I want a _proper_ bike!

[Supermouse The]

I few years ago, with my stonking great 150 UKP of saved
cash, I bought myself a mountain bike for 'mainly
offroading'. New. Yes, the bike shop said to go second hand
too, but I got new.

It's been great for what I wanted it for. Very, very comfy
gel saddle, stable, nice and sticky, likes going uphill
(even up steps) and a lot of fun. I based my decision on the
advice I got here and we've been very happy together, since.

But now I'm in Aylesbury. The Land of Tarmac. And the poor
old plug can't handle it. It feels... sticky. Draggy. Noisy
and slow. I run out of gears far too quickly.

So I want a road bike.

I ride an 18" frame, and have a short torso and I want to go
quickly and on tarmac, on A roads and B roads and only those
cycle paths that are very, very flat (Oxford has loads).
This will be my first road bike.

I want to be able to go quite far too: several hours cycling
a day when I need to.

You lot are very knowledgeable and, last time I was here,
helpful. I'm not knowledgeable, I'm clueless about road
bikes. I mean, I can mend a puncture and put the brakes back
and I know I want a 54 (or around there, it could have been
52) spoked cog... thingy near the pedals. And shimano gears,
apparently, but I don't know why. And drop handlebars (and
this time I do know why, but can't articulate it.) And a
_comfy_ saddle, but I knew that even when I bought Old
Faithful. Partly becuase you lot stressed this.

After this, I run out of language and being to feel very
ignorant indeed.

My budget this time is bigger, a few hundred pounds, but
we're still not talking state-of-the-art. And, this time,
I'll listen to the advice and go second hand, if it's
recommended.

What sort of names of bike should I be looking at? And why?
If I get good answers, I might ending up cycling over to buy
people a beer.

Someone I know is considering a tour from The Netherlands to
the south of France, and I'm considering going. On this
bike. It's something else to bear in mind.

Thanks in advance. Any thrown tomatoes can go into a salad
and I can use the flames to cook burgers. :0)

Cordially,
--
Supermouse The Mouse of the rising sun.

[Stan Cox]

Supermouse The Rodent wrote:
> I few years ago, with my stonking great 150 UKP of saved
> cash, I bought myself a mountain bike for 'mainly
> offroading'. New. Yes, the bike shop said to go second
> hand too, but I got new.
>
> It's been great for what I wanted it for. Very, very
> comfy gel saddle, stable, nice and sticky, likes going
> uphill (even up steps) and a lot of fun. I based my
> decision on the advice I got here and we've been very
> happy together, since.
>
> But now I'm in Aylesbury. The Land of Tarmac. And the poor
> old plug can't handle it. It feels... sticky. Draggy.
> Noisy and slow. I run out of gears far too quickly.
>
> So I want a road bike.
>
> I ride an 18" frame, and have a short torso and I want to
> go quickly and on tarmac, on A roads and B roads and only
> those cycle paths that are very, very flat (Oxford has
> loads). This will be my first road bike.
>
> I want to be able to go quite far too: several hours
> cycling a day when I need to.
>
> You lot are very knowledgeable and, last time I was here,
> helpful. I'm not knowledgeable, I'm clueless about road
> bikes. I mean, I can mend a puncture and put the brakes
> back and I know I want a 54 (or around there, it could
> have been 52) spoked cog... thingy near the pedals. And
> shimano gears, apparently, but I don't know why. And drop
> handlebars (and this time I do know why, but can't
> articulate it.) And a _comfy_ saddle, but I knew that even
> when I bought Old Faithful. Partly becuase you lot
> stressed this.
>
> After this, I run out of language and being to feel very
> ignorant indeed.
>
> My budget this time is bigger, a few hundred pounds, but
> we're still not talking state-of-the-art. And, this time,
> I'll listen to the advice and go second hand, if it's
> recommended.
>
> What sort of names of bike should I be looking at? And
> why? If I get good answers, I might ending up cycling over
> to buy people a beer.
>
> Someone I know is considering a tour from The Netherlands
> to the south of France, and I'm considering going. On this
> bike. It's something else to bear in mind.
>
> Thanks in advance. Any thrown tomatoes can go into a salad
> and I can use the flames to cook burgers. :0)
>
> Cordially,

Go talk to local bike shop. If they are any good they will
give impartial advice. They sometimes have ads for
secondhand bikes. Chances are they will know the person and
bike for sale and be able to tell you if it worth it. Oh and
for gods sake get one that fits.

Stan Cox

[Zog The Undenia]

Supermouse The Rodent wrote:

