Please help me decide between some 'beginner' bikes

Looks like you have little/no experience with a keyboard as well.

Best advice is ride ride ride -- buy what turns you on after riding a lot of em. And get fit by a good shop, fit is very important.

Greg_UK said:

hi,

im just getting into cycling and have little/no experience on a road bike. im 17 years old and about 6 foot tall, so i guess i will need a bike around 58cm (too large???)

anyway, iv researched alot recently and found a few bikes within my price range, tho some need more saving up than others and i really want to start soon. i was thinking of:

Trek 1000
Giant OCR 3
Dawes Giro 300
Saracen Ventoux

what u all think?

thanks.

Any of those bikes will serve you well. Just make sure you are fitted by a very patient attentive person. Its not so much about the bike. Its more about the fit of the bike you ride.
Pedals and shoes are important too. Make sure you get a good pedal system and shoes with a carbon< hard> sole. The make sure you get some sort of orthotic for the inside of the shoe that includes a "metatarsal button". Any pharmacy or foot specialist store will know what I"m talking about. Don't ignore this advice. If you do you'll pay the price.
Eric

RC2 said:

Looks like you have little/no experience with a keyboard as well.

what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Greg_UK said:

what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Tough one, isn't it?

After seeing more than one comment like those interjected into this thread, I just had to make a comment. The young gentleman came here wanting concrete advice, not to be belittled for the way he typed his message. It is attitudes like that displayed that turn people off about an activity. Even though it wasn't directed at me, it even has me a little turned off about returning to cycling myself if that's they way relative newcomers are going to be treated. Flame away.

Huh? He typed his entire message without the use of the shift or ' buttons, purposefully misspelling words like "you", etc. That makes it harder to read for a geezer like me. How much time does it actually take to shift? I point this out above w/o being very negative (actually I had intended a humorous tone, but if that's not what you took away, OK), alongside a constructive answer to the original question, and I'm getting chastized? LOL Let's all practice our senses of humor folks. 🙄

Sorry. I'm a bit sensitive about comments like that recently. I do volunteer work at the school where my dad teaches and witnessed a very bright young lady basically give up many of her educational dreams because of something similar.

Well, glad to see that you are taking a step in the right direction. A good road bike is one thing that you will enjoy. As with anything worth spending money on, the more you spend, the more you get. I'm not a big fan of Giant bikes (had a bad experiance on one) but they do pack in a lot of "bang for buck" value. Like listed above, make sure it fits you properly and have fun! If you can afford a little more, look at Orbea. They make the GREATEST bikes in the world! (Sorry, I own two of them). Good Luck! 😄

Bikes in the same price range tend to be similar. Buy the one that fits best. Also, I think if you like the way your bike looks, you will tend to ride it more. Still, comfort and fit are most important. Try them all.

I currently ride the Trek 1200 which is the same as the 1000 but with an upgrade of components. I find it a very nice ride and have not regretted buying it.

But of course my friend's dad had an older one that he let me ride so I knew that the fit was right for me. So I would go with the advice of which bike looks great to you and which one will be most comfortable.

Couple other bikes you might want to look at if you can find them in your area are the R500 triple and R700 triple Cannondales. Very nice riding entry level bikes in a road setup. You might also consider their Road Warrior group of flatbar bikes. Road a 1000 yesterday and it felt smooth as silk. I don't remember the price on it offhand right now though. I'm thinking it was around $1400. Possibly a little higher price than you are wanting to look at.

booble said:

Couple other bikes you might want to look at if you can find them in your area are the R500 triple and R700 triple Cannondales. Very nice riding entry level bikes in a road setup. You might also consider their Road Warrior group of flatbar bikes. Road a 1000 yesterday and it felt smooth as silk. I don't remember the price on it offhand right now though. I'm thinking it was around $1400. Possibly a little higher price than you are wanting to look at.

Ive been pretty disappointed with my R500 2k5, great frame but some of the components arnt the best with [censored] tyres (Hutchinson flash basic!), wonky wheels with flaking paint and brakes which dont, err, brake. If you havnt got much money to fix it, look elsewhere.

