pinarello

[ed_o_brain]

Are there any bike recycling projects near you? These are usually a good place to start for a first bike. Early 90s MTBs with slick tyres make great first bikes if you can get them second hand where they are likely to be serviced and set-up well for a newbie cyclist.

The main thing is getting something that is stable and comfortable to ride; if you have got to lose wait and gain fitness then you are not going to get the benefit of a really light bike to begin with.

Then when you get the nice road bike, you can use the first bike as an all weather/pub/shopping bike.

 

[spikebadd]

Ive already got a mountain bike that ive put road tyres on which made it a bit better but i still get left behind by my missus on her road bike.

 

[ed_o_brain]

Now I'm intrigued. What MTB and what tyres? If it is well setup, there should be plenty of potential for you to at least hold her wheel.
This is considering men have a tendency to more easily develop muscle and develop lung capacity than women owing to all that testosterone (which also makes us go bald and die sooner!),

What bike does your missus ride? Is she a professional athlete?
Have you thought about a tandem?

 

[MajorMantra]

Are the sora gears anygood as ive been reading mixed reports?

They will be fine but if you get hooked you'll doubtless want something better. You can always upgrade of course.

The only real downside to Sora is that you can't easily shift to smaller rings/cogs from the drops but that may not bother you, particularly if you're just starting out.

Matthew

 

[garrilla]

All year round weather permitting? Does this mean no rain? No Snow? No Ice?

If you're happy to ride in the rain, you may want to get something that you can put mudgaurds on.

 

[RSV_Ecosse]

Hi,

I bought a Pinarello FP1 last July as my first road bike. I got it on our works Cyclescheme. It was on offer at my LBS for £899 at the time and with the Cyclescheme payments which finished recently, I ended up paying £528 all in for it which is a bit of a bargain. Mine was a late 2008 model and had Shimano Tiagra fitted rather than Sora which I believe they started fitting to the '09 bikes.

I have been using it all year round for both leisure and commuting. So far I have found it to be an excellent choice, as long as you look after them like any bike of any make, the finish and components are very durable and stand up well to the weather.

I've added a clip on rear mudguard for when I commute, easily removable for when it's dry and not required. The compact gearing seems fine to me, there are a few killer hills around where I live and some good climbs on my commute. Then again, I have nothing to compare the bike to so I am not really qualified to say whether the gearing would suit you either way.

Would I buy it all over again?. Well, yes, quite frankly. It is as already mentioned an "all out roadie" but it seems to be able to shrug off most jobs that get flung at it so it is also in my opinion, a bit of an "all rounder".

The MOst components on FP1's are pretty good quality but then you can always upgrade as you go along. Once you get the cycling bug big time you will probably do this anyway!. Our work has put a 3 year ban on applying for another bike on the Cyclescheme, I was looking at going for an FP3 but because of this I think I will stick with the FP1 and maybe upgrade to Ultegra at some point soon ( maybe Santa will be good to me this year! ).

I will be quite honest and say I initially bought the bike on the fact that it was reasonably well specced and at a good price but above all - It looked the business!!.

A year on and there are certainly some better specced bikes around I would have considered like the Boardman's, the PlanetX ones that have recently been on offer or even the Ribble bikes that came out this year but I am happy with my Pinarello. :?:

@spikebadd - Having owned it for a year, if there are any questions in particular you have on the FP1, fire away, PM me or drop me an email. More than happy to answer ( to the best of my ability, don't get to technical, mind! ).

 

[andyfromotley]

i think its a fine bike. But if you are spending £1k on a bike i think you can get better. you could certainly get a tiagra equipped bike or if you hunt around a 105 equip.

I think its quite a premuim to pay for a very desirable name. I got the Caad 9 105 for 1k. Theres the boardman carbon for the same money (awesome value). I could go on. Theres nothing wrong with the SORA kit i just think for that money you could get a little better.

Andy

 

[spikebadd]

rains fine not keen on snow or ice though