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First road bike

Hi,

This is my first post here and I am basically looking for some help and advice on my first ever road bike. After doing a few cycles on a cheap hybrid I purchased ive decided id like a road bike, my budget is around £600 but I can possibly push a bit more if absolutely necessary.

I know pretty much nil about road bikes so any advice would be appreciated, I am also 5ft 7 and need some info about size as im sure this makes a huge difference.

Cheers

Connor

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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16 comments

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arfa | 9 years ago
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To be fair, wiggle ask you to measure yourself when ordering the bike. I gave my measurements, the bike arrived and worked fine out if the box.....
If in doubt call them !the felt f frame is racy, stiff and impressive in my view - good luck ;
PS my main bike is a carbon frame specialized and the difference in times is minimal...

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Rich71 | 9 years ago
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54cm

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chiv30 replied to Rich71 | 9 years ago
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Rich71 wrote:

54cm

Take this advice at your peril a lot will depend on ur body geometry as well as frame geometry....

I'm 5'6" and my canyon cf 8 is a 50 / small yet my Scott S20 is a 52 seriously if you don't know ur sizing get to a shop try different bikes for fit then check their geometry out and compare it to the felt geometry before you listen to any random sizing advice on a forum

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parksey replied to chiv30 | 9 years ago
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chiv30 wrote:

seriously if you don't know ur sizing get to a shop try different bikes for fit then check their geometry out and compare it to the felt geometry before you listen to any random sizing advice on a forum

This. The importance of getting a bike properly sized up for you can't be over-stated. Ok, somewhere like Halfords might try to size you up based on height alone, but there's much more to it than that, and getting the right size is the difference between joy and agony...

Try the dealer locator on the Felt website to see who you've got nearby, then pay them a visit for a test ride and some sizing advice. You never know, they might do you a good deal too.

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Con1750 | 9 years ago
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Pretty set on the felt f95 now, looking for a bit of advice on sizing im 5ft 7.

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Rich71 | 9 years ago
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For 599 you could opt for the Merida Ride 90

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/reviews/road-bikes/merida-ride-90

its an excellent first choice road bike

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Con1750 | 9 years ago
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So wiggle have the f95 for 449, really really cheap any opinions on this?

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Con1750 | 9 years ago
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Id much rather go down to the store and get one but there really isnt any decent LBS around my area gonna check out wiggle, thank you.

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chiv30 replied to Con1750 | 9 years ago
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Con1750 wrote:

Id much rather go down to the store and get one but there really isnt any decent LBS around my area gonna check out wiggle, thank you.

Not sure whereabouts you are but it may be worth asking about on forums for a recommendation for an lbs within a 20 mile radius , at least that way you can try before you buy to get a feel for things

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arfa | 9 years ago
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If you are buying online (which I wouldn't normally recommend for a first bike) have a look at wiggle. I picked up a felt f85 within your budget and 3000 miles later I still think it is an excellent bike for the money. I think the f95 is on offer at the moment which will give you change from 500 notes and a sora groupset

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Con1750 | 9 years ago
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Yeah I went in there recently and asked about some bikes and they were just useless didnt want to help and didnt care so I just left and went elsewhere. Unfortunately I dont have any great LBS so ill be buying online.

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Beatnik69 | 9 years ago
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If you are buying the bike on finance are you able to avail of the CYcle to Work scheme?

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chiv30 | 9 years ago
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If you can get it with decathlon get a btwin from them on finance steer clear of halfords the majority of stores are filled with untrained chimps

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gdmor10 | 9 years ago
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yep that's the risk with Halfords

specialized seem like nice bikes although I have no experience of them, everything seems pretty competitive these days so no reason to think it will go wrong.

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Con1750 | 9 years ago
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Hi,

Ive already had some awful experiences with my local halfords with stock and generally unhelpful staff, ill likely be purchasing via a finance agreement so unfortunately boardman is out of the question anyway  2

Been looking at the specialized secteur or allez at the moment.

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gdmor10 | 9 years ago
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lots of people on here might not like buying a bike from Halfords but the Boardman bikes offer fantastic value in that price range. Failing that the ones in Decathlon always get good reviews as well.

advice is usually buy the best frame you can afford and then you can upgrade components as you go along.

good luck, buying your first road bike is very exciting!

p.s. if you are buying clipless pedals then I suggest using SPDs first, they are not for the road purists but easier to work with to start off.

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