karan733
New Member
Hey all
First post here! Ive recently joined you all on the world of commuting to work and loving it so far Im pretty overweight, about 95kgs, should be about 80 ish. I bought a second hand (dont kill me..) Raleigh Lithium full susp. bike with a 16'' frame. Im finding it too small but bearable for now with a 320mm seatpost which is halfway along the "Fit over this line" line.
Ive forked out on new DB capliers front and rear, rotors, two new wheels from halfords, new Conti tubes and Conti Cityride tyres from wiggle, and a bit more besides which I cant quite remember. However, after all this patching up, I feel like im still riding a dud which is too heavy, incorrectly geared for commuting, and still too small.
I was looking into either a touring bike or a hybrid in the next month or two if I can keep going and improving. I dont really know the difference between these two though, or what the pros and cons are, despite looking around the web. I think id like drop handlebars, but again, I dont know the pros and cons. Ive enjoyed having disc brakes because of the ease of changing tyres, and especially removing the front when transporting the bike (I dont have/cant afford a bike rack). All my experiences with rim brakes are bad because of rubbing etc, but is this a simple problem to solve if done right?
So I was thinking of getting a new bike, something which has a bit of quality, although nothing silly as I have a very small budget. About £200 at the very most. But im more than happy to wait around and get a secondhand which has a bit of quality about it. Im really hoping for any tips you folks could offer me in this brave new world!
Sorry to be asking so many questions! I have really enjoyed cycling so far and am hoping to take this up into amateur road races around the country - just for fun - so I can keep improving overall. I just know I need to move on from the ride im on now to get anywhere close to enjoying this sport as much as possible.
Many thanks!
Karan
First post here! Ive recently joined you all on the world of commuting to work and loving it so far Im pretty overweight, about 95kgs, should be about 80 ish. I bought a second hand (dont kill me..) Raleigh Lithium full susp. bike with a 16'' frame. Im finding it too small but bearable for now with a 320mm seatpost which is halfway along the "Fit over this line" line.
Ive forked out on new DB capliers front and rear, rotors, two new wheels from halfords, new Conti tubes and Conti Cityride tyres from wiggle, and a bit more besides which I cant quite remember. However, after all this patching up, I feel like im still riding a dud which is too heavy, incorrectly geared for commuting, and still too small.
I was looking into either a touring bike or a hybrid in the next month or two if I can keep going and improving. I dont really know the difference between these two though, or what the pros and cons are, despite looking around the web. I think id like drop handlebars, but again, I dont know the pros and cons. Ive enjoyed having disc brakes because of the ease of changing tyres, and especially removing the front when transporting the bike (I dont have/cant afford a bike rack). All my experiences with rim brakes are bad because of rubbing etc, but is this a simple problem to solve if done right?
So I was thinking of getting a new bike, something which has a bit of quality, although nothing silly as I have a very small budget. About £200 at the very most. But im more than happy to wait around and get a secondhand which has a bit of quality about it. Im really hoping for any tips you folks could offer me in this brave new world!
Sorry to be asking so many questions! I have really enjoyed cycling so far and am hoping to take this up into amateur road races around the country - just for fun - so I can keep improving overall. I just know I need to move on from the ride im on now to get anywhere close to enjoying this sport as much as possible.
Many thanks!
Karan