Sheepy1209
Veteran
- Location
- Blackpool
<EDIT1: I posted last week saying a friend was selling me his old bike - sadly his wife gave it away!!! D'Oh!>
<EDIT2: I meant to put this in Commuting, happy for it to be moved>
I did my first commute this morning – the weather here in Blackpool is absolutely perfect today so it seemed the ideal opportunity to give it a go. Twelve miles in 50 minutes without really trying too hard; it’s almost a totally flat route, hardly any lights or junctions, couldn’t get much better really. Until the wind picks up L.
I’ve been riding my old bike (an MTB-style bike with slicks) until I built up some fitness, and I didn’t want to buy a new one without knowing what I’d use it for – I also wanted to get a feel for local road conditions from a cyclist’s point of view. My budget’s pretty limited – plus I’ll need to go somewhere with a decent finance deal so second-hand isn’t really an option.
My route to work is along the sea wall most of the way – flat, solid surface, but prone to wind and sand. Inland routes are less windy but hillier. The sea wall is OK on my commute route but towards Fleetwood, where I’d want to use it for leisure rides, the concrete has broken away on the expansion gaps leading to a sometimes jarring ride.
I was looking at the Fuji Absolute DX, which seems to be around the £250 mark but there isn’t much information on it – most sites refer to it as a ‘hybrid’ but I get the impression it’s more towards the flat-barred road-bike end of the spectrum. I’d also consider the Absolute LX which among other things comes with a carbon fork – but would that cope with really poor surfaces?
At the opposite end of my options is the Giant CRS 3.0 FS; this has lockable front suspension. I don’t like suspension for road riding, but some of my routes are more hole than surface and I like the idea of being able to unlock the suspension when I need it.
Would a bike like the Fuji be damaged by riding on potholed surfaces? I can cope if I grit my teeth and shut my eyes on the bad bits, but I don’t want to end up with a new bike rattled to pieces.
For info I’m about 15 and a half stone, hoping to get down to 14 reasonably quickly.
Thanks!
<EDIT2: I meant to put this in Commuting, happy for it to be moved>
I did my first commute this morning – the weather here in Blackpool is absolutely perfect today so it seemed the ideal opportunity to give it a go. Twelve miles in 50 minutes without really trying too hard; it’s almost a totally flat route, hardly any lights or junctions, couldn’t get much better really. Until the wind picks up L.
I’ve been riding my old bike (an MTB-style bike with slicks) until I built up some fitness, and I didn’t want to buy a new one without knowing what I’d use it for – I also wanted to get a feel for local road conditions from a cyclist’s point of view. My budget’s pretty limited – plus I’ll need to go somewhere with a decent finance deal so second-hand isn’t really an option.
My route to work is along the sea wall most of the way – flat, solid surface, but prone to wind and sand. Inland routes are less windy but hillier. The sea wall is OK on my commute route but towards Fleetwood, where I’d want to use it for leisure rides, the concrete has broken away on the expansion gaps leading to a sometimes jarring ride.
I was looking at the Fuji Absolute DX, which seems to be around the £250 mark but there isn’t much information on it – most sites refer to it as a ‘hybrid’ but I get the impression it’s more towards the flat-barred road-bike end of the spectrum. I’d also consider the Absolute LX which among other things comes with a carbon fork – but would that cope with really poor surfaces?
At the opposite end of my options is the Giant CRS 3.0 FS; this has lockable front suspension. I don’t like suspension for road riding, but some of my routes are more hole than surface and I like the idea of being able to unlock the suspension when I need it.
Would a bike like the Fuji be damaged by riding on potholed surfaces? I can cope if I grit my teeth and shut my eyes on the bad bits, but I don’t want to end up with a new bike rattled to pieces.
For info I’m about 15 and a half stone, hoping to get down to 14 reasonably quickly.
Thanks!
