Buying my first road bike, tips?

[RiflemanSmith]

Yeah I was thinking about £150 will put it up for £180 and see how we go.

 

[vickster]

Biggest likelihood of selling on eBay but you'll lose 10%

 

[RiflemanSmith]

Okay thanks, wont be until June anyway.

 

[Beowulf46]

Have you thought about getting a cyclocross bike? Decent compromise between MTB and road. I got one last year having been a mtbiker for years and have loved it.

 

[Rob3rt]

Never thought about it like that. All I know is that my alex rims were as useful as a limp knob after 1200 miles. The spokes just would not stay tight and I ended up buying american classics. Cost a few hundred but those ****in alex wheels had to go so necessity overrode risk. To be honest I didnt notice any changes in handling or performance but then I never been officially timed. However they look nicer and am confident they wont start falling apart in the near future so I am happy enough.

Can you true disc wheels or wheels with bladed spokes?

If you mean bladed spokes as in trispoke wheels like a Hed 3 (or similar, Mavic iO) or the rather expensive MadFibre wheels with carbon spokes, no you can not true them. Nor can you true a disc wheel but then again, they shouldn't ever go out of true.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

Have you thought about getting a cyclocross bike? Decent compromise between MTB and road. I got one last year having been a mtbiker for years and have loved it.

Yeah I was looking at a Planet X one for £1400 but it had mechanical disc brakes.

 

[vickster]

For some reason, almost all CX bikes have mechanical discs, are they more rugged or something?

This has hydraulics but 2k in the sale (very fancy groupset)

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/nova-pro-di2-2013-cyclocross-bike-ec041440

 

[RiflemanSmith]

For some reason, almost all CX bikes have mechanical discs, are they more rugged or something?

This has hydraulics but 2k in the sale (very fancy groupset)

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/jamis/nova-pro-di2-2013-cyclocross-bike-ec041440

That is a very nice bike very tempting. I would have to buy that one on finance though if they had it in my size, maybe lucky they don't
I don't think that they are I have only every had one bike, well my son's with mechanical disc brakes and they were not very good.

 

[vickster]

What surfaces are you riding on? Don't really need a CX for summer road riding I'd say - nor indeed disc brakes

 

[RiflemanSmith]

I like to ride the trails near me, after having disc brakes I wouldn't want to ride any thing else unless I had to.
I was going to buy a roadie and keep my hybrid for winter and off roading.
Now I am just going to get a better version of what I have.

 

[vickster]

I don't think there's anything wrong with mechanical discs, given pretty much all CX bikes come with them. I'd want a carbon fork though, if nothing to increase comfort and keep the weight down a bit. Although, as I found not many bikes with discs have a carbon fork (although that was a flat bar bike) - did get one though so they do exist

Looks a good spec for £1000 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/arkose-three-2013-cyclocross-bike-ec039563

Probably not much point looking at bikes on special if you can't buy for 2 months anyhow

 

[SpokeyDokey]

What's wrong with cable operated discs? They work fine.

 

[ianrauk]

What's wrong with cable operated discs? They work fine.

Indeed...Nothing wrong at all in fact.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

These were Clarks so maybe not the best ones to hold up to the light btu these are the only ones I have dealt with.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

Looks a good spec for £1000 http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/arkose-three-2013-cyclocross-bike-ec039563

Probably not much point looking at bikes on special if you can't buy for 2 months anyhow

I decided on the Boardman but you keep tempting me.