I'm thinking of buying a bike.

[Erdefen]

Hi all, hope there's some experts out there.
I'm thinking of buying a new bike, I haven't ridden a bike for some 40
odd years (pensioner), I used to have what we called a racing bike then
with a single fixed gear (no freewheel) and drop handle bars it was
quite light but I can't remember the make.
A few days ago I tried to ride a friend's bike it had 15?? gears, deep
broad tyres and flatish handle bars I think it was probably a mountain
bike, I rode it for approx half hour with no spills or falls.
One thing I noticed was that as you pedal up hill the front wheel became
very light with a tendency to lift off the ground, is this a result of
the geometry of new bikes? are the centres of the wheels closer together
now than they used to be or is the seat placed further back on the
frame, it seemed to me that my old bike was longer than the one I rode
or could it be that my backside is a lot heavier than it used to be with
the result that my body's Of G has moved backwards :-)
To cut a long story short I would like to buy a bike similar to the one
I used to have. Can anyone recommend a place I can go to be "fitted" for
a bike,? we only have a Halfords near here, are they any good or are
they just staffed by cluless kids as seem to be the trend in most shops
these days.
Is there an informative web site anyone can recommend?

Thanks
Erdefen
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[Tony W]

"Erdefen" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all, hope there's some experts out there.
> I'm thinking of buying a new bike, I haven't ridden a bike for some 40
> odd years (pensioner), I used to have what we called a racing bike then
> with a single fixed gear (no freewheel) and drop handle bars it was
> quite light but I can't remember the make.
> A few days ago I tried to ride a friend's bike it had 15?? gears, deep
> broad tyres and flatish handle bars I think it was probably a mountain
> bike, I rode it for approx half hour with no spills or falls.
> One thing I noticed was that as you pedal up hill the front wheel became
> very light with a tendency to lift off the ground, is this a result of
> the geometry of new bikes? are the centres of the wheels closer together
> now than they used to be or is the seat placed further back on the
> frame, it seemed to me that my old bike was longer than the one I rode
> or could it be that my backside is a lot heavier than it used to be with
> the result that my body's Of G has moved backwards :-)
> To cut a long story short I would like to buy a bike similar to the one
> I used to have. Can anyone recommend a place I can go to be "fitted" for
> a bike,? we only have a Halfords near here, are they any good or are
> they just staffed by cluless kids as seem to be the trend in most shops
> these days.
> Is there an informative web site anyone can recommend?


An indication of your location would help.

As would an idea of what sort of riding you think you will be doing. For
example country lanes, bike paths & bridleways, TT & racing etc.

Some more information on you, your fitness & interests would also help. And
an indication of budget.

I am sure much helpful advice will be forthcoming -- but a bit more base
data will allow the advice to be more carefully targeted.

T

[Erdefen]

Tony W wrote:

>
> An indication of your location would help.

Mid Wales


>
>
> As would an idea of what sort of riding you think you will be doing. For
> example country lanes, bike paths & bridleways, TT & racing etc.

Bit old for TT and racing :-), country lanes I think tar mac surfaces mainly.

>
>
> Some more information on you, your fitness & interests would also help.

Bike is neccesary to increase fitness, would eventually hope to tour in France.

> And
> an indication of budget.

Budget not that important within reason, say Max approx 1000 Pounds but would
hope to pay less.


>
>
> I am sure much helpful advice will be forthcoming -- but a bit more base
> data will allow the advice to be more carefully targeted.
>
> T

Many thanks for replying so promptly, yes you are quite right I should have
offered more information.
Regards
Erdefen



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[Pete Whelan]

Erdefen wrote:
> Tony W wrote:
>
>
>>An indication of your location would help.
>
>
> Mid Wales
>
>
>
>>
>>As would an idea of what sort of riding you think you will be doing. For
>>example country lanes, bike paths & bridleways, TT & racing etc.
>
>
> Bit old for TT and racing :-), country lanes I think tar mac surfaces mainly.
>

what, you're over 80 years old?



--
Pete

interchange 12 for 21 to reply

[Tony W]

"Erdefen" > wrote in message
...
>
> Many thanks for replying so promptly, yes you are quite right I should
have
> offered more information.


You may be best starting with a reasonable quality hybrid bike. You will
not need the extra weight and complexity of suspension for the sort of thing
you are describing and a reasonable quality hybrid can be obtained for a
reasonably modest amount of money. I haven't tried one but Ridgeback seem a
good name.

This might not be the best option if you want to go for multi-day tours in
France (or anywhere else). Again, you would have to think what type of
touring. Would you be camping (lots of kit), credit card touring (minimal
baggage), going on supported tours (where someone else moves your baggage
about) or finding a nice gite and taking day tours.

