Help Needed

[Ste]

Hi folks, I literally have no idea about cycling and haven't ridden a bike for a good few years (I'm 20 now)... and I'm doing 130 miles in 2 days at the end of July. So thought it would be wise to do a bit of training!

I'm looking for a bog-standard bike to train with - will be hiring one for the actual ride. Don't want to spend much, just want something that will do the job.

Other than the bike, I want something that will tell me how many miles I've done.

Other than that I'm pretty clueless, so could do with a bit of guidance. Appropriate clothing, footwear any other extras etc.?

Your help would be much appreciated! Thanks

 

[ian turner]

1. What's your general state of health ? Any medical conditions ?

2. What is your budget ? I suspect bog standard will probably mean Decathlon. Avoid anything brightly coloured with full suspension and tassles on the bar ends as you will be carrying that around rather than it carrying you. Note on bike forums bog standard, assuming this means anything to cyclists who can list 20 different types of bicycle, tends to have people thinking £500 so you have to say no more than £150 or whatever.

3. Where is this 130 miles ? What sort of terrain is it ? It doesn't involve crossing the channel on the way does it ?

4 Don't procrastinate as you have to get upto 65 miles in a day without having to rest your muscles the next day and the first few times you'll probably find 10 miles heavy going at first.

5 no fag breaks and no beer cans in the bottle cage

 

[corshamjim]

Have you sussed where to rent the bike from? If not, probably best to start looking soon, as I'm not sure how many places will rent you a decent bike. The only one I know of local (to me) is http://www.performan...co.uk/hire.html

To be honest though, if you choose your bog-standard bike right or even nearly right you should be able to do 65 miles a day on it no problem. The money you save on rental you can spend on a decent saddle. Or whatever.

p.s. Welcome to Cycle Chat.

 

[Ste]

1. What's your general state of health ? Any medical conditions ?

2. What is your budget ? I suspect bog standard will probably mean Decathlon. Avoid anything brightly coloured with full suspension and tassles on the bar ends as you will be carrying that around rather than it carrying you. Note on bike forums bog standard, assuming this means anything to cyclists who can list 20 different types of bicycle, tends to have people thinking £500 so you have to say no more than £150 or whatever.

3. Where is this 130 miles ? What sort of terrain is it ? It doesn't involve crossing the channel on the way does it ?

4 Don't procrastinate as you have to get upto 65 miles in a day without having to rest your muscles the next day and the first few times you'll probably find 10 miles heavy going at first.

5 no fag breaks and no beer cans in the bottle cage

Thanks for your reply.

1. General state of health is fine, no medial conditions. Not the fittest at the moment but not a million miles away.

2. My budget is really like £100, but second hand is fine.

3. The ride is in Ireland, Dublin to Athlone then Athlone to Galway I think? And I'm told the route is largely flat.

 

[Ste]

Have you sussed where to rent the bike from? If not, probably best to start looking soon, as I'm not sure how many places will rent you a decent bike. The only one I know of local (to me) is http://www.performan...co.uk/hire.html

To be honest though, if you choose your bog-standard bike right or even nearly right you should be able to do 65 miles a day on it no problem. The money you save on rental you can spend on a decent saddle. Or whatever.

p.s. Welcome to Cycle Chat.

Thanks. We're doing the actual ride in Ireland and are hiring the bikes.

I just want a bike to do some training on now!

 

[mightyquin]

For £100 your best bet is to check ebay/gumtree etc., but if you're a novice with bikes then the risk is you end up with something needing work/parts to get it up to scratch. Look for a single/fixed speed bike perhaps - less to wear out/go wrong.

New, a Decathlon Rockrider 'leisure MTB' for £100 is probably your best bet.

Alternatively, spend £250 on an OK entry level bike and take it with you to Ireland?