Realsteel056 wrote:Hi everyone.
I am a newbie to the cycling world and havent ridden a bike for a good 15 years- i have done a few times here and there during holidays. I have spent the last 12 months improving my health and fitness and getting a bit bored of running so i want to take up cycling purely as a fitness thing. I plan to ride on mostly on bike paths and i have had a look and there are fairly decent bike paths around the neighborhood. The plan is to take it slow and do 10-20kms intitally, building experience and confidence and then take on longer routes - 30-50km and hopefully one day be able to do more than that >50-100km....
This is all well and good but for anyone being off a bike for 15 years (myself included at one point) doing 10-20km is probably the limits of starting out. I'd also suggest a bike with a wide range cassette so that you have an easier gear. There's almost nothing worse with riding than reaching a 15% gradient hill starting out and then realising you don't have a gear to attack the climb your up against. You don't want to be "that guy" that's dropped and is now walking up the hill. "How embarrassment"
I have read this forum and i must say there is a lot of rich information here from experienced cyclists and it has really been helpful. I did go down to the local shop and had a look and plan to go down to a few more shops later this weekend to see a few more bikes and try them out. During my first visit to the local bike shop, I was recommended a hybrid bike based on what i told salesperson. this is one that they had on sale and i did like the look and feel of the bike.
It is possible to build a nice bike with $500. My steel steed is a Giant Kronos, with a SRAM Rival, SRAM Apex Derailleur and SRAM double tap shifters. I also have a Thomson Elite seat post and am waiting on a Nitto quill stem. Get to know "a mate" that can look out for you or even hand you down their old groupset if its "a bit worn" and they're suffering from upgraditis. It matters not what your bike is made out of when you're beginning its all about the fitment of the bike.
Get your fitment and gear right and you will have a bike you will want to ride every day. There are even some classic modern aluminum road bikes these days such as a CAAD5, or Giant TCR, etc that will fit in a $500 price bracket which are practically modern bikes for most intents and purposes. Know your size, and get someone who knows what they're doing to fit it for you.