New Road-Bike Help & Advice

keith16

Hi All,
In the market for a new bike – some background

My History

Have a Dawes Hybrid for years now (not sure of exact model) but I hate it.
- Ergonomically, I was probably cycling it very badly or it was set-up incorrectly
- This (I believe) has led to a number of issues (handlebar stem had to be replace, teeth on chain wheel badly worn in places and chain slips, frequent punctures, warped front wheel etc.) I have had it serviced a few times but give up now

My Requirements

- Bike will be used for commuting in and out of work – 10k each way, so will be 80km a week as I work from home once a week
- Very occasional leisure spin not more than 10k (once per month)
- Speed is important for me – on my current bike I am sick of being passed out by all and sundry on my commute.

Me and My Budget

- I’m about 5’11’’ and a little on the heavy side (about 85kg I guess?)
- Would probably consider myself unfit, but not afraid of cycling hard / regularly
- Budget is probably around the 600 – 800 mark – although I would be prepared to spend a little more.
- Looking at getting a flat-bar road bike – something light and easy to get good speed

What I am thinking

- Giant looks good to me, Escape 1, 2 or rapid 4
- Anything else that meets the above requirements
- I’m probably only looking at Giant because I recognise the brand
- Are there any decent alternatives to Giant in the same price range?

Finally

- Seasonally, is now a good time to buy a bike?
- What stores in Dublin come recommended? I popped into Ferris Wheels in Booterstown and they seem nice!

tl;dr

I want a new flat-handlebar road-bike for between 600-800 euro. To be used for commuting. Giant looks good, any alternatives?


Thanks for reading! All advice welcome

cormacjones

Did you use the search function on "advice for buying a new bike"? Should be a load of threads with people on a similar budget.

keith16

cormacjones wrote: »

Did you use the search function on "advice for buying a new bike"? Should be a load of threads with people on a similar budget.

I have read the forum extensively and haven't found anything I am interested in.

Budget isn't my only consideration. I didn't get the best out of my last bike so I am looking to avoid that experience.

I guess I could google around but would love to get the experience / input from anyone in a similar situation to me.

More or less clueless of what specs, I should be looking at, or what things I should avoid.

Roger Hassenforder

why flat bar if speed important?

keith16

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

why flat bar if speed important?

Not sure, just not a fan of the other type but maybe I could get used to them? The guy in the bike shop said they might be better if I'm just using it for commuting? I'm not completely against the idea of the other types of handlebars (I don't even know what they're called)

Is it much of an adjustment to go from cycling a hybrid to a road-bike?

quozl

keith16 wrote: »

Is it much of an adjustment to go from cycling a hybrid to a road-bike?

No, it's not. I did it about a month ago myself. Felt bizarre at first but that quickly passed.

I now much prefer the drop-bars except for very short city journeys like my 5k commute to work. For 10km each way I don't think it matters much which you get. The nice thing about straight bars is that you have a slightly more upright seating position which is nice in traffic, the bad thing is that you have a slightly more upright seating position which is harder to push through air

if you start going longer then the multiple hand positions on a drop-bar is crucial IMO. 30km is my limit on my hybrid or my hands and shoulders start getting quite uncomfortable. That doesn't happen with the drop-bars as I can keep changing hand position.

I'd get drop-bars personally.

BadCharlie

I would do up your old bike Dawes Hybrid & use that bike for wet days which will have mudguards.
Then get a nice road bike and use that when the weather is good "like this very long summer was great". With drop bars i have 4 positions that i typical put my hands in, with hybird you normaly only have one.

My self i use my hybrid during the week, and then the road bike for longer spins at weekends. The drop bars do take a little while to get used to coming from a hybird.

Trek, Giant, Boardman, Cube & specialised is what i see a lot in my area.

keith16

quozl wrote: »

No, it's not. I did it about a month ago myself. Felt bizarre at first but that quickly passed.


I'd get drop-bars personally.

Cool, what bike do you have?

BadCharlie wrote: »

I would do up your old bike Dawes Hybrid & use that bike for wet days which will have mudguards.

Trek, Giant, Boardman, Cube & specialised is what i see a lot in my area.

Brilliant idea. yeah, the Giant bikes look nice but as I said, that could be just "brand awareness, so not particularly sold on it if there is something that is better value.

Would there be much price difference between them?

quozl

keith16 wrote: »

Cool, what bike do you have?

It's a weird one - I bought a Ridley Tempo frame and a Tiagra groupset reduced and built it myself using whatever I felt like and was cheap.

It's better value to buy a complete bike but I wanted to build one. You'll have a good chance of getting a reduced 2013 bike now as the 2014 stuff is just coming into the bike shops.

I chose the Tempo frame because it has a 'relaxed' geometry. Sometimes called comfort, casual or sportive. It just means that the head-tube is slightly taller so the handle-bars are going to be slightly higher - for the same spacer stack - than they would be on a more aggressive, race geometry bike. My handle-bars are about the same height as my saddle - I've got room to lower them further or I could even raise them a couple of cm if I wanted to.

It also has room for 28mm slick tyres and mud-guards. Making it very comfortable It even has eyelets for a rack but my Hybrid has the rack.

I don't think you can go too far wrong with any of the big brands. If you explain that you want a relaxed geometry drop-bar road-bike (if that is what you want) then a shop should be able to recommend particular bikes.

Think Bike in Rathmines do a 2 day bike-trial offer. You can try a bike out for 2 days to decide if you like it and want to buy it or not. I think that's a great offer and would let you see what you think of a road-bike. There may well be other shops that do the same, I just don't know them.

The drop-bars will feel weird at first. My first time on them felt a bit like a circus act but it passes quickly