Where to start? for me road cycling is like a giant forest

Good day all,
I am in my late 40s and want to start road cycling. I have been doing indoor cycling for 6 months and my cardio kept improving till my indoor bike was broken 2 weeks ago. Now instead of buying an indoor bike I am in the process of buying a road bike.
for now I see road cycling as a giant forest and don't know where to start as I never done it before.
I want to open this thread to get advice from senior cyclists who were at the same stage as me before to give me directions and advice so I can build the blocks slowly and steady. Last thing i want is to start with a lot of ambitions and then rack my bike after a few months. I truly find cycling great for cardio exercise and want to embed it in my daily life
Thanks all

 

Buy a bike.
Buy, and learn to use, a flat fixing kit.Tire levers, spare tube, pump and/or CO2 inflator.
Water bottle and holder.
Some suitable clothes to ride in.
Then ride.
Read up on complementary exercises. Core, stretches.
Learn about cadence and pedalling technique.
Start mixing it up. You don’t want to do the same steady grind day after day. Do interval training, climbs, sprints. And some steady grind rides.

 

Love all the good stuff Thank you so much

 

tdcadillac, hi there! Well, it really depends on your specific preferences. Our family have been facing almost the same problem about it, and if being more accurate - my aunt asked me about getting her a bike for start riding out there. Couple of exhausting searching days and I found Schwinn Discover hybrid bike on the page which has been dedicated for choosing a bike for 60 year old woman and she is completely satisfied my that choice. It is kinda sport model, made from durable materials and as she says - it's pretty suitable for different types of terrain.

 

First.....find a bike that fits you. You may want to get fitted so you know the key measurements to look for in a bike. I would then try to find a used bike on the likes of CL or FB Marketplace. Good deals to be had. Then I would have someone that is in your area that is an experienced cyclist go with you to look at the bike to make sure it checks out. Then plan out some routes starting at about 8-10 milers to start. In-door cycling is a bit different than actual cycling as crazy as that statement sounds.

Don’t drop a lot until you know its for you. Buy some tubes for flats, tire lever, CO2 pump or traditional hand pump for roadside flats, wear bright clothing and get a decent rear blinking light to be noticed. That’s your start.

 

Find some people to ride with if you can.

As others have said, don't go too crazy buying things until you know you like it.

And...you said your indoor bike broke. Did you know that you can also use your new outdoor bike indoors? For example, look up the Wahoo Kickr Snap smart trainer and then read about Zwift and The Sufferfest to get some idea of what you can then do with it. The Sufferfest even has some tri training plans.. More indoor fun than a barrel of monkeys.

 

Yes that is my main goal in the winter is to hook it with a trainer and do indoor cycling online. I want also to use the bike in the outdoor training in the summer but mainly i will be using it in the indoor

 

You need to list your bike intentions. Are you wanting to mix it with light off road dirt riding?

Strictly roadie type on the street fast type cycling?

Ride to the market and carry groceries home?

Ride carrying a tent spending the night in the mountains?

Different bikes for different types.

 

I saw the video you posted with group rides. I want to do the same in the spring and summer but with entry level group. in the winter and that could be harsh in canada I want to use it with a trainer in the indoor.
as always Thank you

 

I hate indoor trainers, I even tried Zwift and hated it too, but that's just me.

If you're not real familiar with fixing flats simply watch YouTube videos, then after watch several practice at home taking the REAR wheel and tire off and on. The rear is the most difficult due to the derailleur, so learn how to do that.

The best pump currently on the market for road bikes is the Lezyne Road Drive large size, this is the only one that can reach 100 psi in less strokes than others and with less effort. While CO2 seems really cool, the problem is that you have limited air supply that you can carry, and once you used your carts and still have a problem now you won't air. Lezyne does make a hybrid pump that's a pump with a CO2 inflator. Personally, since I don't race I'm not concerned about taking 5 to 10 minutes to fix a flat so I don't want to be buying CO2, and I don't want to be bothered with recycling them either, so I just have no need for CO2.

Having a pump on your bike is critical unless you don't mind long walks! But when at home you don't want to be using a small pump to top off your tires every day or two, so you need a floor bike pump, which you probably already have. There are several good ones all around $40 like the Specialized Air Tool Sport SwitchHitter II; Topeak Sport III; etc., but there really is no need to get a $100 plus air pump!

If you do some of your own wrenching you might want to consider a multi tool to take with you on the bike, you may want to look at them to see which will fit your needs the best; but some of the good ones are Pedro's RX Micro; if you're thinking about going with CO2 then the Lezyne Rap 21 CO2 is a multi tool with a CO2 inflator; pretty cool; Topeak Mini 20 Pro, and the Alien II; and the Crank Brothers M19.

A lot of this stuff is just common sense, you should know what you need to take along on rides; I would say wait till you have ridden outside several times and then reassess what you think you need.

 

I would say get a road bike. Decent quality imo starts at about $1000 unless you find a good used one. I don't buy used but that is just me.

You don't mention your weight so if you go for a $1k bike and are real heavy, I'd guess you may be buying a new rear wheel after 2,000 miles or so. Some can take a year to get 2000 miles, others 3 or 4 months, depends on your style.

