Switch from hybrid to road bike

[Saf]

Hello,

I realise a little of this question (or questions!) will be answered by the sticky "My advice to newbies" but I wanted to get peoples opinions anyway.

I'm 28 and have in the last week and half taken up biking again, I last rode bikes when I was 13! My problem is I'm not very fit, heavy or strong. I've borrowed my brothers hybrid, Ridgeback Tempest which is a bit of a heavy bike, it's got 24 gears, disc brakes (no I'm not trying to show off just including any info. that may be relevant ), speedo, slick tyres and mudguards!

I'm trying to build up towards being able to commute to work and back which will be 5.5 miles each way, however when I ride my brothers bike I get tired easily. I'm talking small trips of less than 10 minutes each. It seems to just get too heavy to keep going along at a decent speed. I'm lucky if I average around 10 MPH.

My question is, if I switch to a road bike will I get a vast improvement over the current bike? I'm hoping to average about 15 MPH so hopefully the trip to work will be less than 30 minutes but at the moment that doesn't seem at all possible on the current bike.

So should I:

A) buy a road bike
:?: keep using the current bike and simply keep practicing

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Banjo]

Hi Saf I am in a similar position to you.Havent ridden bikes very much since being a youngster now at 50 trying to get a bit of fitness back and have an alternative means of transport.

My commute is only 2.5 miles each way (though it does involve some steep bits) At the moment I cant do that every day as well as leisure time rides without getting exhausted ..Furthest leisure ride I have done was 10 miles and I paid for that with really sore thigh muscles.

I think the way ahead is to just do what your comfortable with keep in easy gears and dont worry about speed .. I wouldnt rush in to spending a lot of money just yet. My plan is to carry on with my basic second hand Hybrid I bought for £60 for at least 6 months before upgrading.By then I will have a better idea of what bike to get and know my own fitness levels.

If I were you I would do short frequent rides on your borrowed bike for a bit longer before spending hard earned dosh.

good Luck

 

[MacB]

Saf, you should see a rapid improvement, as long as it isn't uncomfortable I'd stick with the current bike for now. The only way you'd see an instant 5mph improvement by switching is if the current bike is a really bad fit. Make sure you set it up right for you, saddle height is really important. I'm amazed by how high my saddle is now, but it's so much easier to pedal. I followed advice on here whereby I sat on the bike and, with a straight leg, my heel should just be on the pedal at the bottom(6 o'clock) position. You can then tweak the saddle from there. Another tip that seems to be accurate for me is, saddle too high pain behind knee, too low pain in front of knee.

If you get to decent speeds on a heavy bike imagine how much fun it'll then be on a lighter bike? I've improved from nearly 10mph to nearly 13mph on my 40 mile run, having done it 10 times. If I do a shorter, 10 mileish run, without panniers, I can get up above 15mph average. I've done more miles on a bike this year, than the rest of my 42 years added together.

 

[Radius]

Despite the fact that, yes, I notice/d how much lighter my road bike is than my Ridgeback hybrid, I don't think that's a good enough excuse. I can go plenty fast on both. Until you're fit enough, I don't think it will make much difference saving a couple of kgs. It's like (guitar analogy time) having a really good guitar when you're a beginner player; at first, it's hard to notice the difference until you become more proficient, when the instrument starts limiting your abilities, rather than the other way round

 

[Saf]

Thanks for the reply Banjo, sensible advise for sure. I've just been reading one of your threads and I realised that my seat is all wrong at the moment. I can touch the floor with the balls of my feet so it seems too low.

Also thanks to you too MacBludgeon, re-itterated the point of the seat position. The bike itself is great and not uncomfortable in the slightest, my brother used to use it for similar trips so I know it must be ok to commute to work and back but he is a lot stronger and fitter than me.

I'll keep going with this bike and adjusting the seat. I don't actually get any knee pain the pain is all in my front thighs and just above the ankle at the back but admittedly it has gotten better over the last week and a half.

 

[Randochap]

All good advice here Saf. It's the engine needs tuning first. Once that's done, you can think about lightening and streamlining the rest of the "parts."

Then you'll be able to appreciate the difference.

Hang out here and at other bicycle sites. Do some reading and research.

At first, don't overdo it. Take on modest rides, three times a week. Put in effort, but listen to your body when it wants rest. The most important part of "adaptation" is the part spent on the couch.

 

[HJ]

Don't get too hung up about the whole hybrid/road bike thing, a lot of it is just snobbery. Not all hybrid bikes are slow and heavy, for a commute of about 5.5 miles, a road road wont make a vast improvement. It is more important to get a bike which you are comfortable with and is fun to ride. At the end of the day it is not the bike you ride that's make you fast, its how good you legs are...