> I few years ago, with my stonking great 150 UKP of saved
> cash, I bought myself a mountain bike for 'mainly
> offroading'. New. Yes, the bike shop said to go second
> hand too, but I got new.
>
> It's been great for what I wanted it for. Very, very
> comfy gel saddle, stable, nice and sticky, likes going
> uphill (even up steps) and a lot of fun. I based my
> decision on the advice I got here and we've been very
> happy together, since.
>
> But now I'm in Aylesbury. The Land of Tarmac. And the poor
> old plug can't handle it. It feels... sticky. Draggy.
> Noisy and slow. I run out of gears far too quickly.
>
> So I want a road bike.
>
> I ride an 18" frame, and have a short torso and I want to
> go quickly and on tarmac, on A roads and B roads and only
> those cycle paths that are very, very flat (Oxford has
> loads). This will be my first road bike.
>
> I want to be able to go quite far too: several hours
> cycling a day when I need to.
>
> You lot are very knowledgeable and, last time I was here,
> helpful. I'm not knowledgeable, I'm clueless about road
> bikes. I mean, I can mend a puncture and put the brakes
> back and I know I want a 54 (or around there, it could
> have been 52) spoked cog... thingy near the pedals. And
> shimano gears, apparently, but I don't know why. And drop
> handlebars (and this time I do know why, but can't
> articulate it.) And a _comfy_ saddle, but I knew that even
> when I bought Old Faithful. Partly becuase you lot
> stressed this.
>
> After this, I run out of language and being to feel very
> ignorant indeed.
>
> My budget this time is bigger, a few hundred pounds, but
> we're still not talking state-of-the-art. And, this time,
> I'll listen to the advice and go second hand, if it's
> recommended.
>
> What sort of names of bike should I be looking at? And
> why? If I get good answers, I might ending up cycling over
> to buy people a beer.
>
> Someone I know is considering a tour from The Netherlands
> to the south of France, and I'm considering going. On this
> bike. It's something else to bear in mind.

Do you need the facility to carry luggage on a rack, and
fit mudguards? If so, it's easy; a Dawes Galaxy is probably
your best bet.

If you want the bike for riding as fast as possible and
maybe joining a local road club, then a racing bike is what
you want [1]. It's very important to get the correct size
frame - should be between 4" and 6" of seatpost showing when
the saddle is at the correct height - and you might want a
triple chainset to cope with hills unless you're very strong
or you live in the flatlands (hello, PSF). Shimano Tiagra
components are good enough for racing and you should get at
least some of these on a £500 bike. Budget racing bikes are
hard to find, but Halfords have a limited range called
Carrera, and you could try www.ribblecycles.co.uk for
something semi-bespoke.

[1] Having said that, I did a 29.37 last night in the local
club "10" on my fully mudguarded, racked and dynamoed
Thorn Nomad, but it wasn't pleasant. My racing bike is
dry weather only, you see.

[Tony B]

I had a Dawes Galaxy last time I was a cyclist (mid 80's) nw
I've got a Dawes Audax, they are both brilliant but I think
I'll like the Audax better, it's a great road bike. Maybe a
bit dear at £600? Maybe find a used one somewhere.

Before I decided to pay the extra I was pretty set on buying
off the Edinburg Cycle Cooperative, their road bikes look
reat and CHEAP!!

Best of luck,

Tony B

[Iarocu]

Supermouse The Rodent <Supermouse@therodent.org.uk> wrote in message news:<UucWWPBXFokAFw61@ntlworld.com>...
>> What sort of names of bike should I be looking at? And
>> why? If I
get
> good answers, I might ending up cycling over to buy
> people a beer.
>
> Someone I know is considering a tour from The Netherlands
> to the south of France, and I'm considering going. On this
> bike. It's something else to bear in mind.
>
>For a cheap tourer try www.Cycling2000.co.uk. Their
>advert in the
current CTC magazine has 2002 model Dawes Horizons for £360
(RRP£474)
or if your spending a bit more 2004 dawes Galaxys for £529
(RRP£699)
Iain C

[Peter Clinch]

Simon Brooke wrote:

> or, if you prefer something more comfortable and relaxed
>
> HP Velotechnic Grasshopper
>
> - the current tourer of choice on the dark side

It's only been out a couple of months and hardly anyone's
actually owned one yet, so I think that's pushing things a
bit! With 'bents you really have to try them and see if you
like that particular one, unlike diamond frame bikes they
are not basically all the same to anything like the same
degree. The Grasshopper is lighter and a little lower than
the Streetmachine, but I prefer the Streetmachine: the seat
suits me better and the luggage carrying setup is better for
serious loads IMHO. Having said that, I'd say the
Speedmachine is more the optimum Audax bike from HPVel
(faster, but only allows a rear carrier).

And there's plenty of others. Roos is currently awaiting
delivery of a Nazca Fiero though she's tried all the
HPVels and had the money to have any of them, but she
bought the cheaper Fiero as it suited her better. If you
want a comfy cruiser well worth an audition, as would be
the M5 Shockproof, Challenge Hurricane and Optima Stinger
amongst others.

Especially once you've added whistles and bells you're
looking at expensive bikes here. A basic Fiero is the
cheapest of those I've mentioned and we're already into low
4 figures, but if you do have the money I can only recommend
them for what you want. They're an order of magnitude more
comfortable than an upright (yes, really that much over a
several hour stint) and IME just more fun to ride.
Disadvantages are mainly you can't really ride with the
local road packs (you're faster in some places, slower in
others, so pack riding mixed mode if everyone's trying to go
as fast as they can just doesn't really work), so if you
want to do that then get a conventional racer.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[Paul]

In article <c77ia0$s7g$1@dux.dundee.ac.uk>,
p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk says...
> > HP Velotechnic Grasshopper
> >
> > - the current tourer of choice on the dark side
>
>
I want one of those :-(

--
.paul

If at first you don't succeed... Skydiving is probably not
the sport for you.