buying a road bike

[tim_james]

Just thought I'd post an update.

I went back to the shop again and took the Avanti Monza for a test ride. It felt pretty good, although I didn't really know where to put my hands. Something I'll get used to no doubt. I checked the lowest gear and the ratio seems good, can't see myself coming across any hills where I will need something lower.

I am going to sleep on it, but I am pretty confident that I will go back tomorrow and buy it

[Bnej]

Monza looks like a good entry level road bike.

Normally you ride with hands on the hoods of the brake levers. This is pretty comfortable and lets you reach the levers & shift gears if you need to. If you go down hill or if you're sprinting then you get on to the hooks of the bars so as to be more aerodynamic and to have better leverage on the brakes. If you need a break from being hunched over you can use the flat part of the bar to sit more upright for a bit.

[tim_james]

I can now change the title of this thread to BOUGHT a new road bike.

I went with the 2008 Avanti Monza. So far I am very happy with it but here are a few things I have noticed so far.

1. I did 25 kms friday, and another 20 kms sat morning. The seat made my bum very sore as it a lot harder than my mtb bike one. I decided to swap over the seats and I did 35 kms on sunday and its now more comfortable.

2. I wanted to test out the gearing so I found some of the biggest hills around and I pretty much got down to the lowest gear. I think this will be better once I get fitter, also I expect to have to stand for more so than when I was on a mtb for climbing.

3. I don't think my cadence is high enough. I seemed to max out in top gear around 40~45 km/hr. Maybe I need to invest in a cadence meter.

[Bnej]

At 90 rpm in a 50/12 gear (your highest I think), you'll get about 47km/h. That's a normal cadence. If you can spin at 120 rpm (which you might sometimes) you could get up to 63km/h

With regard to seats, my road bike seat is much firmer than my MTB seat, and is more comfortable over longer distances. If you have too much padding you can sink into the saddle which can become uncomfortable. Everyone's bum is different so see how you go.

It is normal to stand to climb a bit more on a road bike than an MTB, and the geometry should make it more comfortable to do so.