Non motorised bicycles

[AJ9000]

In a moment of weakness I have agreed to do a triathlon next June. It is the half Ironman distance, meaning a bike ride of 56 miles. I don't have a bike. (I also don't (not can't) swim, because I find it interminably boring, but that is another topic).

So, I need a bicycle, assuming I can't do it on my Kawasaki. Now I know absolutely nothing about them, other than the number of wheels, but an amount of research indicates that "entry level" proper bikes are about £700 upwards. Given the length of the ride, and, therefore, the loads of training miles I will have to do, I feel I do need a decent light bike so I won't be doing the run like John Wayne with piles.

My question though, is where (i.e. at what price point) will I stop feeling the difference?

I also don't understand the shoe/clip thing so any help appreciated,

TL:DR I need a decent bike, how much should I spend??

[ToxicChicken]

Not sure about the whole bicycle thing. But I used to do spinning classes and lots of people wear them there as apparently they help you to kind of push and pull with your feet and obviously grip the pedals. Makes it easier I suppose! hope that's a but helpful. Hope it goes well!

[kotachi]

You can get a perfectly good road cross (bike with a frame that CAN be fitted with off-road wheels and tyres but is usually a road bike) for around, as you say, £700.

You can spend in the region of £1-£3k for a competitive triathlon levelled bike, one of my friends is a Loughborough Triathlete and her bike is worth £4k, but assuming you are merely doing it for the challenge/charity/some other equally noble but not competitive reason, then a road cross should be fine.

And with regards to clip-on's, there are basically 3 types of pedal, normal pedals, cages and clip-on's.

With respect to triathlons and long rides;
normal < cages < clip-on's,

as each level makes the up-pulls easeir and more efficient!
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[stinkwheel]

Go second hand.

You can get decent quality, older racer bikes fairly cheaply. Especially if you get one from the pre brifter era (brifters are brakes and gear shifters in one so you pull them to brake and knock them sideways to change gear).

If you're prepared to have a gear shift on the crossbar, you can get competition standard racer bikes for a couple of hundred quid.

Most cities will have a bicycle recycling co-op/charity and all the wee scrotes want mountain bikes, not racer bikes.

Look out for anything with a Reynolds steel tubing frame.

You want 700C size wheels, alloy rims and you want some super-skinny tyres with loads of pressure in them. Don't worry too much about fancy brakes, you can upgrade to modern callipers.

Some of the really good ones will have campagnola gears but be aware that they use odd sizes so if they need parts, it can be expensive. Shimano 105 is generally accepted as the entry-level gear stuff for serious competition.

Don't get one off ebay unless you're going out to see it. The geometry is WAY more important than the sum of the parts, it's got to fit you.

Sheldon Brown was always the oracle on all matters bicycle. He was a prolific web author and all his stuff has been kept for posterity. Have a good browse about. If there is anything you need to find out about a bicycle, add "sheldon" to the search string and there will usually be a detailed article:
https://sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html

You see stuff like THIS

It's old fashioned but people were using bikes like this in the tour de France 20 years ago. It has a superb quality steel frame and campagnola everything. This bike would have cost several thousand pounds when it was new. BUT you really do need to sit on them.
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[AJ9000]

Thanks everyone, and especially stinkwheel.

In terms of geometry, having not ridden a racing bike, how will I know if it fits. Evidently if it is far too small or big I should realise but it seems that frames come in 2cm increments. Would that matter as the saddle can adjust?

[stinkwheel]

[D O G]

While Stinkwheel is helpful, I do disagree with him on the vintage bike thng.

Parts will be more difficult to comeby, the wheels will probably be past their best (stuck nipples anyone), it will be heavier, will need more care and will probably be more worn than something newer.

I'd go second hand, but a mosdern Alu frame and Carbon fork, with Shimano kit (105 is fine as Stinky says).

Something like this....

2 Year old Specialized for £550.

[hellbound]

I got my mountain bike from asda for 59.99


its still working and still takes a beating 4 years later
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May you always see the road rising up to meet you and your enemies defeated in the mirror behind.

[stinkwheel]

[D O G]

[Drew]

On cycle forums, the Triban 3 gets great reviews as a budget / beginner road bike.

[AJ9000]

Thanks for all the input.

I have had a good chat with a couple of guys and booked in to test ride a specialized and a trek on Wednesday at a local shop.

I just about understand the shoe thing now and also where the money goes when you buy a bike.

I suspect that fit will be most important as being a newbie I am sure I wont be able to tell the difference between bikes of a similar spec from different producers.

The saddles do look awfully small though......

[stinkwheel]

[AJ9000]

Off tomorrow to the bike shop, and have a triathlete trainer coming with me to look at fit etc.

Think I might be in for serious wallet bashing.

Not sure I can ask to try on the underpants.....

[stinkwheel]

[Carl_steveo]

I'm also looking for a road bike but really can't be spending £700 I'd be lucky if I had £400. I'm not after it for a decathalon or anything like that just as a keep fit. Spotted a few in *whispers* Halfords *whispers*. They had a carrera virtuoso for £379 last week, it went up £550 yesterday. It was worth getting in my opinion at £379 but not full price.
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[AJ9000]

I think I'd rather ride naked than wear those.

[JonB]

The only reason I would go against stinky with regards to vintage bikes is that the geometry is not necessarily conducive to being tri-bar friendly if you are going to adopt a time trial position.

Now is the best time to buy brand new as 2012 bikes are being sold off cheap.

In terms of sizing, always buy a bike that is slightly too small, rather than slightly too big. You can add longer stems and raise saddles, you cannot do the reverse. (within reason)
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[truslack]

Go for a narrow seat! When I did LEJOG, 900 miles on a razor blade seat was comfier than doing the last 120miles on a tandem with a wide soft seat - that thing killed my arse.
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Current: Suzuki RG 125 Gamma, Honda H100, Triumph Tiger 800XC, Suzuki SV650 (minitwin)

[AJ9000]

Well - I now am the proud owner of a Specialized Allez Elite.

With lots of advice from both the shop and someone who came with me on the test ride it all seems to fit perfectly.

Have ordered the gay shoes to go with the SPD SL cleats and even some padded shorts. I refuse to wear a polka dot top, however.

When shoes arrive am having them set up by the experts which will apparently help stop my knees falling apart.

Getting used to gear changes by using the brake levers is tricky, but other than that it seems quite easy to ride. Where's the entry form for the Tour de France?

[G]

I have vague plans to do a Triathlon next year - just as a general fitness goal.
My vague aim I reckon is do the Ben Nevis mountain bike one in September which is half iron man kinda distance, but fairly tough.
(However, I should point out I can't swim very well at all and am currently suffering from some nasty upper back pain, so may well end up sitting on my backside surfing the 'net instead.)

Note that if you're specifically training for a road triathlon you should probably consider changing your bike configuration to a 'triathlon' style.
I have only looked in to it a little bit, but the bike is generally set up with the seat further forward and tilted down. This uses a different part of your leg, which helps you 'save' it for the running portion after.
And then that puts you in to using 'tri bars' rather than standard drop bars. It depends on the climbs etc; I get a bit confused while the different styles, but Time Trial/Triathlon have different bars to road race, which is expected to meet more varied terrain.

I might get some tri bars for my hybrid, but plan was to do that anyway just to get a bit more speed on the down-hill bits when riding around generally.