I say road bike as that is what every rider on our rides is riding. Not man can show up on a mountain bike and keep up unless they are a really good fast rider. So a newer rider will show up on a road bike and probably struggle to keep up whereas if he showed up on a mountain bike, no way. So unless you want to ride alone all the time on the road, and are looking for a little speed, get a road bike. Not saying these people are riding race pace speeds but it makes it easier to keep up vs other style bike trying to keep a road bike pace.

Even a more relaxed geometry road bike is a good deal when it comes to keeping up. Some geometries are a little less aggressive and some are really aggressive. I've seen less aggressive geos keep up with very aggressive geos all the time. So a road bike is nice but one does not need the sharp race angles to keep up with this type of a group, unless you plan to race somewhere down the road.

FTR, my skinny weight is 230 at 6'1. I thrashed plenty of stock wheels so I started building my own that has worked well for me. Inexpensive, free labor, and much better quality than someone who is just slapping together parts at a shop to make a buck. I follow all building tips I could find and get a great wheel that lasts 20,000+ miles for about $150, parts purchased on the net, good deals.

Now at 260 pounds, I'm far from the average cyclist weight so I stick with my 30 mm deep, 32 spoke wheels and have fantastic mileage on them vs the low spoke count light weight wheels skinny guys keep trying to push on me.

So I use Velocity Deep V rims and do fine being a recreational rider.

So depending on you size and weight, if you're a big heavy guy like me, you may want to invest in a strong rear wheel.



32 spoke Deep V, 30mm deep. I'd rather ride a heavy wheel vs buying new wheels every year. I build my own so I know it's quality at its finest!

 

This is a great stuff. Thank you so much for this helpful tips. I will follow them to the letter. For indoor training I have no choice winter is rough and can't even take the bike outside in minus 20 with moutains of snow Thanks again very much appreciated

 

Yeap almost close to buy a bike ( I narrow it down to trek emonda SL 5 and giant defy advanced 2). I followed your advice and only looking for 105 not below. in my price range 105 is good. I am 6 feet tall but skinny 187 pounds. I can not wait to buy a bike and start riding with great people like yourself and your group. I am pretty sure they are some in my area.
I want to thank you very much for your advice. Yours and other in the forum helped me increase my biking knowledge. at least now i am not ignorant of bikes parts (hum, stem...)
also when I decided to buy a bike few weeks ago I started while driving to pay close attention to riders and give them ample space so they can ride confortably. that Is a good habit i start to develop

 

H, skinny guy, the wheels should be no problem for you. One thing about wheels is that if the shop guys check them over, check and adjust the tension, then the wheels should last a long time. Versus the guys that just shove a bike out the door on a new guy. Ask them if they can go over the wheels and check the tension as the tension of the spokes is what keeps it together. Some just want to TRUE the wheel meaning to straighten it so it does not wobble side to side. But if they just TRUE it, then there is a possibility of it going crooked. They need to check and adjust the tension of the spokes. Tell them when you make the deal that part of the agreement is that they make sure the tension on the wheels is even and to proper values. If not, it will lead to broken spokes and crooked wheel problems. I've been there too many times with bike shops. They want to make it straight (TRUE) then say it's good. Not true, even and proper spoke tension is key to lasting wheels.

Also, you mention stem. Not sure if it has been covered but if you buy a new bike, or order it, you can ask them to leave the fork tube uncut so that the stem can be raised as high as possible if you want a more upright position. I left mine uncut so it has a bit of height on it and not having to fold in half to ride my bike haha!

When I built this bike, I left my fork tube uncut so I could sit more upright. Helps breathing while climbing mountain roads etc and more comfy overall for me as my handlebars are higher than an all out race position. Pretty sure you know the fork tube is the tube from the fork coming up through the frame (where I have my thumb). Hey, you never know if people know the parts of a bike.

 

Re indoor riding. Make sure you get a smart trainer - research them before you buy. I have a Wahoo Kickr Snap and it works great.

And...no-one has mentioned lights yet. Get some. I recently started riding with lights in the daytime - I feel safer with my lights on. You need lights that are bright in the daytime. I have Lezyne lights on my bike these days. My rear light puts out a 300 lumen flash and my front pits out a 1000 lumen flash. You probably don't have a feel for what a lumen is, but at these levels the lights would be far too bright at night - unless you really need a bright front because you're off road.

I live in a big city, and I use my lights to be seen rather than to see.

 

Thank you. I added the wahoo tickr on my favourte for future. I will open a new thread in the future for indoor training as well. Thanks for your feedback much appreciated.

 

Is there a dedicated sub forum for indoor training? need more info about which platform is better (zwift ...) and other indoor training questions
Thank you

 

Don't know about other topics, but all the indoor options have a free trial period to try them out.

Zwift, The Sufferfest and Trainer Road are the most popular with Zwift far in the lead. I like The Sufferfest best.

 

I have trouble logging to the forum the last few days. Is it just me?

 

Your first few rides might be tough—your body is adjusting to the stress of a totally new activity. But like all things in life, real progress is made when you stick with it for the long run. The first step to make riding a habit is to be realistic. Don’t expect to magically become a morning person just because you have a new bike, or plan to ride 100 miles too soon. Start small and grow from there.