Noob to cycling after some advice.

vortexsps

Hi everyone, as mentioned in my other post, i am looking to purchase a road bike for training on. Ater 3 years of uni life my health has took a decline, couple this with a desire to raise money for the junior football club i coach at i need a reliable bike.

I plan to train for the Manchester - Blackpool ride in July, as well as the Manchester 100K, so i am after a bike that is reliable for training on but also to complete these events. Also, i have a £500 - £600 budget to spend on all my gear. So what bike would you recommend?

I have seen this Specialized Allez 06 Triple: http://www.harryhallcycles.co.uk/directory.asp

Is it a decent bike? Does anyone have one. Is there another in my price range you would consider instead?

Also, what computer would anyone recomend me to get? Just so i can keep a training log etc.

Any advice would be great.

Cheers

Dondare

You could ask Santa for a bike.
Actually I bet that if you waited until after Chrismas and then looked on e-bay you would find a lot of bikes and bike-kit there.
Does " all the gear" include the kit as well? If you are going to start riding now, just when the weather is at it's worst, you will need some good clothes, and you could spend the whole budget on those. Perhaps Santa could help you out with that.
If you are cycling for fitness rather than competition, at least you wont need to spend a lot of cash on a bike with an expensive titanium or carbon frame. A heavier bike will get you fitter quicker. The bike you mention is a racing bike so some of the price is for lighter components, is this really a priority with you? Also racing bikes aren't designed to fit mudguards, which you would be better off having.
Having said that, looking at the site you give the link to, the Allez triple looks the best for your budget. I would suggest that you shop around a bit more, and specifically look for an Audax bike, which is a road bike with drops but also mudguards.

vortexsps

Cheers Dondare,

With regards to kit, i already have most of that from when i had my mountain bike before i went to uni. What i am looking for in my budget is the bike and a computer. Thats why i liked the look of the Allez triple. However, there are also a couple in Cycling Weekly too. Such as the Lemond Etape.

The thing with buying a race bike is i just dont know if i may want to race competitions. I cant afford a full carbon or titanium bike, then again if i buy an Audax bike i may rue the decision if i do want to enter compitions.

Dondare

If you ever do enter competitions you'll wish that you'd spent more on this one.
What happened to the mountain bike?

vortexsps

My mum sold it on a car boot sale!

MountainPro

I just bought an Italian Bianchi bike.

Its hand made, lovely light frame, carbon seat stays and carbon forks. Campy Xenon group which is tough and Bianchi wheels. Cost me just under £600 from Evans with free delivery. Its in the 2005 team colours and is reduced from £750.
It also came with Look clipless pedals..


http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=50020

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vortexsps

Nice, ill definately take a look at that.

Cheers