A bike for the beginner



Other thing to remember is that it always looks cooler flying past people on a crappy bike :-\ Whereas being passed easily while riding some 20 grand marvel is always that much harder to bear
 
I'd like to point out one thing - haggle on the price of what ever bike you choose.<br /><br />I went to buy an OCR3 but came out of the shop with an OCR2 because the shop owner was willing to drop his price.<br />I managed to cut the price difference between the two bikes by more than half and now that the 2003 models are coming out, I've seen 2002 OCR2 for the same price as OCR3'.
 
A second hand bike might be a good idea, if you buy it from a bike shop! The shop should be able to tell you whether the bike is the right fit and you could score a major deal (a friend bought a 2002 Trek 5500 for R12000, the bike had 300km on &gt;:( ).<br /><br />I bought an Omega, and although the bike is not that well known, I was very impressed with what I got. You might look at the bottom of the range, which you will see at a lot of fun rides. Go to www.lifestylemd.co.za and click on the Omega link.
 
I started to ride about 6 months ago and bought a Geneses Hybrid from some really great guys in Midrand who have spent hours helping me ... I have clocked over 1700 km's on my bike and it still goes faster than I can push it so I will still be able to grow into it ... I used the money I saved to buy really neat Shimano Shoes and those tiny pedals and I really get a thrill out of entering all the races I can cram into my body (these also cost a fortune) ... I would eventually like to get a road bike but my question is that can I still be comfortable on a road bike between 3.5 - 4 hrs which is my current time over 100km races? Would it really be worth the financial trade off ... sometimes you just want to enjoy the scenery! Maybe this is what a beginner should consider ... a neat, comfortable, affordable bike ... <br /><br />Remember : it is no good buying a 40K bike if you dont have 40k legs ...
 
One thing I've learnt: You will always upgrade your bike or it's components at some stage.