Cycling Without Expensive Gear and Huge Hours?

Pedal faster. Many cyclists just coast along and eat crap on those four hour "rides".

You can do it without the expensive gear and 4 hour workouts. Especially in the first couple of years. Get a couple decent pairs of bike shorts and a couple jerseys. Get an aluminum frame and spend the extra money you saved by not buying carbon to get some decent components and wheels and you're good to go. Maybe you'll get the urge to really attempt to compete in masters races and then you can make a decision on equipment and training when that time comes. Make no mistake about it though the learning curve is very steep in cycling so your gear won't matter for a while.

Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement. I'll keep it low tech and push myself for awhile and see where that leads me.

Cyclists need the long training his because their races are so much longer. Also you can because it isn't pounding.

Track cycling night be fun for you if you live near a velodrome. Shorter races need less training time and less money needs to go into the bike as it didn't have gears (or brakes).

Go to bike shop. Buy aluminum frame, carbon fiber fork bike w/ shimano 105 components. This is most durable and affordable race quality set-up. Should last as training/ entry level race bike for at least 5 years with minimal maintenance. Approx price range $1500-$2500.

You can probably find similar on Craigslist for less but for new biker I would recommend reliability/ warranty of shop. Get fitted for bike which many stores will do for free w/ bike purchase.

Buy reasonably priced bike shorts, helmet, and road pedals. Ride 3-4 days a week by yourself 45 mins to 2 hrs. Be careful.

After a month, find low key mature group ride. Stick with main group, listen to advice and learn to ride pace line. After a month or so of that, see if you can find Tuesday night world championship ride with more serious race oriented riders.

Get ready to enter cliquey high maintenance world of amateur bike racing. Also, get ready to be smoked by guys who couldn't run an 8 min mile. At least for a while. You may love it, you may hate it.

Biking is more about time in saddle and race tactics than talent as compared to running. It's also drastically more group oriented in both training and racing.

IMO, mountain biking is more of a hassle than it's worth due to driving to trailhead and endless maintenance.

When I had the time, I really enjoyed bike racing and still have first road bike I bought in 2008. Enjoy-

Dial it up wrote:

You can do it without the expensive gear and 4 hour workouts. Especially in the first couple of years. Get a couple decent pairs of bike shorts and a couple jerseys. Get an aluminum frame and spend the extra money you saved by not buying carbon to get some decent components and wheels and you're good to go. Maybe you'll get the urge to really attempt to compete in masters races and then you can make a decision on equipment and training when that time comes. Make no mistake about it though the learning curve is very steep in cycling so your gear won't matter for a while.

Everyone gets over that learning curve as soon as they first learned to ride a bike..

Cycling is less time efficient than running period. A wind trainer can make it more efficient but a lot less fun and you cannot do all your riding on it and be able to race.

I don't think expensive gear anywhere near pays off in road races or crits. If you have the engine to win on carbon fiber and D/A, you can win on aluminum and 105.

Master Limper wrote:

I'm a former competitive middle-distance-to-5k runner, now a master with a knee bad enough that running is no longer an option. Cycling causes no problems, though. So is there a way to reproduce the running experience via cycling, i.e. the ability to get in a good workout and even race without too-expensive gear or four-hour workouts? Is mountain biking in that category or is it gear-focused like road cycling seems to be? Thanks for any advice.

Yes, Dial It Up gets it right. You can hammer on a road bike ride and get a very good workout. No need to ride four hours until you plan to race.

Don't expect your running pedigree to necessarily carry over to cycling. I rode with a... um, heavy... guy a while back. I thought I'd be waiting at the top of every hill for him, but he crushed me.

I'd suggest you buy a used bike. Top of the line aluminum is as good as average carbon. You should be able to get a used Cannondale CAAD 10 for a little over $1,000 with reliable (Shimano 105) components. It's aluminum and an outstanding value. I have one. Ride it for a year. Figure out what you like and don't like. Then, sell it on CraigsList for maybe $200 less than you paid for it. And then buy a bike you really like once you figure out what you like and don't like.

You need a good helmet, but there's no need to buy a hyper expensive helmet. The top of the line helmets just have more air vents and are a little lighter. You pay about $100 more for that saved ounce or two. That's not important to you as a beginner or even as a racer. Save a bunch by getting a top-rate middle level helmet on sale. Check out PerformanceBike and Nashbar for gear deals.

The only place you might want to splurge is on shorts, but the Chinese knockoffs on eBay are surprisingly good. Sizes are ridiculously off so go by the measurements listed in the auction. I'm 5'5" 135 and wear a Large in this Chinese gear... go figure.

Mountain biking is a lot more adrenaline rush, but the risk of injury is higher and your knee might not be able to handle it. I'd say it's even more gear focused than road biking. If you're a decent cyclist, you can keep up with a $4,000 road bike on an old $800 Cannondale CAAD 9. That won't be the case when mountain biking... at least that's my opinion. The difference between my $1,000 mountain bike and my buddy's $3,000 bike is night and day. Maybe my bike is junk, but that's what my limited experience has been.

Last time I checked, this forum is called LetsRUN!

Ride hills. The steeper the better.

Intervals, intervals, intervals.

1 min very hard, 1 min easy as many times as you want.

5 minutes hard, 1 minute easy as many times as you want.

If you want a quality entry-level ride, go fezzari. Factory direct, actually wholesaled priced. Made in the USA.

bendable wrote:

Ride hills. The steeper the better.

This.

Buy a used Giant or CAAD that FITS you. Buy a new bell helmet. Get some cheap biking shorts and shoes.

It doesn't have to cost a lot for stuff.

Under no circumstance should you enter a Cat 4/5 criterium.

Thanks to all for the responses. It is interesting--and, to be honest, a little disheartening--how even the low-tech/lower-cost options you all are kind enough to share are much more expensive, gear-oriented, and tactically complex than running. Clearly, that is the unavoidable reality of the sport. But it is good to learn that impactful workouts don't have to take half a day. I appreciate all the insight!

I don't know how common this is, but one of our regional clubs does a weekly 10 mile time trial and an occasional timed hill climb. Back when I was riding a lot more, I did this on a second hand steel framed touring bike because that's what I had. The fast guys on the high tech equipment were faster, but you're really racing against the clock and your own personal bests in this sort of event. Because you're not riding in a pack in a time trial (they send riders off at 30 to 60 second intervals depending on how many are there) it's safer to do for a less experienced rider than is any sort of road racing. This club didn't charge for these events beyond club membership. It was probably cheaper than running.

My favorite bike to ride is an old Colnago Master (Columbus Steel) with regular hand laced wheels. I haven't looked in eons, but you might find high quality steel on eBay for reasonable prices. I also have a Cervelo SLC (all carbon fiber, including crank). To be honest, I'm not appreciably faster on it. But then again I'm not pro level.

Oops, looked on eBay. This is exactly what I have

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COLNAGO-MASTER-PIU-Decor-Columbus-Gilco-S4-Size-53cm-/201354744061?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ee1ad90fd

Maybe not affordable.

If all you want is a workout then any Walmart bike will do...until it breaks. I used to do 1-2 hour rides all the time in crap Walmart bikes. Just be prepared to buy a new one every couple of years. My last bike the rear axle literally snapped in half while I was cruising through the neighborhood.

Alan