Advice on which bike to get

ferrete

Ok fairly new to cycling and I do have a giant bike I got during the covid phase. The bike isn't great and I don't like it as it doesn't go fast enough I mean in top gear peddling it's slow compared to other bikes. It's not smooth changing and tbh I'd rather get a good decent bike as I starting to get into it and the bike puts me off going out so think if I got a good one I'd prob go out more and use it more. I want one for doing distance and one that does a decent speed

All advice welcome as all I no is apparently the 105 gears is meant to be good but I not got a clue

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058312047/advice-on-which-bike-to-get

What bike do you currently have?

What do you mean when you say the top gear doesn't go fast enough?

I'd be a bit surprised if you were able to spin out in the top gear of any modern bike.

ferrete

It's a giant defy. It's in top gear when out with others and it's low geared it won't keep up with other bikes. But if I swap with mates etc they can't keep up. It's an older one prob got had when I bought it. But I'd love to get a good bike that I can keep and get into it properly

nilhg

OP, generally speaking a Giant Defy would be considered a good bike, even the older models, probably even to really old aluminium models.

Also generally most people here would consider that a strong cyclist will ride fast on any correctly adjusted bike so I'm wondering if something could possibly be "wrong" with yours. A really wild guess is that the bike has junior gears and that all you would need to do to get faster gearing is bring it to a bike shop and change the cassette. You really need to know what the exact problem is before you spend too much money.

cletus

I'd agree with what nilhg said, but I'm trying to get a handle on the problem.

Are you saying that, when you're cycling with other people, and your bike is in the top gear, your can pedal faster than the top speed of the bike?

Or are you saying when you're in the top gear, you can't keep up with other people?

Elvis Hammond

He says when he swaps bikes with mates, they can't keep up, so would seem to be a bike issue, but you'd wonder why someone in the group wouldn't be able to figure out the problem.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121064353#Comment_121064353

Sorry, I missed that part, for some reason.

New cassette, as nilhg said, cheap and easy fix for what should be a nice bike

ferrete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121064315#Comment_121064315

See if I could take an get a better cassette I would and the bike would give this a try taking to shop tomorrow see if there anything the can do or trade in against somthing else

ferrete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121064334#Comment_121064334

Saying that the bike getting peddled harder to keep up with others when they at a steady stride and works viceversa when switching bikes

ferrete

Il try this tomorrow

T-Maxx

Could also be that the dérailleurs aren't adjusted correctly. Check visually that you're indeed in the highest gear.

ferrete

I did check that as I was doubting myself. So what price we talking for a cassette

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121066855#Comment_121066855

Before you do anything count the number of teeth on your big ring on the front and the smallest ring on the back, once we know that we can advise better

iwillhtfu

What king of groups are you cycling with and at what speed?

It's likely you have a 50/34 compact crankset and probably a wide ranging rear cassette but you should still have an 11/12 gear I'd have thought. You should be well able to sit in a group and maintain speed with a compact crankset, unless you're going out with a race team that on threshold efforts or something.

As mentioned I'd I'm surprised the group couldn't figure out the issue. Could also be a change of tyres will help, I'm not sure a cassette will solve the issue.

8valve

You may have a compact chainset, with 50/34 teeth. Possibly even a cassette with 12 teeth as it's smallest sprocket.

You can upgrade to a chainset with 52/39 teeth and a cassette with an 11 tooth sprocket for more speed without having to sell any vital organs....renew your chain as well.

If you spin that out, consider racing or even heading out training with Sam Bennett and the local demolition crew on Sunday mornings over the winter in Carrick on Suir!

*you could also go fully def-con 4 nuclear and fit a Dura-Ace 54/42 chainset (600 quid, sweet baby jesus!) as a customer of ours recently did....on his commuter bike!

**check your wheel bearings are spinning freely also, and that brake pads aren't in constant contact with the wheel rim - both can slow you down considerably.

EAFC_rdfl

Brake pad rubbing jumped to my mind too, can feel like riding into a block head wind! Again the others in the group should have noticed that you would hope

ferrete

Not that's its the gear ration and chain done apparently. Il stick it for now until I can afford something better

CantGetNoSleep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121088895#Comment_121088895

If you can figure out what the problem is, it might be fixable relatively cheaply without changing bike. You will need to figure it out anyway to avoid getting a new bike with the same problem.

Do you know what gear ratio you have at the moment? Front chainrings - should be something like 50-34 or 52-36? Rear cassette, should be something like 11-28?

When I was a beginner I was really struggling on some climbs compared to my friends. Turned out I was using a 53-39 with 11-25 cassette without understanding these things, so my easiest gear wasn't very easy or beginner friendly

ferrete

im going to change the rear casette as i was told its low geared and good for hills but i try doing road miles and struggle keeping up so il try that and if it doesnt work its new bike