Hi all - newbie here from SW London.
Have recently returned to cycling after a few years away and decided to buy a road bike after a few trips out around my local Richmond Park and a couple of Sportives on my MTB have become a bit frustrating on the speed front.
After a lot of research and trying out various men's and women's road bikes, I decided the Specialized Dolce Sport would fit the bill, but am very tempted to go for the Elite for the additional £200 as am buying through the Cycle to Work scheme so will be good value.
My main concern is basically around over-speccing myself given most of my riding will be around the Park, signing up for a few more sportives, and when I feel up to the miles and the traffic, commuting into central London for work.
I know that I'll need to look after the components, but don't want to ruin nice kit because I'm too new to everything to know what I should be doing.
Any thoughts or advice?
Many thanks, Kate
Have recently returned to cycling after a few years away and decided to buy a road bike after a few trips out around my local Richmond Park and a couple of Sportives on my MTB have become a bit frustrating on the speed front.
After a lot of research and trying out various men's and women's road bikes, I decided the Specialized Dolce Sport would fit the bill, but am very tempted to go for the Elite for the additional £200 as am buying through the Cycle to Work scheme so will be good value.
My main concern is basically around over-speccing myself given most of my riding will be around the Park, signing up for a few more sportives, and when I feel up to the miles and the traffic, commuting into central London for work.
I know that I'll need to look after the components, but don't want to ruin nice kit because I'm too new to everything to know what I should be doing.
Any thoughts or advice?
Many thanks, Kate