If you want to recapture your youth (don't we all -- well, our own youth if
not yours) and prefer drop bars a 'tourer' or 'Audax' bike may be better.
(An Audax won't have as much luggage capacity but will be lighter -- it
would be good for day tours, supported tours and light weight touring).
These will be less 'sit up & beg' than a hybrid. I find my tourer is my
most comfortable, most general purpose and most often used bike.

Dawes is a good name for tourers.

Others will produce alternatives and possible conflicting information.

Have fun.

T

[Dave]

"Erdefen" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all, hope there's some experts out there.
> I'm thinking of buying a new bike, I haven't ridden a bike for some 40
> odd years (pensioner), I used to have what we called a racing bike then
> with a single fixed gear (no freewheel) and drop handle bars it was
> quite light but I can't remember the make.
> A few days ago I tried to ride a friend's bike it had 15?? gears, deep
> broad tyres and flatish handle bars I think it was probably a mountain
> bike, I rode it for approx half hour with no spills or falls.
> One thing I noticed was that as you pedal up hill the front wheel became
> very light with a tendency to lift off the ground, is this a result of
> the geometry of new bikes? are the centres of the wheels closer together
> now than they used to be or is the seat placed further back on the
> frame, it seemed to me that my old bike was longer than the one I rode
> or could it be that my backside is a lot heavier than it used to be with
> the result that my body's Of G has moved backwards :-)
> To cut a long story short I would like to buy a bike similar to the one
> I used to have. Can anyone recommend a place I can go to be "fitted" for
> a bike,? we only have a Halfords near here, are they any good or are
> they just staffed by cluless kids as seem to be the trend in most shops
> these days.
> Is there an informative web site anyone can recommend?
>
> Thanks
> Erdefen
> --
> (Antispam, drop pants to EMail)
> All outgoing Emails checked for Virus with Norton.
>
>

Hey!,

Welcome back to the wonderful world of cycling!! I took a 20 year break and
oh my, how it'd all changed when I came back
to it, just as you say.

Technology has moved on somewhat, some good and worth the extra money, some
a bit gimmicky and not.

If money is no object, or at least not too restrictive, it's probably worth
getting down to a local bike shop, or possibly not so local if you're in
Mid-Wales ;-). Discuss requirements, get a feel for if they know their
subject and then take their advice, getting fitted properly.

Alternately, I live in the West Midlands and there are a LOT of second hand
racers advertised at very reasonable prices. Not neccessarily the latest
sooper-dooper high-tech TdF guided missiles, but they do for day to day
riding. They might need new tyres, or brake cables, minor maintenance, but
are generally worth buying and can be had for as little as under £50. My
current roadbike is an old bottom of the range (in its day) Raleigh Sun Solo
'racer'. 25 years old, chromed wheels, brake blocks with leather inserts to
help stop in the rain (not very effective!!) and Sachs Huret gearset (10
gears) with downtube shifting. I completed the John O' Groats to Lands End
run on it in March as well as using it on a daily basis, with no service or
check before hand, just a new Brooks saddle. It managed it with no real
problems, so treated it to what was probably its first service in 25 years
at the end of the E2E run. The bike shops verdict, following the service - "
no problems mate, it'll go forever that...". I bought the bike for £25 last
July.

Racers aren't as popular with 'the kids' these days, generally speaking.
This has 2 advantages. Second hand prices on old racers are very low and
nobody nicks an old racer (again, generally speaking ;-).

If you know anyone into cycling, it'd be worth taking them along if you look
at anything second hand. Alternately, get it into a bike shop for assessment
before purchasing.

HTH and good luck,

Dave.

[Pete Biggs]

Erdefen wrote:
> A few days ago I tried to ride a friend's bike it had 15?? gears,
> deep broad tyres and flatish handle bars I think it was probably a
> mountain bike, I rode it for approx half hour with no spills or falls.
> One thing I noticed was that as you pedal up hill the front wheel
> became very light with a tendency to lift off the ground, is this a
> result of the geometry of new bikes? are the centres of the wheels
> closer together now than they used to be or is the seat placed
> further back on the frame, it seemed to me that my old bike was
> longer than the one I rode or could it be that my backside is a lot
> heavier than it used to be with the result that my body's Of G has
> moved backwards :-)

It's certainly true that modern road bikes have far shorter wheel bases
than older bikes, but mountain bikes still have relatively long wheel
bases. The rest of the geometry and also handlebar position may have
something to do with it (it's so easy to pull back hard on the bars), but
it's mainly down to the low gears. I bet you didn't use such low gears on
your old bike.

