[paulrattew]

Rose Xeon
Rose Xeon CDX
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-xeon-cdx-4400/aid:766557

I’ve got the ultegra version, and it really is a great bike. You can customise the set-up to get the components you want, although there are more options with Shimano in relation to chainsets. It’s also considerably lighter than almost any other disc bike at this price point – mine is comfortably under 8 kilos.

Having ridden both SRAM and Shimano hyraulic disc systems I just think that Shimano’s works a lot better. If you prefer SRAM’s doubletap shifting though then i can still happily recommend their hydro – not quite as good as shimano’s but still excellent

[paulrattew]

A good club is really the
A good club is really the best way to learn. A good club will teach you how to ride in a group comfortably – the etiquette and the skills.
A good club will have people who have experience with all sorts of racing – TTs, road races, crits. You will be able to learn from them.

As Gkam says, some of the top riders aren’t exactly great in comparison to other pros when it comes to riding in groups. It is all a matter of relative levels though – they might not be as good as the average pro, but they are still vastly better than the average Joe. I wouldn’t even think of racing (apart from triathlon) unless you are reasonably comfortable in a group. You don’t have to be brilliant, but you need to make sure that you are not dangerous to the other riders around you.

Get a bit of experience in group riding with a club, then through yourself into a race and have some fun. You will almost certainly be spat out the back early on, but you won’t be the only one and it should only spur you on to improve 🙂

Also, when the winter season comes along you should definitely try cyclocross. Most fun you can have in an hour on a bike

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