Cycling (non motorised bikes :-) Advice on kit

Thanks for your comments rjwarg & philipMac

rjwarg - Thankyou for your 2cents. Lots of good stuff there. I take on board your comments about helmet, if I were riding at all seriously I'd consider it a must. But so far I've ridden once this year, that's what I mean about trying to get into this. I didn't realise about the cotton thing, suppose I better look harder for a top.

Went round 3 shops today. 2 barely sold any kit the third had a selection though it was all a bit bewildering to me. I wasn't offered any help and didn't feel confident to ask. Someone did appear in the area after a while but I think he was just there to check I wasn't shop lifting as all he seemed to do was rattle hangers.

I'm sure I've seen some peeps on here making some pretty informed comments about cycling, so I'm gonna try my luck at asking for some advice.

I'm not a serious cyclist, hell I'm not really even a cyclist. But I did the Norwich (half) Century ride last weekend and think I'd like to get into it a bit more.

I'm not going to worry about a bike at this stage, I'll use my numpty hybrid for the moment and look for something on ebay late Autumn when hopefully prices will be lower.

However I do want some starter kit:
* Gloves - gel inserts sould like a good idea
* Shorts - my rrr survived 50m but comfort is always good
* Jersey - maybe

So looking for some advice on what a first timer should look for in terms of:
* Brands (Ceba, Lusso, Di Marchi, Scott were ones I noticed of the peeps I was cycling with)
* How much should I spend on stuff at this stage
* Where to buy it - guess as it needs to fit I can't buy online?

TIA

i do a fair bit of riding, I used to do more.
Em, the only bits that matter to me at the moment though are :

Shoes / Pedals.
One of the most important bits of a bike, and the most overlooked. Good shoes and good clipless pedals make a huge difference. Get something cheap to start with, Shimano maybe.


Glasses. I wear a pair of silly expensive Brikos. And, I love them. The fit perfectly, help me see better with the light orange lens, and keep NYC crap out of my eyes.

lid. I was given a decent lid, and I wear it pretty much all the time. I use a Bell Sweep R.

Interesting.

Pedals - point taken and noted for future reference. But from what I've seen pedals + shoes would cost more than I'm looking to spend on everything else. I'm trying to get some stuff that will give me less reason not to ride.

Glasses - well I have to wear glasses anyway so sort of not an issue.

Lid - If I wanted to wear one I've got a Bell already (not as nice as that one). Probably bad form not to wear a lid but ho-hum. Like I say right now I'd just like to reduce the obsticles to riding and comfort is the biggy.

[SoulKiss]

Save cash - just use what you would use on the SV :P

As Jester666 said, in a road rage incident, Lycra isnt even close to bike armour :P

I'll get my coat

[fizzwheel]

Decent shoes and clipless pedals will make a huuge difference, you dont need to go mad cost wise if you look at the SPD stuff, its pretty reasonably priced. Remember if your going to be changing bikes in a while you can swap the pedals over. Most more expensive bikes dont come with pedals so if you are swapping later you'll only end up spending out then anyway.

Proper cycling shorts with a chamois or gel insert in them make a big difference comfort wise to. I get mocked by the guys I go out cycling with, but my butt doesnt hurt after 25 - 30 miles like theirs normally do.

Gel Insert in your glove will help comfort wise, but not as much as making sure you seat and bars are set at the right height will.

A proper Jersey is a good idea to. Again you'll get mocked but it does make life a lot more comfortable and cooler if you wear something designed for the job rather than an old T-Shirt. I wouldnt think of riding my motorbike without wearing my leathers, I dont go out on my pedalbike without my lyrca on. I really dont care what anybody else thinks. Dont be self concious, on a proper cycling event everybody else will be wearing it so you'll fit right in. Also my jersey has 3 big pockets in the back of it that useful for storing snacks, keys, mobile phone in as well.

Glasses and a helmet are definately worth buying. Again you dont need to go mad on Oakleys etc etc, just buy something in your budget that are designed for cyclists as they'll be more effective at keeping grit and bugs out of your eyes. I've got a Met Helmet, its a great fit and more comfortable than the Giro's that I looked at.

As for brands, I didnt pay much attention to it when I bought my stuff. I went to my local bike shop had a walk around picked out stuff that I liked the look of that fitted me and bought that. I just bought black shorts and a black jersey as that seemed to be cheaper than the multi-coloured team jersey's were.

