Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
  • dark side approval/disapproval please
  • watsontony
    Free Member

    i have been looking at this bike. i have only ever ridden a mtb. i am 5 10 and this bike is a small will that be okay? i really dont know wear to start. i want a bike that i can ride all day long and cover many many miles not at a blistering speed so comfort is more important……. whats the difference between drop bars and flat bars?
    i cant imagine ever being comfortable on a drop bike but as i have said i have never tried one. any advice and generalizations welcome.
    cheers tony

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/giant-tcr-composite-2-2012/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=uk&gclid=CMCmyNOfwLQCFe7MtAodpy4Agg

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Drop bars are A Good Thing really. Lots of positions and the drops are nice when you do want to go fast, which you will unless you really are a trundler.

    Problem is that it’s quite hard to get the position bang on, takes a lot of fiddling otherwise they end up uncomfortable. People will tell you to just put up with it, but that’s not the way for easy riding.

    Small will be too small. At 5’10 you will want something like 54-56cm in most frames, that is 46. Suitable for people 5’4 ish maybe 🙂

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    5’10”? – medium.

    So, your budget is £1000, you can’t really go far wrong with that.

    Go to your favourite local friendly bike shop, and take their advice.

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    piemonster
    Full Member

    Yep medium.

    Don’t buy a road bike that’s too small unless you hate your own spine.

    watsontony
    Free Member

    ok cheers so i defiantly need to find a medium. or in the region of 55cm. anything other than size i need to take into consideration. also will i lose lots on the on-road capability if i get a cx bike? or will it still feel amazingly effortless compared to my mtb? whats the difference between a cx and road? angles? sizes? specs? i read most road threads on hear but i am still utterly useless when it comes to anything other than mtb

    Retrodirect
    Free Member

    Only if you’re a particularly long armed and long legged short person then the small would be the right size but go to the bikeshop to try a few. Fit is more important than on an mtb.

    brant
    Free Member

    You can get much better than SRAM Apex for a grand.

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    my OH is 5ft 3 and rides a small TCR you deffo need a bigger frame

    Kevevs
    Free Member

    I’m 5’10” (on a good day) 32″ inside leg and have a 56.5 L Spesh Allez, which is still a bit too long. Next frame I go for will deffo be a 54. Saying that, there’s no way I’d be buying blind a roadbike off the internet without sitting on a few first as they all come up a bit different. You can always get a longer stem (I got a shorter 90mm stem which is pretty twitchy), laidback seat post/move seat back a bit to make up for a frame a wee bit too small, but I’ve found adjusting for frames a bit too big not the best option. You really need to get the size right on a roadie, pretty unforgiving compared to an MTB where you’re moving about more. I think a cxer like the boardman in Halfords would be a brilliant option TBH,I wouldn’t go straight for a roadbike now from MTB, I’d get something like that. You can always stick slicker, narrower tyres on it. get down there and sit on ’em! I love drop bars!

    tang
    Free Member

    Brant is trying to say – get thee to Planet X pronto.

    phil.w
    Free Member

    Brant is trying to say – get thee to Planet X pronto.

    Much more sense to compromise on the groupset and have a good frame. And they don’t come much (if any) better than TCR’s.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    I’m your height and ride a medium with a 120mm stem. A med-large will also fit with a shorter stem. The difference will be height of the bars and weight over the front wheel.

    Dropped bars offer a minimum of four hand positions, and are therefore more comfortable on longer rides.

    £1000 buys a fantastic bike these days. I like giant, but a 56cm cannondale would be an equally good buy. Virtual top tube length is what matters – horizontal distance from seat tube to head tube. You want 55.5 to 56.5, assuming 72 or 73 degree seat tube angle
    As for other geometry. A steeper head angle will steer faster but may catch the ends of your toes on the wheel. 72.5-73 degrees is race. Steeper is not recommended for a relaxing road ride.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Drop bars feel bloody weird to me… i’ve ridden my Wilier about 10 times now and still have no grasp of the handling at all. Although the weather and road conditions are not helping me there i admit. However they’re not as hard to get used to as i expected.