 

[just4fun]

Hi Saf and welcome to the forums.
I think B would be my answer.

i've also recently start commuting to work, its only 3.5 miles each way but as an unfit person i have found this really heard, the things that have made a diference to me, is the seat position which i still need to raise a bit, and also i bought a set of skinny slick road tyres for my mountain bike. this has made it slightly smoother and has taken my average and personal best speed up too. i was suprised at the diferance this has made.

I would say as a beginner 15mph is a fast average speed. also dont worry about your speed as it will naturally improve over time. i recommend that you give yourself and hour for the cycle at first so you can take it easier and allow yourself time to cycle at a comfy pace. any time under the hour you spend getting to work can be used to cool down.
Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Cedric]

Hi Saf!

I've been cycling to work for about six months now on a three mile commute. I didn't have a bike as a kid and this has been my first experience of cycling. The thing that most discouraged me was reading posts about newbies who were commuting ten miles and upwards . I found my commute difficult for the first few weeks. The mistakes that I made which made my commute over taxing were as follows.

1. Saddle too low (as already pointed out by the far more experienced). You feel safer with your saddle low, but it only takes a few rides for a properly raised saddle to feel just as safe with it properly adjusted.

2. Tyres underinflated. It's a lot easier to ride on optimally inflated tyres.

3. Cycling at a low cadence/ in too high a gear. Again I think that this is a security thing. In a high gear you get a lot of feedback to your leg muscles. This makes you feel like you are in control of the pace and movements of your bike. It took me a long time to learn to cycle in easier gears and in a higher cadence. I think this is called spinning?

I also had the added irritation of having my saddle set at the wrong angle and my handlebars too high. I'd advise you to do your full commute every day, but simply to get of and push your bike at the most difficult bits. This is how I got into the habit of not using the bus or car. It's still a lot quicker to commute bike/walking than by just walking. Give yourself plenty of time and don't compete against your previous personal bests, at least not on a daily basis. You'll be managing fine soon enough.

 

[summerdays]

I would say stick with what you have at the moment... your body isn't used to cycling and that is why its complaining... I even feel this way after a few weeks off but it comes back much quicker. Note how long it takes you to do a specific route and then compare the time next week and see if you are speeding up/or finding it easier. I can remember a hill that I couldn't get up, and gradually each time I tried it I got a little further.

Also you would need time to develop that idea of what you would want from a bike... so you could start looking at other peoples bikes and glancing in shop windows etc.

 

[tyred]

You'll get there through practice and fine tuning the bike to suit yourself as others have said. Don't worry too much about the weight of the bike. It doesn't matter too much on short rides and with 24 gears, you should have something to suit all terrains when you have had a little practice and built some strenght (which you will do quite quickly). Just don't over do it in the beginning. If your body feels like it needs a rest, then it probably does. And the one good thing about riding a heavy weight bike is that you will appreciate a lightweight more if you do get one at a later date.

 

[garrilla]

I'm thinking of switching froma hybrid to audax/sportif/winter.

When I got back into commuting daily I didn't have much spare cash (or self-belief) so I purchased a Dawes Discovery for a daily commute (10 miles in, 3 miles out). I've had to replace a lot of stuff on this bike though - wheels, rear cassette, chain - and I'm in need of a new chain and chain rings now.

Basically, my ride is in the gutter and there is a lot detritus there. The weather doesn't help either and the roads are gritty/salty/etc.

I've been riding now for two years plus so I've been saving money for a new bike and I can now afford c. £800. I'd like a road bike but I must have mudguards so basically I've come to the the point where I'm of think it is best is to choose audux/sportif/winter.

Does anyone have a views? recovcommnds? Things I should consider, p[artculalry comparable sizes/geometry etc?

 

[Saf]

Thanks again for all the replies. I guess I'm just trying to get on with it too fast. Small tweaking and slightly longer trips each day will be the call for this week then I'll try a trip to work on a Saturday so it doesn't matter if I make it all the way or not

Thanks for the tip about the tyre pressure, I first started on badly pumped tyres as the bike had been sitting at my brothers home doing nothing for 6 months and I didn't bother checking it. Once I pumped it up I immediately noticed the difference.

When I'm ready for my own I should be able to utilise the cycle to work scheme which should save me a fair bit too.

 

[MacB]

Also you would need time to develop that idea of what you would want from a bike... so you could start looking at other peoples bikes and glancing in shop windows etc.

Do not, I repeat do not, start looking in shop windows, it's too easy to just step across the threshold and you're lost!!!! Look at other bikes at stations, work etc far easier and cheaper, even start chatting to some bods, folks like talking about their machines.

Good advice on the tyre pressures, even at minimum recommended levels mine still feel like concrete compared to what I'd have pumped them to before.

 

[Radius]

Good advice on the tyre pressures, even at minimum recommended levels mine still feel like concrete compared to what I'd have pumped them to before.

This is very true. T'other day was checking the road bike tyres again after perhaps a week or two without re-pumping, and they'd gone down to 60psi from their original 100! Keep checking, you wont be able to feel the difference with your fingers all that easily.