First bike for newbie cyclist

[bspirou]

Hi all,

I have been doing some research and test rides in a quest to purchase my first road bike. The Felt F6 has really caught my eye, but as a rookie road cyclist, I'm thinking that maybe I should go with an aluminum frame until I work out how prone I may or may not be to crashes and/or spills. I do have some MTB experience (recreational riding), and I only crashed when I tried to push my limits.

Anyway, I do plan to race (mostly tris, maybe some cycling races), so I'm thinking that I will benefit from the carbon frame, but maybe the aluminum frame will better suit me until I learn the subtleties of road cycling (and how to assess a bike) and figure out how crash/spill prone I may or may not be. (FYI, I am not interested in getting a tri-specific bike.)

I'd appreciate your thoughts suggestions on frame material, and if you have general comments on Felt Bikes or the F6 in particular, that would be great too.

Thanks!

 

[wa0elm]

I agree that the F6 is an excellent bike for your long term goals. If you're worried about crashing or other damage to a carbon frame, you might look at an aluminum F-series frame. I recently bought an F85, and found ot was very responsive, and was a great step up from my previous bike.

As you progress, and find your needs or wants in a bicycle change, you can look at more specialized framests and components that would better suit your needs. You might even find that a production bike won't do what you're looking for, and may start looking at building a custom bike from the ground up.

Just my $.02, hope it helps.

 

[bspirou]

Thanks for your input! I am still undecided at this point - just having a hard time deciding...!