Advice For A Cycling Novice

donnbradman

Have given the old mountain bike a fix and I have gotten some mileage out if it in the last few weeks with great enjoyment. I'm thinking now of getting a new bike but don't really know what kind of bike to look for. I was hoping for some help. I only see cycling as a kind of way maintaining fitness or something to do on my recovery days as I play alot of sport. I plan on maybe cycling of around 15-30 miles per week. Any advice on what kind of bike I should look for would be greatly appreciated.

smacl

What type of cycling are you planning on doing, and how much are you planning on spending? If it's all on the road, and you have the funds, a drop bar road bike is the best option. If you're throwing in some lighter off road, maybe a cross bike, or hybrid if funds are short. If it is all off road and mountain biking, an MTB.

donnbradman

smacl wrote: »

What type of cycling are you planning on doing, and how much are you planning on spending? If it's all on the road, and you have the funds, a drop bar road bike is the best option. If you're throwing in some lighter off road, maybe a cross bike, or hybrid if funds are short. If it is all off road and mountain biking, an MTB.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry should have been clearer. All my cycling will be on the road. Budget would probably be up to 250euro.

hueylewis

For €250 your options in terms of new road bikes would be extremely limited. If your current mountain bike is comfortable and not falling apart, it might be best to stick with it if you'll only be doing a small amount of cycling per week. Put some of your budget towards a nice set of road tyres and maybe a more comfortable saddle (if needed), and any repairs that need to be done.

If you can stretch the budget a bit, I know there's a well regarded "cheap" road bike on sale somewhere. I think a shop up north sells it, but someone will have to help me out here because I've forgotten the name of it. I would definitely recommend a road bike over a MTB if you can afford it. You'll probably find yourself wanting to do more riding on a road bike too.

TonyStark

This one?

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-red-road-bike-id_8274036.html

hueylewis

TonyStark wrote: »

This one?

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-red-road-bike-id_8274036.html

Thanks, yep that's it!

Not endorsing it myself as I haven't ridden one, but I've seen it posted a few times and people have commented positively about it.

donnbradman

hueylewis wrote: »

For €250 your options in terms of new road bikes would be extremely limited. If your current mountain bike is comfortable and not falling apart, it might be best to stick with it if you'll only be doing a small amount of cycling per week. Put some of your budget towards a nice set of road tyres and maybe a more comfortable saddle (if needed), and any repairs that need to be done.

If you can stretch the budget a bit, I know there's a well regarded "cheap" road bike on sale somewhere. I think a shop up north sells it, but someone will have to help me out here because I've forgotten the name of it. I would definitely recommend a road bike over a MTB if you can afford it. You'll probably find yourself wanting to do more riding on a road bike too.

For fitness in general if I was to travel on a mountain bike to a road bike would it better to use to the mountain bike or is there any difference? Also is donedeal or adverts.ie worth a shout?

Reservoir Cogs

You could do worse:

http://www.donedeal.ie/bicycles-for-sale/bike/5525684

If you can't up your budget, you could look out for a second hand flat-bar road bike, like this:
http://www.adverts.ie/bikes/lapierre-shaper-100/3608926
they usually go for a little cheaper than the equivalent road bike

Whatever you buy, make sure its the right size.

hueylewis

donnbradman wrote: »

For fitness in general if I was to travel on a mountain bike to a road bike would it better to use to the mountain bike or is there any difference? Also is donedeal or adverts.ie worth a shout?

You could absolutely pick up a decent bike second hand. The downside of that is the hassle of finding the right bike, and also making sure it's in working order.

As for fitness, there are a few things to consider. A road bike will, by and large, be a more efficient bike to ride. Compared to a heavier mountain bike with wide, knobbly tyres and an upright riding position, an equal amount of energy and effort will see you moving quicker and less restricted on the road bike and therefore travelling a greater distance. Your usual spins will take less time on the road bike overall and you'll probably enjoy the ride a lot more. As a result you'll (presumably) want to spend more time on the bike in the future. You can probably see where I'm going with this - more enjoyment and time on the bike will lead to considerable fitness improvements. The same could be achieved from a mountain bike, but if you're not enjoying yourself and find yourself "fighting" the bike at all, you might be tempted to leave the bike in the shed quite often.

BailMeOut

how about putting some thin tyres on your MTB?

hughperman

BailMeOut wrote: »

how about putting some thin tyres on your MTB?

Second this. Spent about €70 on slicks (Schwalbe Marathon 1.5inch) for my MTB, went from just about managing a 20/30 km cycle to comfortably doing 50+km in a matter of about 4 weeks