Did you otherwise enjoy the mountain bike? The problem of the wheel
lifting could be solved - mainly by just getting used to the bike. I
suggest giving it another go just to make sure you don't like that type of
bike. I had the same initial experience of wheelying by accident when I
first tried them.

> To cut a long story short I would like to buy a bike similar to the
> one I used to have. Can anyone recommend a place I can go to be
> "fitted" for a bike,? we only have a Halfords near here, are they any
> good or are they just staffed by cluless kids as seem to be the trend
> in most shops these days.

Some Halfords shops with "Bike Hut" departments are quite decent. It will
be worth travelling to the nearest old fashioned bike shop as well.

For the bike, a tourer might do well, or you could even track down an old
second hand frame of exactly the type you had (or even same model) and
rebuild it with modern components. That would be expensive (although cost
would be reduced by using another used bike for parts) but you might be
happier with the final result. Just an idea.

~PB

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

"James Annan" > wrote in message
...

> That's easy then, you want a tourer, probably a Dawes Galaxy, at least
> something similar.

On the premise that Dawes Galaxy is rarely the wrong answer to "which bike"
I will agree :-) Also check Edinburgh Cycle Co-Operative, Orbit and Thorn,
all of whom are turning out nicely specified and reasonably priced bikes.


--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.com

[RogerC]

I came back to cycling at about 60.

Thoroughly recommend a tourer type.
Dawes Horizon is good IMHO, but Edinburgh bike co-op, do same bike as an own
label, a bit cheaper.

My wife and I crossed from Biarritz to Perpiganan last autumn, staying in
logis and classy B & Bs.
Credit card touring is great.

You could keep an eye on e-bay to see what is on offer, and cycling plus is
also a good source of second hand road / tourers.

If closeness of experience ( age / touring France) is of any relevance do
make direct contact.

Roger
"Erdefen" > wrote in message
...
> Tony W wrote:
>
> >
> > An indication of your location would help.
>
> Mid Wales
>
>
> >
> >
> > As would an idea of what sort of riding you think you will be doing.
For
> > example country lanes, bike paths & bridleways, TT & racing etc.
>
> Bit old for TT and racing :-), country lanes I think tar mac surfaces
mainly.
>
> >
> >
> > Some more information on you, your fitness & interests would also help.
>
> Bike is neccesary to increase fitness, would eventually hope to tour in
France.
>
> > And
> > an indication of budget.
>
> Budget not that important within reason, say Max approx 1000 Pounds but
would
> hope to pay less.
>
>
> >
> >
> > I am sure much helpful advice will be forthcoming -- but a bit more base
> > data will allow the advice to be more carefully targeted.
> >
> > T
>
> Many thanks for replying so promptly, yes you are quite right I should
have
> offered more information.
> Regards
> Erdefen
>
>
>
> --
> (Antispam, drop pants to EMail)
> All outgoing Emails checked for Virus with Norton.
>
>

[Eric Nolan]

Since nobody else seems to have done this I thought I'd post the url
for Dawes web site. http://www.dawescycles.com/

Have a look at that and you should get an idea of what types of bikes
are available. Buying over the web is probably not a good idea if you
don't know _exactly_ what you are looking for. A local bike shop is a
much better resource, although it's a good idea to go to a couple of
different ones and give your business to the one that gives you the
best impression. Not all LBSs are created equal. There's no harm
doing a bit of research before you go.

As most of the other posters said, a touring bike sounds like the sort
of thing you are looking for. These will be very similar in design
and handling to your old bike I would think. Modern racing bikes tend
to be a lot more skittish and not generally suitable for loading up
with things like mudguards and bags. An audax bike is kind of a
halfway house between the two. It compromises between the speed of a
racer and the comfort and flexibility of a tourer. Hybrid bikes are a
compromise between a mountain (all all terrain) bike and a
racer/tourer. They are better designed for road travel than an ATB
but have the wide tyres and low gears that make them better able to
handle the occassional excursion away from any sort of pavement.

Maybe I'm wrong but I kind of got the impression that you were dubious
about the amount of gears on the MTB you tried out. You can get fixed
gear bikes these days but they are for fairly specialised purposes, I
wouldn't think about that if I were you. Gear changing levers are
very easy to use nowadays and having a wide array of them should mean
you can ride at a fairly comfortable pace in almost all wind
conditions and/or gradients. It won't take you long to get used to
having them.

Eric.

[Michael MacClancy]

In message >, Eric Nolan
> writes
>Since nobody else seems to have done this I thought I'd post the url
>for Dawes web site. http://www.dawescycles.com/
>

Here are a couple more suppliers of what might be suitable kit.

http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/
http://www.sjscycles.com/

--
Michael MacClancy

[Erdefen]

Erdefen wrote:

Thank you all for your input, much appreciated

Cheers

Erdefen


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