm new to the cycling forum and have little or no knowledge of bikes/cycling. My 14 year old daughter is a swimmer but has recently joined a triathlon club. She actually completed her first junior triathlon about a month ago riding my wife's hybrid bike. We are now considering buying a road bike for her, obviously somewhere near the bottom end of the price range. I have looked in Halfords and they have some reasonably priced Carrera bikes (circa 400 Euro) which would probably suit. I have also seen a Felt95 2012 online for 649 Euro which is a bit more expensive than Halfords option but looks like a very nice bike. I would be interested in all opinions on this.

Thanks - Mick.

unichall

I have no experience of the bikes you have mentioned above but i would suggest for a 14 year old to try and get as light a bike as budget allows.

fixie fox

A lot of the advice here might involve lotsa money. You see lots of kids at races with very expensive equipment.
My advice would be to get something reasonably cheap as you are probably not sure if she is fully committed, but be careful about the fit, especially the reach.
You will probably want a size that she will grow into a little bit which should be no problem, but the shop might fit a shorter handlebar stem, for example, and this could be lengthened as she grows.
Also compare the weights of the cheaper bikes - some may look right but weigh a ton. You are probably talking about the full aluminium range.
It would also be important that she learn to handle the new bike setup confidently.
I think the main thing is for parents to keep a sense of perspective - a lot get 'carried away'.

Lumen

How tall is she?

mickrick1

Lumen wrote: »

How tall is she?

Almost 5' 8''. She probably has another inch of growth left in her.

Lumen

mickrick1 wrote: »

Almost 5' 8''. She probably has another inch of growth left in her.

Ah, so the junior bikes would be too small - she'll need about size 52cm or 54cm in traditional sizing.

The F95 is a decent enough bike for the money, but you can see where they've saved money on the spec - Microshift shifters and front mech, sunrace cassette and chain etc.

You might try and find something with full Sora - although I've read people slagging both Sora and Microshift shifters so I couldn't say which is better.

Tiagra shifters and mechs would be worth looking out for as it's now 10 speed, but probably out of your budget.

There used to be a decent number of bargains from UK websites, but with the Euro so weak at the moment they don't make so much sense.

This is nice, probably under 700 euro with shipping:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b0s6p3679

unichall

Lumen wrote: »

Ah, so the junior bikes would be too small - she'll need about size 52cm or 54cm in traditional sizing.

The F95 is a decent enough bike for the money, but you can see where they've saved money on the spec - Microshift shifters and front mech, sunrace cassette and chain etc.

You might try and find something with full Sora - although I've read people slagging both Sora and Microshift shifters so I couldn't say which is better.

Tiagra shifters and mechs would be worth looking out for as it's now 10 speed, but probably out of your budget.

There used to be a decent number of bargains from UK websites, but with the Euro so weak at the moment they don't make so much sense.

This is nice, probably under 700 euro with shipping:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b0s6p3679

agreed, that would be a very nice bike to start out with if its within budget

mickrick1

Thanks guys. I will take all advice into consideration before making my purchase.

Mick.

Seaneh

It's really worth keeping an eye out for a second hand bike as you could easily find a really good one for €400 on donedeal or adverts.

This http://www.adverts.ie/bikes/giant-defy-3/1907073 is a great price for a giant defy3.

mickrick1

Lumen wrote: »

Ah, so the junior bikes would be too small - she'll need about size 52cm or 54cm in traditional sizing.

The F95 is a decent enough bike for the money, but you can see where they've saved money on the spec - Microshift shifters and front mech, sunrace cassette and chain etc.

You might try and find something with full Sora - although I've read people slagging both Sora and Microshift shifters so I couldn't say which is better.

Tiagra shifters and mechs would be worth looking out for as it's now 10 speed, but probably out of your budget.

There used to be a decent number of bargains from UK websites, but with the Euro so weak at the moment they don't make so much sense.

This is nice, probably under 700 euro with shipping:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b0s6p3679

Thanks Lumen. I purchased a 54 cm Cannondale as per your suggestion. Including delivery it came to 720 Euro approx. My daughter returned from gaelteacht earlier this week and had her first proper ride on it today. She is over the moon with it. Thanks again - Mick.

Lemag

mickrick1 wrote: »

I purchased a 54 cm Cannondale as per your suggestion

If that's a CAAD which you've bought then you've made a very good choice. They are reputed to be pretty much as good as aluminium frames get so it'd be well worth holding on to and upgrading the components down the line should your daughter get serious about cycling.

Roger Hassenforder

and if she gets serious about cycling, she can give up that triathlon nonsense:D