    My Wilier was £600 and seems good enough for a novice 🙂

    andrewh
    Free Member

    Agree with Phil above.
    Also, RE you question about CX frames above. Yes, geometry will be slightly different, to allow for mud clearence etc, but unless racing CX will be fine, you can run road tyres on them no problem.
    I used to ride a CX bike on the road (and timetrialling with a set of clip on aerobars) and it was great. Would take a 38mm touring tyre so almost no punctures and with tyres that wide I could go and explore if I passed a trail which looked interesting, can’t do tht on a road bike.
    And yes, get drops! (Note drop shifters are very expensive and you will compromise other spec areas to get these for the same price but dispite my first comment about Phil’s comment it’s still a good idea.)

    RealMan
    Free Member

    I find most road bikes more comfortable then mountain bikes.

    Flat bars on a road bike = commuter bike, not a road bike.

    stevemtb
    Free Member

    I’m pretty much the same height and have a giant tcr advanced and an old scr, both medium. I’ve got fairly short legs but wouldn’t consider a small in the Giant range. Fit is incredibly important on the road bike but as long as the frame is the right size the rest can be changed fairly easily.

    Best money I spent two years ago was a fitting. Will probably go back for another this year to see if anything has changed – hopefully more flexibility if I start stretching this year!!

    meehaja
    Free Member

    Good price that! I have a TCR comp 1, its a medium and I’m 6ft 1. I assumed I’d want a M/L or L but having been properly fitted, a M was the one for me, with the seat post quite far out. If you can, try and get a leg over one and see how it feels, Road bike fit is so much more important than mountain bikes (well, its not really, its as important on either discipline, its just you move about more on an mtb and are less likley to spend ages fully stretched out etc!)

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Drop bars feel bloody weird to me

    They shouldn’t. If you feel like you are falling off the front, rotate them backwards, if you can’t reach the brakes on the drops, rotate them forward. Loads of options, keep thinking and fettling til it’s right.

    CharlieMungus
    Free Member

    On the other hand, on-one’s midge bars are very good for getting used to drops, but even as a drop veteran, I’m very happy with them now.

    Cletus
    Free Member

    Deffo get drops – I have hardly ridden my flat bar road bike in the years since I got a “proper” road bike.

    Well worth a tour of LBS’s to try some out. You should be able 12 months interest free discount or some free stuff if you pay in one lump (pedals and cages would be good).

    Would recommend going for a “sportive” type geometry rather than pure racer as that is likely to be more comfortable over longer distances.

    watsontony
    Free Member

    ok so….

    drops are important!
    i could get better spec for that money but the frame is a goon en?
    Fit is the single most important thing on a road bike?
    i need to find somewear in the north west that will allow me to try and sit on a few different bikes. i am really looking farward to riding what ever i end up with. 🙂 cant wait, some nice long days and many miles on the bike. the most i have done in one day befor is about 45 miles (on a kona stinky with coil shock and triples) it was hard! not impossible but hard.

    cheers for the advice guys, i would almost of certainly got it all wrong and ended up with a sore back and an expensive mistake

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Fit is the single most important thing on a road bike?

    I’d say so. No good having legs capable of a 5 hour century when your neck, shoulders, wrists and hands are agony after 20 mins and you can’t feel your penis.

    watsontony
    Free Member

    and you can’t feel your penis

    does feeling you penis while riding make you faster or is it just more enjoyable? 😆

    Kevevs
    Free Member

    passes the time on the loop back when you get bored of the scenery and turning the pedals 😀

    brooess
    Free Member

    If you’re NW and Cheshire, try Altrincham Bike Shak – very friendly in there and a great mechanic.
    At a time like this a good LBS is worth paying a little more for. The key thing about a road bike is you get on it and stay on it for several hours with much less moving about and much less stopping for a chat than you do on an MTB – so fit is crucial. This includes height and cleat position as you put a lot through your knees with 4 hours constant pedalling.

    Enjoy. I was amazed how much fitter I got when I first got a road bike

    Cletus
    Free Member

    If in the North-West then Ribble Cycles would be worth a look. They do a wide range of options around the £1k mark and you can customise to suit your exact requirements

    http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/

Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)

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