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Hmmmm upgrade advice

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  • November 10, 2015 at 8:57 pm #25044
    dazzer24

    Hi all

    new to the forum and fairly new to cycling. Hoping for a little advice-it would be much appreciated. 

    I started cycling in August-always been a keen runner but kept getting impact related injuries so thought I’d try cycling and have most definitely been bitten by the bug! 

    I bought a relatively modest hybrid from halfords but am itching to upgrade to something with more reliable gearing and hopefully a bit lighter. 

    I very much ride for fitness. During the week I’ll go out 2 or 3 times on the road for between 30 min and 1 hour..quite hilly where I live. Manage between 7 and 15 miles usually. I usually get out one day at weekend and so far for about 90 min to 2 hours. This ride is usually mix of road and some fairly well surfaced canal paths..12-20 ish miles. As I build my stamina I may well extend the longer rides but unlikely to have time to do more than 3 hours or so, at least not very regularly. 

    I’m currently looking at adventure road bikes such as norco search 105 alloy and pinnacle arkose 3. I’m wondering though if I really need drop bars? I did briefly ride a drop bar bike last week and after riding a 40c tyred hybrid with fairly wide flat bars I was quite surprised how unsteady I felt! I do like a flat bar and when pushing hard enjoy the feeling of really being able to pull hard to generate power. 

    With this in mind I’ve looked at a few flat bar quick light bikes.

    felt Verza speed 10 and Merida speeder 500.. Both have ultegra hearing which at around £1000 seems amazing. Assume they are both around 10kg weight. My current steed weighs in around 13kG+

    also the bmc alpenchallenge 105 ac01 looks stunning. A bit …..pricier though!

    so do I need drop bars when bikes like this are available?

    cheers

    d

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  • November 13, 2015 at 8:03 pm #862935
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    dazzer24

    Everyone

    Everyone

    all responses much appreciated. Yes I’m actually trying a couple of drop bar bikes at the weekend. Likely only for 20 min or so each though. 

    Everyone is focusing on drop bars being great because so many places to put your hands-but so far at least having my hands in flat bar position hasn’t got tiring or painful at all. As I say I’ve only ridden 20 or so milers but realistic time will not allow me to go further for the foreseeable. Also I, as I’m sure many bikers do, notice every single bike on the road…and if 5% of riders are in the drops that might be an over estimate so surely a bit of a moot point. I’ve even driven past a few races and most are sat on the brake hoods.  

    Who knows which way I’ll jump:) still drawn to that bmc alpenchallenge ac01 105 though…might have to try that too before any decision!

    thanks again all

    d

    November 12, 2015 at 10:25 pm #862933
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    Daveyraveygravey

    Evans do good demos – you
    Evans do good demos – you have to book and pay a deposit, but they can get almost anything in for you. Talk to them about how long you can have it for, I had a couple of bikes for an hour each, helped me to choose

    November 12, 2015 at 4:14 pm #862931
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    Carton

    I’d also vote for the drops,

    I’d also vote for the drops, if only for the hand positions (the wind cheating is nice even if you’re not going too fast as an often needed physchological tool against headwinds). If you’re reaching over the £1,000 mark then hydro discs are a must-have for me, particularly if fitness is your aim -better stopping in the winter and particularly on longish descents in the cold is well worth the extra couple hundred grams IMHO. The Search and Arkrose are good picks … I’d add in the Raleigh Mustang and the GT Grade as bikes to look at.

    But do try to get a loaner road bike for a while, the handling with drops is different, and if drops aren’t your thing well then there’s no one paying to use them 🙂 Flat bars are much better off road, and hilly terrain does considerably negate some of the advantages of drops.

