newbie question: which part to modify first?

31gna said:

Hi,

I'm a newbie at this forum and hope you could help me. Question, say you have an old road bike (which I have one right now that my uncle used to use and gave it to me), which part would you modify/upgrade first? Which part makes the most sense to upgrade? Right now, I'm leaning toward upgrading the pedals and buying myself a new pair of shoes since the bike only has those "bmx-type" of pedals since the bike wasnt used "seriously" (just for around the block trips). However, conscience and practicality dictates to me that I should upgrade other parts. What do you think?

btw, the bike is completely useful. Just needs some oiling and cleaning up but its functional 🙂

thanks for any input!!

Pedals and shoes are always good.Depending on what it is anything else could be a total waste of money. There were good old bikes and there was alot of old stuff that would be better in the recycle bin. You have given no useful info as to what you have.

you mean you need the details of the bike that I have now? brand, model, and all that? sorry didnt quite understand.

boudreaux said:

Pedals and shoes are always good.Depending on what it is anything else could be a total waste of money. There were good old bikes and there was alot of old stuff that would be better in the recycle bin. You have given no useful info as to what you have.

ya its an upgrade that will give you a real performance and comfort boost and you can always use em with another bike

Pedals and shoes are absolutely critical - I can't imagine riding with platform pedals and the associated inefficiencies. I would change those first thing. An equally important upgrade IMO is a good cyclocomputer with a heart rate monitor. Without a computer your training will be very limited, you will have trouble pacing yourself on longer rides and on climbs, and you will not understand how your body reacts under various conditions.