New Bike for a Skater

[inline_online]

Hi,

I got my first ever road-bike two weeks ago after 18 years of inline skating and many years of mountain biking before that.

My financial control dept agreed that I deserved a present after spending 10 years at university and I went to test ride a couple of bikes. They were both Cannondale CAAD8's but one was an ex-hire bike and the other was brand new.
I decided to go for the hire bike as it was a lot cheaper and the shop said they'd get it ready for me. I skated in the next day to pick it up and the new one was waiting out the back. My amazing wife had called the shop while I was on my way in and asked them to get the new one down for me and she paid for it over the phone also. Love her more now

I know there's no point telling you guys this as you have been doing this for ages, but WOW, what a ride. It is so light and is incredible to ride. I've gotten used to the gear shifters now as i'd never used a system like that before. I'm using toe-clips with my normal sneakers as I can't afford the clipless pedals and shoes right now but everyone who sees it tells me I should get them. I was told that they are a lot safer as you can bail from the bike in the event of a crash. I'll have to try them out. I saw some cool Mavic Contragrip shoes in a shop. I think they are for mountain biking but I liked them because they can be used as normal shoes also. Any advice here from the experts would be welcome.

I haven't crashed it yet but have been taking it pretty easy while going downhill. I can see that it is pretty fast and I don't want to get into situations that I can't handle. I nearly came off on the first day while turning a corner at the western end Windan Bridge. I wasn't used to the bike at all and underestimated the corner and my turning ability. Lucky there was no one coming in the opposite direction.

This bike is super fast uphills. I've been tackling Mount St and also the hills in Kings Park with no problems at all. I wanted a bigger hill challenge so i rode up Greenmount Hill on Sunday morning. I timed myself using a skating app I have and got the following figures:
Distance: 5.98km
Time: 19:56 min
Av Spd: 18.2 km/h
Max Spd: 31.0 km/h
Climbed: 239m

I was pretty happy with that as I thought it would have been a lot harder. I reckon I could go a lot faster us it if there were no cars zipping by. Probably not the safest road to be on but I tried to be careful and didn't tell my wife what i was doing as she would have gone mental. Are there any other decent hills about that are reasonably safe to ride up? I'm thinking about Kalamunda Road. Not as long but a lot steeper.
I wasn't so keen on coming back down Greenmount Hill though. I stayed on the brakes the whole way down as I didn't trust my limited abilities on a fast downhill with cars and trucks coming past. Max speed downhill was only 61.9 km/h. How fast can you guys get down that hill?

Anyhow, as you can probably tell, i'm super-stoked to be on a road-bike. It is a heck of a lot of fun. I need to join a beginners riding group to learn more about what is what. I think there are some in the South Perth area so i'll look into that.

Cheers,
Dan

[Pravda]

Good to hear you're enjoying it mate!
Sounds like you've got a good level of fitness from all the skating, those are some decent times up Greenmount. That said, it's not a pleasant road to ride up into the hills on at the best of times. I'd suggest Kalamunda, Goosberry Hill or Welshpool roads as the best choices in that area.
My personal favourite is Mills Road East which heads from Gosnells up to Roleystone. It's probably the longest and steepest of the good roads into the hills near Perth, around 4km at 7% gradient. It's also a nice wide road with new tarmac and not much traffic. It's also definitely the best descent from the hills for the same reasons.
If you're already tracking your times, check out strava (http://www.strava.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). It's a great phone or gps app for tracking times and distances.

As far as shoes go I'd say avoid mtb shoes for a road bike, they're like flippers for scuba diving, a one use tool. But it'd down to what you feel comfortable with in the end.
I'm pretty sure South Perth Rouleurs have some beginner sessions.
Enjoy it man.

[dino1969]

Nice story Dan! enjoy the riding with two wheels and well done to your wife for the surprise she sprung on you!

[find_bruce]

Inline skater you say, well then you will be needing the Cannondale R4000



Just in case your thought I was as serious as the bloke in the second pic

[captain peacock]

nice purchase and glad u are enjoying it! and btw sounds like u have a great missus.

some awesome riding to be had kalamunda way and beyond......kalamunda rd, ridge hill rd, gooseberry hill rd, welshpool rd, canning rd to get up, and then try down mundaring weir rd, hummerston, aldersyde, walnut, patterson, lawnbrook etc.......it'll put hairs on your chest!

alternatives are up to brigadoon, just past the swan valley......campersic rd and haddrill rd come to mind.

in respect of the shoes, do whatever is comfortable.....clipless are perhaps safer in that you are less likely to slip when u are out of the saddle.

i start crapping myself around 60kph, but there are some folks that hit 70-80....not for me!!

[hiflange]

If you're into a hill or two you might want to check out Crystal Brook Rd on your way to Kalamunda

[inline_online]

Thanks for the advice regarding the hills. I'll try to check some of those out over the next few weeks with Mills Rd East being the first.
I'll also checkout the South Perth Rouleurs. I've seen plenty of their cycling shirts on my skating travels around Perth.

That R4000 is a strange looking concept bike. Not sure what they were thinking there.

Cheers,
Dan

[_mike_]

Hi Dan,

Get you map out and follow the roads parallel to greenmount hill (south side). A lot safer. Start at clayton onto scott --> coulston etc. rhyecroft / glen forest / thomas then onto mundaring weir road and out at kalamunda ----> railway then gooseberry hill road --> watsonia and back to clayton. I cant remember all the roads of the top of my head but there's plenty of climbs along hte way for you. get on google maps

good luck & enjoy

Mike