Cycling Without Expensive Gear and Huge Hours?

I used to be exclusively a runner but started riding in my 40's and now have been cycling for 25 years.

I just bought a nice aluminum frame bike from BikeNashbar online with 105 components on sale for $800. Simply put the seat in the seat post, attach the handle bars and pedals and start riding.

Once you get the bike use hills for interval training, push hard on the hills and coast down. Once you are comfortable look for some local group rides which range from social to training. Most bike races are crits and are less than 1 hour. I have run very good age group races from mostly cycling.

Yes

Wrong. You will not be ready for TNW after a month of occasional group riders and just 2 months of riding.

Your LBS will have training classes with summer coming up. Basic classes cover changing tires, adjusting brakes, etc. Intermediate classes cover riding a pace line, cornering, etc. Call around and find out what's available.

Check LBS bulletin boards for guys selling their old bikes.

Don't over-buy on your first bike. My buddy got a nice $3,000 and upgraded the wheelset and tires. The racing tires were paper thin and punctured on our first ride... lots of glass and trash on the roads where we ride. Yes, it's a great setup for racing, but not ideal for our location. My other buddy and I ride Continental Grand Prix tires... a good compromise for daily rides.

If you ride by yourself or with like-minded runners who are cross training, it's okay to ride and dress however you like. If you ride with a formal cycling group on their weekly rides, it can be a little (or a lot) cliquish. Mostly, they're wary of a novice in their pace group, but it's more than that.

I don't know about other areas but my LBS won't work on a bike that they did not sell. One of my buddies went online and bought a bike and is having a few issues with it and the LBS will not help. On the other hand I've bought all of our families bikes from our LBS and had an issue while riding and LBS drove to my location and fixed the issue. A good relationship with the local LBS can be helpful. I don't live in an urban area so maybe in other areas it works differently but for me it's been important.

I would go out and buy a road bike and gear only if you enjoy biking. Unlike running, riding alone is very boring and you might become very impatient with the start and stopping required to make it out to a good patch of road. If you are going to do it just for fitness than you are better off using a stationary bike or taking up spinning at your local gym. You can get a good workout with one hour of decent effort. If this doesn't sound appealing then think about taking up swimming. Best workout for the risk/reward. It's bound to be the only activity you'll be able to do well into the last years of your life anyway.

Not sure where you live, but if you can find a good climb - 1000 + feet and ride it regularly, that's all you'll need. Bike shorts a must. Clip in Shoes, fancy bikes (I ride a late 80s Trek Aluminum tank) and most importantly, silly costume biking shirts, are optional.

Cycling is ok, but it sucks overall, especially the socks. Get the Elliptigo,,,spelled something like that, it is 90% running but w/o the pounding

Aiaiaiaiai wrote:

Unlike running, riding alone is very boring and you might become very impatient with the start and stopping required to make it out to a good patch of road.

I feel precisely the opposite. Running alone is so boring it made me stop running entirely. I cycle every day now, entirely alone. There is no comparison. I can go out for four hours in the hills where running alone was so bad I could hardly make thirty minutes before feeling like quitting and walking home.

I am on the fence about all of the gear discussions. I think most of it is psychological. Very few people who spend over $1500, $2000 on a bicycle are seeing any real-world performance increase from their investment. It is a matter of better gear making one feel somehow "more" legit. They'll pay 2 grand extra to shave 300 grams off their machine, when they could drop 10 lbs off the engine for free.

I live in Spain, with mountains, in a hotbed region for very good cyclists. I ride a top-line steel Peugeot from 1976. Downtube shifters, non-aero brakes, platform pedals. I ride in rapha bibs and an oxford shirt and flip-flops. I can't tell you the last time I was passed or dropped on the local mountains, and I'm out there every day. I am not a real cyclist. I don't race. I don't know how to ride in a pace-line. I wear flip-flops for godsake. I actually feel bad when I gap these dudes riding race-weight carbon rigs.

Do I wish I had one myself? Sometimes. The expense isn't worth it though.

I rode this very bicycle from Poland to Portugal, and was run over once by a car while underway. The people saying "you can't cycle without an X thousand dollar investment" either have too much money on their hands, are in it just for looks, or are serious legit racers who probably aren't paying retail. That said, do get some good bib shorts. I crossed europe wearing literally a 7 year old bathing suit. It was fine, but I have some good bibs now and I wish I hadn't waited so long.

Just get a bike, man, and go ride it. You get a harder, better workout heaving a gas-pipe beach cruiser up a hill than you do on a 10,000 dollar aerospace-industry carbon machine tested in a wind-tunnel. There's no reason you can't get yourself legitimately on the road for less than 500 dollars. Learn to do stuff yourself, you'll save a ton of money. A bicycle is a very simple machine.

I wish I could ride alone.

Just the idea of driving to a location and riding alone for hours without anybody to complain with or make fun of makes me wanna go for a quick 1 hour run.

I'm with you in regards to biking shirts. I wear old school t shirts. Just had a great 30 mile ride this morning.

Spin

Has 9.73 times the benefit of running for a similar amount of time*

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*I made that up

Old Man by the Sea wrote:

I'm with you in regards to biking shirts. I wear old school t shirts. Just had a great 30 mile ride this morning.

I don't think that you will get much debate on whether t shirts work well for cycling. They are shirts.

I agree. You would do much better and have more fun on an ElliptiGO. Sounds expensive, but you don't need all the extra gear.

It's been mentioned -- aluminum frame, shimano 105 component set and a brand that isn't full of itself (Giant, Jamis) can be had for around $1400. I've bought a few road bikes, and the extra $1500 spent on the one pound weight savings and slightly smoother drivetrain is simply not worth it for most people. Check out the Giant Defy 1: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/defy.1/18733/76108/

I am a former runner turned cyclist. It is a great sport. Get a Cannondale CAAD 10 105 5 for around $1500. Get the local shop to fit you. Join the shop for group rides. The social scene is really fun and they will teach you safety, good routes, and bike maintenance during the training rides. Plus you can join them for a race when you are ready.[quote]well,. wrote:

TDF wrote:

I agree. You would do much better and have more fun on an ElliptiGO. Sounds expensive, but you don't need all the extra gear.

For the love of God, if you have any shred of self respect, DO NOT buy one of these!

You will be even worse than a Fred.

You will be a tool among tools.

Please do not do it.

Thanks again to all. I think LetsRun is at its best when coaches/former elites share insider stories and insights, but this kind of crowd-sourcing is a credit to the site, too!

Have you tried the ElliptiGO? Closest thing to running.

used to run a lot wrote:

Have you tried the ElliptiGO? Closest thing to running.

No. I would rather commit hari kari. I have honor. Not a lot. But honor nonetheless.