    November 12, 2015 at 2:50 pm #862929
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    keef66

    I used to ride a MTB, then

    I used to ride a MTB, then realised I was spending more and more time on the road so I kitted it out with slick tyres and bar ends.  That worked for a couple of years but I couldn’t ride it far enough or fast enough; the wide bars and upright position were a major hindrance.  So at the ripe old age of 50 I treated myself to a proper drop barred road bike.  So much better in every respect.  That was 8 years ago and now it has a lighter, carbon framed stablemate.  The only other thing I’d recommend is if you plan on riding in the wet, get a bike that takes proper mudguards (my first one does)

    November 12, 2015 at 1:00 pm #862927
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    Daveyraveygravey

    Another vote for drop

    Another vote for drop handlebars.  Apart from anything else, you have something like 4 or 5 different places to put your hands, which then also affects the rest of your upper body.  For half an hour rides, it won’t matter, but as you get into longer rides it makes a huge difference.  It also saves you energy when the wind picks up, or when you are tanking downhill.  At first it may feel skittish, but you will get used to it.  Cynically, I think flat bar bikes/hybrids are the bike industry niche marketing because a lot of people get a hybrid and then when they get the bug realise it’s a jack of all trades…

    I got bar-ends for my mountain bike as just having one place to put your hands on the otherwise flat bars really got on my nerves.

    Otherwise the adventure road bike seems a good fit for the riding you describe.  I disagree about disc brakes though, yes they are way better than rim brakes in the rain, but you will lose out elsewhere in the spec of  your bike if you go with discs now.  Maybe in 5 years time prices will come down etc.

    November 12, 2015 at 12:43 pm #862925
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    CXR94Di2

    Using drops makes a bike very
    Using drops makes a bike very versatile in position. So relieving discomfort and cramps by adjusting hand positions

    November 11, 2015 at 10:21 pm #862923
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    rjfrussell

    get someone to lend you a

    get someone to lend you a proper road bike in your size for a week or so.  Really. You must.  Or else you will be risking  spunking your money away.  The owner of my LBS lent me one of his bikes for 10 days.  There are these guys out there.

    November 11, 2015 at 8:52 pm #862921
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    dazzer24

    Thanks to both of you for

    Thanks to both of you for your comments. I’m torn really! But to be fair I’ve only ridden a drop bar for about 15 minutes last week at Evans. The bike was a 51cm and I need a 56cm so don’t know how that might have affected how it felt.

    im trying out the norco and pinnacles I mentioned at the weekend in my size and I’ll ride them a bit longer to try and get a feel for it. I’m tempted to test ride a flat bar of similar calibre though just for comparison before I make a call  

    The bmc alpenchallenge ac01 105 does look really very nice!

    cheers

    d

    November 10, 2015 at 11:24 pm #862919
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    rjfrussell

    My personal experience-

    My personal experience-  started riding 100ish miles a week on an old heavy Marin city hybrid and decided to treat myself to a new bike.  Chose a very nice light frame but asked LBS to build it up with flat bars.  They basically bullied me into riding one of their own bikes with drop bars before they would do my build with flat bars.  My build had drop bars.  No question.

    My wife’s experience- started riding more regularly so wanted to upgrade her old heavy Marin city hybrid.  Based on my experience, we bought a drop bar road bike.  She found it a bit skittish, so also bought a very nice, very light, flat bar bike.  Which now mostly stays in the shed, because with a few more miles under her belt she is back on the drop bar, which no longer feels skittish, it just feels right.

    What I would say is, increase your budget to get hydraulic disc brakes.  Just in a different league to anything else in terms of stopping power until you get to stupidly expensive rim brakes.  (The only rim brakes I have used that are even close to pretty basic hydro discs are Campag Super Record)

     

    November 10, 2015 at 10:36 pm #862917
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    McStumpy

    It’s spooky how similar your

    It’s spooky how similar your description is to me,  dusted down an old hybrid bike I’ve had for years last summer and now have the bug.  I also ride for fitness with similar rides as you describe. 

    This summer I bought a Btwin Triban 540 flat bar, and can’t recommend it enough. Fantastic spec for 500 quid and a joy to ride. It’s fast and light,  it very much is a road bike with a flat bar. It can take tyres up to 32mm, so can change tyres if rougher roads or trails part of regular ride. That said I thought first thing I would do would be buy 28mm tyres,  but the 25mm stock tyres were not as intimidating as I thought. 

    I did my first sportive in September,  a 45 miler, and the bike coped well and was on a par with most riders on drop bars.

    However, having had go on a drop bar recently, I have now started thinking I should have gone down that route,  getting down onto the drops into the wind made life so much easier.  I can get aero on the flat bars but it’s uncomfortable and not a position I can hold for too long

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