Time for a new bike

[User16625]

My current bike has seen better days so I have been searching around for road racing cycles and found this:

http://www.jejamescy...64249.html#info

Does this sound like a good deal to you? Just looking for more opinions on a bike before I decide to order one. I will check out a few more before buying aswell. Any alternative recommendations and advice appriciated.

 

[gaz]

Unless you are going to be doing time trials, getting a time trial bike is not reccomended.
They are designed to go as fast as possible in straight lines and they are not the most stable bikes in corners.
Going by the price of that bike as your upper limit, then you could get something like this..

Focus Cayo 105
Boardman Team Road Bike
Cannondale CAAD 8 105

those are much better suited for road use and are all very highly rated.

 

[Rob3rt]

My current bike has seen better days so I have been searching around for road racing cycles and found this:

http://www.jejamescy...64249.html#info

Does this sound like a good deal to you? Just looking for more opinions on a bike before I decide to order one. I will check out a few more before buying aswell. Any alternative recommendations and advice appriciated.

Thats a TT bike! It will handle like crap compared to a standard road bike, and like I said before you will look like a prick riding that in any capacity other than a triathlon or a time trial (or training for the previous).


Note the comment "With its triathlon specific geometry", do you or are you going to be riding triathlons? If not, then this bike is not a bike that will suit you.


Why dont you list your requirements and people can suggest things that arent absolutelly absurd to you.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

My current bike has seen better days so I have been searching around for road racing cycles and found this:

http://www.jejamescy...64249.html#info

Does this sound like a good deal to you? Just looking for more opinions on a bike before I decide to order one. I will check out a few more before buying aswell. Any alternative recommendations and advice appriciated.

As has been said it is NOT a road racing bike. It IS a TT / Triathlon bike

 

[Rob3rt]

I'd also add it is a crime to ride a TT frame without deep section wheels at least twice the depth of those rims! So factor in at least another £500-£1k for wheels and tubulars if you go down the TT bike route!

Oh you also need a skin suit and a pointy helmet, there goes another £300!

Wearing baggy clothing whilst riding on a TT bike gives drivers the right to knock you off then reverse back over you!

 

[cyberknight]

Where do the mudgaurds and rack fit

For normal road riding a normal bike will be more comfortable and you can always sticka pair of clip on aero bars should you want to do a TT.
Unless you are really into your TT then a dedicated bike is not really needed i think.

 

[WychwoodTrev]

What is it with all these rules youcant do this or you should only buy one of those for tts. How many mtbs have seen a mountain not many plus how many fit road tyres on mtb because its only used on the road, how many of you comute 20 or less miles on a sportive/audax bike shame on you for not doing 100 miles per journey. Then there are those on here who ride full carbon racing bike wearing full team lycra and average 15 mph or less will their bike ever see a race.


Ride what you want you pay the money its your choice. I will add allways have a good test ride make sure you are comfortable that is a good pricemy lbs are asking the full £1500 for those at the min

 

[Angelfishsolo]

What is it with all these rules youcant do this or you should only buy one of those for tts. How many mtbs have seen a mountain not many plus how many fit road tyres on mtb because its only used on the road, how many of you comute 20 or less miles on a sportive/audax bike shame on you for not doing 100 miles per journey. Then there are those on here who ride full carbon racing bike wearing full team lycra and average 15 mph or less will their bike ever see a race.


Ride what you want you pay the money its your choice. I will add allways have a good test ride make sure you are comfortable that is a good pricemy lbs are asking the full £1500 for those at the min

The main reason for saying not to get that bike is that it is designed to go in a straight line. Roads tends to have lots of bends in them.

 

[Rob3rt]

The main reason for saying not to get that bike is that it is designed to go in a straight line. Roads tends to have lots of bends in them.

Plus roads have other users on them such as cars, cyclists and other unpredictable things such as pigeons and the occasional pedestrian, such a bike isnt designed to cope with this sort of thing. Also you would have to relinquish control to reach to the aero bar every time you change gear.