I live in Holland these days but is there a Felt dealer in the UK? If I could go back in time, Id probably buy an F80 as these appear to be very good value for money bikes.

[font=Times New Roman][font=Verdana]Oh and if anyone has a problem with my grammar or spelling try not to behave like an idiot in public, just keep it to yourself please.[/font][/font]

RC2 said:

Huh? He typed his entire message without the use of the shift or ' buttons, purposefully misspelling words like "you", etc. That makes it harder to read for a geezer like me. How much time does it actually take to shift? I point this out above w/o being very negative (actually I had intended a humorous tone, but if that's not what you took away, OK), alongside a constructive answer to the original question, and I'm getting chastized? LOL Let's all practice our senses of humor folks. 🙄

I got a kick out of it if that helps. I don't understand it either but it's some sort of trendy way that young Gen-Y types use to communicate. Hope they know better than to do that on a resume'.

Greg_UK, Rather than get a new bike with some pretty low end specs you may also want to consider getting a used bike with a better frame and components. I picked up an '03 Specialized Allez Sport (1 notch up from the bikes you mentioned) a few months back that only had 1000 miles on it for a little under half price ($370) of what it would have cost retail ($800ish in '03). 1000 miles is nothing.

Also, Spring season is coming up and many bike shops will have their best discounts during that time of year should you go with a new one.

As most of us say here, it´s all about the fit. Make sure you get the proper help measuring out your bike. It´s really important. Seen too many in my club spending too much time/money on making their bike fit afterwards.

And as Doctor Morbius says, it is soon spring and there is quite a few bike shops eager to get rid of their 04´s before the start of the season and the arrival of the 05´s so go bargain hunting.

StartledPancake has a good point about Felt. Ever had a look at those? Nice bikes with good components at competitive prices. Felt prices seem to drop more than others when the new frames come in so might be worth considering.
I believe all Felt´s 05´s have carbon saddleposts which sort of adds to the discount for buying an 04.

Hey Snyper, just out curiosity, which Orbea do you ride..?
They obviously make great looking full carbon frames, but there seems to be very few reviews around. (And the few I´ve read seems to be divided into love or hate).

Oh, and finally, if Booble is not already the Moderator of this site, he should be. 😉

<><>Looks like you have little/no experience with a keyboard as well.<><>

His post was entirely legible. Many times I write a similar way just because I feel like it. If you can't understand what he is saying at all, I could see you being critical of him for it. Obviously since you were well aware of what he was writing, and he was not submitting a resume to you for consideration, you should either answer his question or keep your opinions about his Internet writing style to yourself. This is the norm on the Internet. Abbreviated writing is necessary for many reasons, and ultimately, saves money. Curse the rest of us for typing like we are writing a book! Nobody cares!

Hear, hear,
Another potential moderator. 🙂 Don´t curse you/us though. A lot of people here write long messages close to resume size, but I think, since there are a few of us, others do read them and actually care. And don´t care if anyone makes a typo or use SMS lingo or whatever. We got quite far away from Greg´s request here and he will probably receive an e-mail when someone adds to this thread so let´s keep to the subject, shall we..? We could of course start a separate thread to discuss this particular topic but I don´t think the persons in question would follow it. 😉

Olasnah said:

His post was entirely legible. Many times I write a similar way just because I feel like it. If you can't understand what he is saying at all, I could see you being critical of him for it. Obviously since you were well aware of what he was writing, and he was not submitting a resume to you for consideration, you should either answer his question or keep your opinions about his Internet writing style to yourself. This is the norm on the Internet. Abbreviated writing is necessary for many reasons, and ultimately, saves money. Curse the rest of us for typing like we are writing a book! Nobody cares!

Olasnah, great points. Here's another one.

Your post was included here for the sake of: 1. critique of another poster.
The post you're complaining about 1. critiqued a poster's improper writing style jovially (read: intent = humor), and 2. Answered the Original Poster's Question

If you can't add value, don't add posts. 😉

Well, I never critisize anyone for their writing style since my own is far from perfect. Why don´t we leave this issue behind and leave any further posts to the original subject, if someone wants to make a comment on "beginner bikes" rather than what we are discussing currently?