Advice on buying a road bicycle sought.

[Stere]

Im all for light weight folding tyres rather than the  rigid  wire bead ones a  new bike often comes  with makes a big difference.

 

 

 

It used to be thought that narrow  23mm pumped up to over 100 psi tyres were best and that  was  normal for road bikes.  But more  recently people have realized wider tyres aren't  really slower its tyre supleness  high TPI (thread per inch), thats more important. 

 

 

 

Continental GP 4000 28mm are very popular choice.

 

They can do over 6000 miles before going bald.

 

Wider tyres say in 32mm -40mm are very nice esp on rough back roads.

 

GravelKing Slick TLC Folding Tyre

WWW.PANARACER.CO.UK

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The GravelKing Slick TLC is for cyclists looking to expand their cycling horizons. Need a fast tyre with a bit more bulk for...

 

The lower lower psi & bigger air volume  absorbs more road buzz.

 

Thats a big plus for gravel bikes as they have more clearance on the frame for the  wide tyres & fitting mudguards.

 

Also more gravel frames come with the bolts to fit a  pannier rack .

 

 

The lower lower psi & bigger air volume  absorbs more road buzz.

 

 

 

Thoose giants look ok & decent spec. One  thing poor are the wired  tyres but easy to swap.

 

Also I dunno much  about the pro wheel  crankset &  bottom bracket spec & durability. Cheap press fit  bottom brackets on modern bikes can cause alot of issues.

 

Some brands have gone back to  the more durable threaded BSA (Birmingham Small Arms  🙂)  bottom brackets.

 

I prefer  drops bars as I find it  nice to have the choice of hand postions esp when theres a headwind and also the shifters on drop bars seem more ergonomic to me.

 

 

Edited February 6 by Stere

[organic guy]

Ours are giants, put couple thousand miles on them with few issues

[gand]

On 05/02/2024 at 20:04, Stere said:

Yeah thoose brands are good.

 

Also Ribble cycles is good.

 

Trek and Specialized etc are overpriced.

 

 

 

 

Ribble are great bikes. They're based a couple of miles from me. They used to have the shop in the village, then got to big and needed bigger premises. A mate of mine had one shipped out to Australia as it was cheaper than buying one of the big brands 

[difflock]

I called in with Outdoor Life in Ballymoney yesterday evening.

They have a couple of Giant Contend models on good offer, like £650ish.

Which seems about the right amount of money for an old done man like me to spend on a bike.

I will look at the gravel bike options as well though.

I will go back in at my leisure on Friday.

[Stere]

Remembering Mike Burrows (1943-2022): “the world’s greatest bicycle designer”

WWW.DESIGNWEEK.CO.UK

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The life and work of a maverick bicycle designer best-known for one moment in a prolific and influential career.

 

 

Giant are a innovative company esp the stuff they did with Mike Burrows. Always thought there bikes are decent.

[david lawrence]

One of mr burrows creations

[difflock]

Thank you for that link about Mike Burrows Stere.

A fascinating bloke indeed.

Edited February 7 by difflock

[scbk]

Just got this for the other half, alloy frame, hydraulic disc brakes, 700c wheels

 

Total cost including delivery - £98!

 

 

 

[jimboy]

Once you had spent your hard earned dosh on your new bike, consider security and insurance. Would you leave a pile of cash sitting on your doorstep under a brick and expect it to be still there when you next look out? If your bike gets nicked, - and there is a very good chance that it will happen, don't expect plod to get off their fat ar*e to help. Take photos of your new bike, including the serial number and consider additional markings to help identify it.

Now my experience of plod and stolen bike goes like this - One morning I was working in an enclosed garden with a single gate access, cutting a high hedge, when a young lad poked his nose in an signalled that he wanted to speak. He was pushing a very expensive looking mountain bike. He offered me the bike for £50 and when i said I had no cash he dropped the price to £20. Eyed the bike again and realised it was someone's pride and joy, so told him I got paid for the job at 1pm and to come back then. The lad agreed and shot off. Now have you tried phoning plod- forget it -on hold for half an hour. Gave me time to google the bile which cost over £2500. Finally got through and told my story and was assured plod would attend. At 12.55 I heard two-tone horns from cop shop several miles away. Surely not  i thought as i saw the lad cycling furiously past the bottom of the street. Five minutes later plod squad arrived with full disco lights and tunes and their first words were 'Where is he?' I can't repeat what I said to these a**holes. Argh -Why did I waste my time. Now go ahead and get yourself a bike but you have been warned.