 

[gaz]

What is it with all these rules youcant do this or you should only buy one of those for tts. How many mtbs have seen a mountain not many plus how many fit road tyres on mtb because its only used on the road, how many of you comute 20 or less miles on a sportive/audax bike shame on you for not doing 100 miles per journey. Then there are those on here who ride full carbon racing bike wearing full team lycra and average 15 mph or less will their bike ever see a race.


Ride what you want you pay the money its your choice. I will add allways have a good test ride make sure you are comfortable that is a good pricemy lbs are asking the full £1500 for those at the min

TT bikes are designed to do a very specific thing and to do so under certain circumstances.
As has been said several times, a TT bike is designed to go as fast as possible in a straight line.
They do not corner like other bikes and can be quite dangerous, most TT courses have very few corners and many of them are not sharp. Any which do feature sharp corners and you will notice a few crashes.

TT races often take place on close roads/circuits or on roads which have little traffic on them. This makes using them easier under races circumstances but using them on a road where there are many hazards and lots of stopping and starting it is dangerous.

Factor in where the controls are, the brakes and gear systems are separated on the handle bars, unlike other bicycles which have brakes and gear controls in similar positions so you can use them at the same time. A big problem with TT bikes is the lack of braking whilst you are on the aero bars, to get to the brakes you have to shift your whole body weight to get back up and move your hands a good distance. Changing gear whilst not on the aero bars also requires you to remove your hand(s) from the brakes.

They really are not designed to be used in situations where there is lots of braking and turning.

 

[endoman]

maybe the op wants a time trial bike?

 

[Rob3rt]

The op had another thread previously which alluded to the fact that he has never TT'ed before and that such a bike really doesnt suit his needs, I forget where the thread was though.

 

[User16625]

I'd also add it is a crime to ride a TT frame without deep section wheels at least twice the depth of those rims! So factor in at least another £500-£1k for wheels and tubulars if you go down the TT bike route!

Oh you also need a skin suit and a pointy helmet, there goes another £300!

Wearing baggy clothing whilst riding on a TT bike gives drivers the right to knock you off then reverse back over you!

Already got proper cycling clothes although not the pointy helmet. Cost me less than 10 times what you mentioned. May not be top of the range but after using baggies, I can shift up a cog or 2.
Dont necessarily have to be TT (was thinkin about it but just want something to go like hell on) but I do want a proper race bike with triple chainset as I live in a hilly area so I use a large range of ratios. Been searching around and found that pedals are often not included, wtf? You wouldnt buy a car without a steering wheel! Looking for something in the £1200 range. What should I generally be looking for in terms of parts and quality?

 

[gaz]

Already got proper cycling clothes although not the pointy helmet. Cost me less than 10 times what you mentioned. May not be top of the range but after using baggies, I can shift up a cog or 2.
Dont necessarily have to be TT (was thinkin about it but just want something to go like hell on) but I do want a proper race bike with triple chainset as I live in a hilly area so I use a large range of ratios. Been searching around and found that pedals are often not included, wtf? You wouldnt buy a car without a steering wheel! Looking for something in the £1200 range. What should I generally be looking for in terms of parts and quality?

Pedals are very personal for cyclists, so they don't sell them with the bike as it's generally not going to be the model which the cyclist wants to use.

I linked to some very highly rated bicycles that are in your price range (with a bit left over), it is worth looking at the specs of those and comparing them to others.

 

[cyberknight]

I live in a hilly area so I use a large range of ratios. Been searching around and found that pedals are often not included, wtf? You wouldnt buy a car without a steering wheel! Looking for something in the £1200 range. What should I generally be looking for in terms of parts and quality?

Look at bikes with sram apex groupset, you can run a 11-32 cassette with a 50/34 compact to give you a very wide range of gears, my bike has them i can can spin up pretty much anything and it gives you a fast enough top end as well.

As for pedals a lot of bikes at the more expensive end do not come with them as there are so many different sorts of pedal that the manufacturer would have a logistical nightmare stocking all the different sorts and it would increase the cost of the bike accordingly.