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



Have you got a bike yet? It's almost Sept and summer will soon come to an end where I live.
 
Have you got a bike yet? It's almost Sept and summer will soon come to an end where I live.
Hello Yojimbo, Yes I got a bike 2 weeks ago and the Kicker snap too. Here it is raining crazy lately so I decided to get the trainer sooner. I have been on the road 3 times at night after 10 pm just to have an empty road and get used to road biking. I do 30 minutes every time and will build on that in the future.
today my first indoor ride with zwift. the trainer was silent but my crank and chain sometimes keeps jumping not sure if it is normal do I need to adjust set up of the wheel? I will try many platforms in the future but cycling is great, I just love it. Catch you soon with more questions :) have a great week
 
Be sure to start out knowing how to fix a flat and have all the necessary items in your saddle pack. After going around the block so to speak I recommend you only use clincher rims (not tubeless rims) and clincher tires. These are by FAR, the easiest tires to repair and replace. And Yesterday one of the stages of the Tour de France was won on a clincher with tube in it. So there's no performance loss.

After this you're going to have to get used to driving around traffic. Just follow the traffic laws and you'll soon learn the tricks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tdcadillac
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.

View attachment 4643 View attachment 4644

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! :D


View attachment 4645
Maybe you should change your name to Mr. Bunz.

If you are heavy and are a new rider I don't see anything wrong with buying a used bike off of a eBay or such but the lack of good bikes in dealerships has driven the cost of these "used" bikes to almost new bike heights. I hate to tell this idiots, but a NEW steel Bataglin from the factory custom built with a Campy Centaur Group and Campy cheap wheels is 200 times the bike that a Colnago Super EVER was. And you can actually lift it without a forklift.

You're pretty much stuck with 11 speed stuff these days but there's nothing wrong with 8 or 9 speed brifter setups. Especially Campy Record or Dura Ace.

I'd recommend that a new rider stay away from carbon fiber or aluminum and I wouldn't want to buy a titanium bike you could get for a grand today.

I think that as usual we pretty much agree on these sorts of things. But then that is what experience does to you. Gives you wisdom that enrages the sociopaths.