New to Cycling - Weight Loss & Fundraiser Goals

[DanDeerskin]

Hi Folks,

I've been on the forums for a couple of days now and I've tried to look through lots of threads which I thought looked relevant to me. They have helped immensely - but I still have LOADS of questions!

I tend to waffle a bit, so let me try and bullet-point what the craic is and what I'm looking for.

- I'm ~23st, intent on losing 10 stone in a year;
- At the end of that year, I want to do a charity solo ride: 240 miles over 4/5 days visiting every location of the organisation I work for in the North West of England as well as the village of my colleague who recently passed away;
- I haven't been on a bike since I was a kid, I'm 26 now;
- At the moment I don't have a lot of money and I'm really torn between buying a £20 used bike to batter or if I go new, really can't see me spending £200+ on a bike at the moment.
- From what I've read, I'm keen on getting a hybrid or tourer as it'll probably be best for my needs

I think that's the main points. On the point regarding buying a new bike, I've attached some links for you guys to see the kind of thing I'm exploring at the moment:

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bik...lassic-bikes/apollo-transfer-mens-hybrid-bike

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/original-300-hybrid-bike-white-id_8245553.html

http://www.tesco.com/direct/classic...s-bike/211-3592.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=211-3592

http://www.tesco.com/direct/vertigo...g-bike/296-7737.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=296-7737

If I bought new now and used it as my 'get fit tool' would it still be in decent condition to use on my planned tour next year?

The tight-fisted git in me says go for a £20 gumtree or recycled job, but worried about it being a bad do and putting me off the whole idea of cycling more - which I'm currently really keen on due to now living in the Ribble Valley, surrounded by amazing places to go.

Any advice is much appreciated as I've very little idea of the in's and out's of all of this - so please be brutally honest with me!

Cheers,

Nathan

 

[vickster]

Of the ones you've listed, the Decathlon, by a country mile. Don't buy an Apollo from Halfords or a bike from a supermarket! Or look for something second hand f confident to do so

At your weight, you will want to buy carefully, speak to the guys at Decathlon - there will be a weight limit on the bikes, but this is more down to wheels than the frame

Also look at something more rugged like the Rockrider range. e.g. http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-300-mountain-bike-id_8284495.html
A £20 bike from Gumtree may easily cost £100+ in parts to get it and keep it running

A reasonable bike should last a year if looked after - but why not treat yourself with the money saved by eating less and more healthily (saving on takeaways, junk and especially booze if that's an issue) Put the money in a jar

It'll be hard to start, get some decent padded lycra shorts as your nether regions WILL hurt to start with, wear under something looser fitting if you feel more comfy that way

Good luck with your plans...weight loss will be mainly down to diet, cycling will make you feel fitter and better

 

[iamRayRay]

^ well said Vickster

Save a few more quid a week and put aside what you can, diet is a huge contributing factor to losing weight.

When you start cycling first, just go as far as you are comfortable with and remember. The 'You' that is out cycling is fitter and better than the 'You' sat at home doing nothing.

 

[Katherine]

Build up the miles slowly to start with. Good luck. We'll enjoy following your progress.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Another vote for the Rockrider as suggested by @vickster. A basic rigid frame mountain bike like this will convert quite well into a go anywhere tourer as I've done with mine:

Being very strapped for cash at the time I narrowed it down to the Hawk shown above or the Rockrider. The decision ended up being based on the fact my nearest Decathlon is 40 miles away and I think I picked the wrong one. It's a decent bike now but has taken a lot of work to get there.

 

[doughnut]

I got a Rockrider from Decathlon about 14 months ago and used it to get me into cycling. Its never let me down. Probably cycled about 1000 miles along the canal path and roads before I decided to get a road bike as well. If I want to go offroad anytime though, the Rockrider comes out. Last year, if you bought a Decathlon bike, then you got a free service after 3 months - I would think they still do that.

@iamRayRay is right - when you start just go with what you are comfortable with. I would say for the first month or 6 weeks I was riding just 5 miles at a time, 4 times a week - that was enough to get my heart pounding. After that I increased the distance slightly every week or so. Watch what you eat and the weight will drop off.

 

[stoatsngroats]

I can't advise on any particular bike, I would advise a racer though, for aerodynamic efficiency - that's just a personal choice!
I can say that cycling will seem hard at first, seat bones, fat loss, breathing, hills and distance will all improve the more you do, but you have to rest too. I was 15st at my heaviest, (the reason I started cycling after a long time away from exercise), and on a local hill, I had to try 3 times over 2 weeks, before i could summit, but, after a couple of months, rode to the top, and then a further 56 miles. A few months later. a charity ride of 50+ miles, and I completed in 3 hrs 45 mins, not the fastest, but I achieved everything I set out to achieve.It was emotional approaching the finish, I'll treasure it for the rest of my life!

Good luck with your plans, don't give up - face the challenge, enjoy it, and take it easy!

 

[LocalLad]

If you've got a tight budget then look around to see if there are any second hand bike charities near you...in my town (north east England) there's a place that takes in second hand bikes and does them up to sell, so whilst second hand should be in tip top condition

 

[DanDeerskin]

Folks, massive thanks for all the advice - overwhelmed to come back to so many replies with lots of ideas to think about.

I also took a trip to my local bike shop and had a great chat with the guy down there. Don't get me wrong, it was really useful to 'chat' rather than just type and search on the laptop, but the ultimate advice to look at spending £200~ on a 2nd hand bike which originally would have cost double new, was a suggestion that didn't really sit well with me!

The Rockrider is certainly taking my interest now that I know it has served people so well on the likes of canal paths, etc. I'm going to look into what sort of maximum weight they will take, I maybe have to work on getting some pounds off first however at the same time, I don't want to come to October and think "my weight is ready, but look at that awful weather/it's dark early/[insert excuse here]". I'd love to be in some good habits by the end of the summer in an ideal world!

 

[LocalLad]

One other thought is to check if your work do a cycle to work scheme - you could effectively buy the bike out of your pre tax earning, so save quite a chunk.

whilst being a bit heavier you'll need to be careful, if it were me,id grab a bike and get cracking...bothering little about the limits. Perhaps get a service after few monthto check it over.

Good luck with the weight loss...it will be tough going,but keep your eyes on the goal! I've found that regularly weighing myself and putting it into an app has helped - when I see the inevitable increases, the graph showing a big loss overall puts it into context

 

[DanDeerskin]

Hi LocalLad,

The Cycle to Work Scheme is available at my employer however I'm yet to be moved to a more permanent contract which means I can't access it (although I am waiting a response from them to see if a supporting letter from my manager would do the trick - as I really am permanent in all but the contract). I missed out going permanent last year as I hadn't been with the company a year by the date of renewal - 17 days short. So I'm hoping to hear in the next month that come the end of July I will be going permanent - only the fact I had 4 months off due to my mental health might put a spanner in the works.

Another option is that my employer hires bikes out they are Trek 7.0 FX - anyone have experience with them. Well If I wait till July 1st, I can pay £50 and have it for up to a year. I've seen I'm about 16lbs over the max load for it so that's potentially my first goal, get myself under that then hire one of these bikes unless a better alternative pops up in the mean time.

My official weigh in day to start the whole process off was today, however I have lost 3lbs in the last week just by being more mindful of what I eat and how much of it so that's a good start. The missus is on the same sort of journey to lose weight, so we are using the Wii Fit for the Graph, I've an excel spreadsheet set up and in the past I have quited like having a phone app to look at so might get onto that too!