Getting started

Dingle_berry

I want to get into cycling using the bike to work scheme. I'm in Dublin City and wouldn't be confident of commuting (8km across city centre) by bike initially. I would mainly use it for fitness and leisure. I'm VERY unfit!
I've visited a few bike shops, have had loads of names thrown at me and online reviews say they're all great bikes. I've no idea what I'm getting into so I'm hoping the experts here could advise me. The models that I can remember are:
GIANT Roam 1 €799
GIANT City Escape €625
GIANT Escape 1 €700 / 2 €550
Trek 7.3 €739
Trek 7.2 €585

I would need to get all gear too, helmet, lights, hi-vis, lock, bag rack, etc.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Well your choice should be down to price and style (hybrid or road bike, DON'T go for a mountain bike) and components.

IMO you're best using the whole budget allowed (it'll be the cheapest grand you'll ever get!), and purely for commuting and fitness I'd suggest a hybrid.

I use both a road bike and a hybrid and 90% of my commuting to work and leisurely cycles are done on the hybrid, they're just a far more relaxed riding position. Its a nice way to cycle.

If you give your location the lads here will give you the heads up on a good shop local to you.

Plasid

Dingle_berry wrote: »

I want to get into cycling using the bike to work scheme. I'm in Dublin City and wouldn't be confident of commuting (8km across city centre) by bike initially. I would mainly use it for fitness and leisure. I'm VERY unfit!
I've visited a few bike shops, have had loads of names thrown at me and online reviews say they're all great bikes. I'm hoping the experts here could advise me. The models that I can remember are:
GIANT
GIANT
GIANT
Trek

Brilliant, don't fret, buy the best bike you can afford looking at the components it is coming with rather than the brand. Better quality gear/brakes/wheels etc work and last better, but remember it's for you not a race so don't go nuts :-D For a beginner one very important thing is the saddle and bike fit, make sure the shop you buy from spends the time with you (decent shorts with good padding too ;-) ).

8km won't be too daunting, give yourself the time to enjoy and consider your route to avoid nasty/stress and prefer safe/pretty and you'll be hooked.

Dingle_berry

Thanks for the replies. I'm working in D2, the places on erne st and jervis st/abbey st were recommended by work.

Plasid wrote: »

...looking at the components it is coming with rather than the brand. Better quality gear/brakes/wheels etc work and last better, but remember it's for you not a race so don't go nuts :-D For a beginner one very important thing is the saddle and bike fit, make sure the shop you buy from spends the time with you (decent shorts with good padding too ;-) ).

How do I recognise good quality components? Sorry the last time I was on a bike I was a child!!!
I've been told that due to being the most popular brand & economies of scale Giant are able to put better quality components into their bikes? But someone else said that they use odd sizes to tie you into using Giant brand accessories? - the Apple of cycling... Though I like the Giant City Escape because it comes with stuff like mudguards, stand, etc already on it.

Neleven

I got a giant city escape when I first got back into cycling 3 years ago. I like it and use it still for getting around town when I'm there or shorter trips when I need to lock up, though I have used it for long trips too: it's comfortable, solid, reasonably priced and reasonably quick. The fact that someone like me who used to hate cycling found it such a pleasure that I had to go out and get a road bike tells its own story. Once you start cycling you'll realise that 8km isn't so bad.

L'Enfer du Nord

All the bikes you listed are good products. The pricer ones have slightly better parts. A hybrid would certainly suit your purposes. Take a few out for test rides and see which one you like the feel of best.

cormacjones

Don't buy a hybrid. I made that mistake, and you'll only wish you had bought a road bike in a few months.

Bloggsie

Dingle_berry wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I'm working in D2, the places on erne st and jervis st/abbey st were recommended by work.


How do I recognise good quality components? Sorry the last time I was on a bike I was a child!!!
I've been told that due to being the most popular brand & economies of scale Giant are able to put better quality components into their bikes? But someone else said that they use odd sizes to tie you into using Giant brand accessories? - the Apple of cycling... Though I like the Giant City Escape because it comes with stuff like mudguards, stand, etc already on it.

Welcome to the world of cycling, I got my roadbike from the lads in cyclebike on just past the back of the Jervis. You will not meet better guys than them,follow the advise on spending the full €1000, get overshoes, spare tubes, minipump saddlebag etc, my only issue was with the servicing, my bottom bracket was left loose after a service there. I now use my local LBS.

Enjoy your new bike.

quozl

Get a good lock and be really careful where you leave the bike locked.

There's a huge thread on here about stolen bikes and there's constant themes like cable locks, garden sheds, apartment bike cages.

Any of those bikes would do you fine. I'd get a Hybrid for a 8km across town cycle. If you really get into cycling then you'll want a road-bike but it's always handy to have a hybrid and it's an easier place to start. If you can only afford or store one bike and you think you'll get into longer cycles, then a road-bike will be much better for those and IMO only slightly worse for city cycling.

cormacjones

Road bikes are no more difficult to cycle IMO. You'll find loads of people who switched from a road bike to a hybrid, very few do the reverse. I think it's usually people who have never ridden road bikes who advise others to buy hybrids.

DON'T BUY A HYBRID, YOU WILL REGRET IT.

not yet

Bloggsie wrote: »

Welcome to the world of cycling, I got my roadbike from the lads in cyclebike on just past the back of the Jervis. You will not meet better guys than them,follow the advise on spending the full €1000, get overshoes, spare tubes, minipump saddlebag etc, my only issue was with the servicing, my bottom bracket was left loose after a service there. I now use my local LBS.

Enjoy your new bike.

Never heard a bad word or review of this gang and being in town they would be handy for servicing etc..

Look at a Giant Rapid, best of both worlds with a road bike frame and wheels but with a hybrid set up and bars. 599 euro to 1099 euro.

Dades

I agree with some earlier comments - if you're going to cycle mainly for leisure and fitness, get a road bike. It doesn't have to be set up like a pro bike so can be comfortable as you want it to be.

A hybrid will initially be comfier, but slower and after a while you'll grow tired of being passed by similar types as yourself on road bikes. And you can commute on any bike when you get the bug.

Supervolcano

I must agree with Dades...I recently just got into cycling after being a couch potato for over 25 years. I initially started with a hybrid bike which was comfortable but quickly found out it was heavy and slow. Children on tricycles passed me! Also the aches in my bum was something else before getting used to.
I just bought a road bike and I'm in the process of learning the ropes. But I must confess, the new bike is much lighter and FASTER than the previous. I'm looking to join a Cycling Club around my locality.

Dingle_berry

So I think I've narrowed it down to either the giant rapid 3 (2015), Trek 7.3 or Lombardo Ventimigilia 2200.
From what I could tell the Lombardo has the same group set as the rapid 3 plus the carbon fibre bits but nowhere to mount paneer rack, mudguards, etc though the shop will fit them.
Is the Lombardo cheaper because it's less well known and travels less to get here or because it's an inferior brand? I can't find much on them online

iwillhtfu

Dingle_berry wrote: »

So I think I've narrowed it down to either the giant rapid 3 (2015), Trek 7.3 or Lombardo Ventimigilia 2200.
From what I could tell the Lombardo has the same group set as the rapid 3 plus the carbon fibre bits but nowhere to mount paneer rack, mudguards, etc though the shop will fit them.
Is the Lombardo cheaper because it's less well known and travels less to get here or because it's an inferior brand? I can't find much on them online

Where did that one come from. :eek: I've never heard of them and at a guess it sounds like a cheap bike with a fancy name that might be there to help it sell.

I'd go with either of the first 2 they're well known brands tried and trusted.