My First Setup - Hopefully Useful To Other Newbies!

[Jazz]

Now then everyone,

I know I made a few threads but I thought I'd make one that would be really useful to somebody just starting out who wants to know what kit to get. Soooo I got:

Specialized Tricross Sport 2012 Disc Bike - £750 on offer at Evans Cycles.

Safety/Clothing:

• Specialized Align Helmet - £29.99
• Specialized Sport Road Shoes - £69.99
• Padded Shorts - £15.99
• Full-Finger gloves (as opposed to the fingerless...) also Specialized (unintentional ) - £26.99

Bike Add-ons:

• Topeak Quick Release Beam Rack MTX - £31.99
• SKS Mudguards - Hybrid - £34.99
• Shimano M324 SPD Pedals - £49.99 (only £34 on web but I'll learn from that)
• Specialized Zee Side Load Bottle Cage - £12.99
• Specialized Air Tool 2010 MTB Frame Pump - £19.99
• Abus Primo 590 Cable Lock - £9.99
• Bontrager Trip 4 Wireless Cycle Computer - £29.99

Total = £1082.89
But it wasn't that big a deal as they did me 0% finance over 12 months - easy
So take a look

Let me know what you think everyone! Hopefully this will be useful to those who just want to know what to get!!!

 

[mickle]

You might want to get a better lock.

 

[Jazz]

You might want to get a better lock.

That one no good like? For where I'm going it will be in a safe place (indoors at any relatives and in a secure cycle lockup at work)

 

[mickle]

Thats a lot of bike for such a pissy little lock.

 

[sabian92]

For the love of all Bike Gods, get a better lock - at least a Silver Rated D-lock. A thief (even in your work place) could have that lock off in seconds, seriously.

 

[mickle]

What were you hoping to carry with that rack?

 

[buddha]

Nice bike!

But some numpty chained their bike to mine (and the stand) last week with a cheapo cable lock. I gave their lock a tug and it came apart in my hands

 

[Alex11]

What were you hoping to carry with that rack?

Thats what I was thinking! Looks a strange rack...

 

[grumpyoldgit]

Lights?

 

[cyberknight]

That one no good like? For where I'm going it will be in a safe place (indoors at any relatives and in a secure cycle lockup at work)

I have 2 locks that i leave at work in a similar secure lock up to save carrying them , a thick cable lock and a thick d-lock.At home it is secured to a chain attatched to a wall anchor.

The secure lock up might be "secure" but it only takes a tea leaf to leave it open for a mate or someone forgets to lock it....

 

[AnythingButVanilla]

Shouldn't a lock cost around 10% of the bike? The two locks I use for my £200 hybrid cost me about £65 combined and they're also used on my £650 roadie.

Nice bike though.

 

[Cyclist33]

+1 on the lock. You could have accesorised all you listed for far less than 300 quid, and then getting a 10 quid lock is just crazy talk!!

Nice bike tho.

 

[Eribiste]

All tooled up for £1100, and a good looking bike too; sounds OK to me. Enjoy.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Just to show beginners another side of the coin
My first set up for a 5 mile commute to work, started last October:

Unidentified car boot sale bike £ 30.00
Check over by lbs, fitting of mudguards, new tyres £ 80.00
Helmet: £ 0 as I had one already
Lights from lbs, poundshop and amazon: £ 10.00 (got one set free from lbs)
Shower proof jacket from charity shop £ 4.00 - when it got colder, I used a ski jacket I already had.
Waterproof walking boots £ 0 - had them
HiViz rucksack £0 - had it, I think paid under a tenner from Lidl years ago
Various clothing suitable for winter cycling: £ 0, just used outdoor stuff I already had.
Track pump with pressure gauge £ 3.50 from local hardware shop.
Some inner tubes, tools (had most already) about £ 15.00
Lock and chain: £ 0, had one thick chain already at home. Don't need to lock my bike at work, but just in case I break down and have to leave the bike.
Ah, forgot: chain lube from lbs, about £ 3.50.
Total: about £ 150.00
Of course meantime I have spent £££ more, new bike, etc. because I found out I like this cycling malarkey too much but ime, starting out does not need to break the bank, especially if you're not so sure about using your bike a lot.

 

[oldfatfool]

Don't overload the rack- in fact don't load the rack anywhere near the max load quoted by Topeak (my opinion) or use panniers.

Buy better shorts, especially if you are planning any long distances, you may think yours are comfy now but wait until you try a real quality pair (a generalisation based on £15.99 they may have been reduced and be an excellent pair)