Shimano stuff is good to start with, but the higher end stuff 105 upwards IMHO is worth the extra money, it seems to shift better and last longer than the Tiagra etc etc does.

As for buying online.

www.wiggle.co.uk
www.cycleexpress.co.uk
www.pedalon.co.uk

All seem well priced and have a lot of stock.

I live about 10 minutes from this shop and I bought most of my stuff from them

www.triuk.com

Dont for god sake buy stuff from Bike Hut in Halfords, useless does not begin to describe them.

IMHO best to find a shop local to you that specialise in cycling and go in there and ask there advice, most places will have knowledgable staff who will be able to help you.

If your going to start doing longer rides, get a little bag to clip under the seat, and stuff a puncture repair kit, tyres levers and a multi tool with some spanners and allen keys on it, that way you can get home if you are miles from nowhere, you can get small pumps that you clip to the frame as well.

Hope that helps.

That's great fizzwheel.

I'm no longer bothered by the appearance of stuff. This ride at the weekend was with a varied bunch but 4 of them are relatively serious. All were fully kitted and at the end of the day I knew I would benefit from some proper kit. Hence this thread.

Brand point noted - I'll try not to worry about that and go with any in shop advice I can get.

I think you were talking about chainsets and stuff for a second. I'll try and keep that in mind IF I do go on to get a proper bike. I'll be looking to pick up something with decent kit already on it. To assess that I'll enlist the help of the peeps I was cycling with. The target being to do the 100mile ride with them next year.
(An aside - I was impressed when one of the blokeslooked at my bike and from the model of the durailer correctly told me what year I'd bought it... 8 years ago)
At least two of them were running with the repair kit & spares you mention.

[fizzwheel]

No worries, most of that was passed on by a friend of my girlfriends, Her boyfriend rides Mountain bikes and is 3rd in the UK rankings, She gave me loads of advice and training tips when I started cycling again in January.

I cycled 55 miles on the Tour of Wessex a couple of weekends back. Great feeling when you finish isnt it.

I'm doing another ride in September 100km, then next year I'm aiming to do one of the 100 mile tour of wessex routes.

I'm entering the cyclosportive events, less of a race, more about the challenge of getting round the route.

If your going to do take it a bit more seriously I really woudl recommend getting another bike. Like you say ebay has loads, also buy some of the cycling magazines and have a route through the classified section, sometimes theres some really good bargains.

I bought a new bike in the end, I'm really glad I did its so much easier and nicer to ride than my old one was. If you're mates are into cycling, ask them for advice, they'll have tried loads of stuff to and know what will work and what wont.

Like fizzwheel says, buy a decent road jersey with 3 back pockets £20-£30, bibshorts rather than shorts (they have braces built in - if you use shorts the waist band will get very sweaty) also £20-£30. Use a wicking vest underneath, cotton gets cold when sweaty. Don't bother with expensive glasses unless you have money to burn, mine were £5 from Decathlon.

When you upgrade your bike I would buy secondhand from a club cyclist rather than new - it is difficult for a beginner to see the difference between a £2000 bike and a £200 bike but the difference is in the quality of the bearings and mechanisms. A £200 bike is only intended to be ridden 1000 miles before it is knackered but a £2000 bike will probably do 20,000. A club rider will be selling his 5 year old £2000 bike for £500.

I've raced for 25 years and averaged 150 miles a week most of the time, once you get hooked it will take over your life. Best thing I did as a beginner was join my local club and go on their clubruns, they'll teach you how to ride a bike in earnest. My cycling clubmates are my closest friends, 25 years of shared weekend rides in all weathers creates a very close bond.

Great to read that oldjack.

Thanks for the tip on the shorts. They look a bit awkward (especially if you want to make yellow snow ) but I see the point of them now.

If I get into it more (and I don't know how it will go) then I will get a 'proper' bike. It's probably going to be nearer 10 years old and £250 but even so I've been advised that will still be better than £500 new. If I really do get into it and or my situation changes (pay rise) then budget might be greater. I'm sure I can get advise from these people. The garage of the 'Dad' had about 20 bikes in it (all sorts) and he just loves anything to do with them. I also have an inkling about the "hooked" thing. A school friend got into it a couple of years ago from no interest at all and now his weekends are spent out in all weathers as you describe - apparently nothing gets them more excited than spotting a JCB or similar to slipstream ?