Profizzle99

Hello to everyone online at bike forums!

I finally graduated and have the money to purchase a new bike for myself and am wondering where to start.

To give some background on my riding, I bike 12 miles a day on an average of 17 mph from spring to Fall on a beater of a bike. Unfortunately, I live in Milwaukee, and the weather rarely permits otherwise. Sadly, my current bike is a fairly well kept "Giant" Mountain Bike I have had for over 5 years and it is the only bike I own, probably was around $400 new. Basically I am looking for an upgrade and dont know where to start. I love biking and am looking for just a basic, reliable road bike that is cheap. Anything is better than I currently own now and I would love to have an upgrade to go on longer, faster, workouts. The current "Giant" I have is simply too bulky!

Thanks for any recommendations guys, looking forward to your responses!

Dan 21,
Milwaukee WI

idc

Start at an LBS, and test ride as many bikes as you can that fit you well, and fit your budget. If you've never ridden a road bike before, anything will be a decent upgrade if you want speedier and longer workouts.

10 Wheels

Keep the Giant and look for a road bike.

Ferrous Bueller

Go used. That's the best value when starting out.
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/bia/
Take someone with you who knows bikes or arrange to take a prospective purchase to a local shop for an assessment.
Watch out for suspicious sellers who are frantic to sell quickly, or don't seem to know about the bike. Check bikes for evidence of crashes (bent wheels forks and handlebars, wrinkles under the frame paint).

DXchulo

Start by knowing what size you need. If you have a good shop nearby, they should be able to help. If you have a bad shop nearby, they'll probably point you in the direction of whatever it is on their floor that they want to get rid of. Milwaukee has a decent cycling scene, doesn't it? Maybe some forum members can tell you which shops are good.

Meanwhile, play around with this website: https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO

I'd stay away from used until you know more about what you're doing. My advice is to go with basic entry-level stuff, ride the hell out of it, learn from there, and upgrade in the future when you learn more about what you want.

Profizzle99

Thanks for the responses so far everyone. DXchulo, thats an awesome website so far, ill continue to look. And just to clarify, I am looking for a basic road bike, new. Not looking to go used, just want to start small and expand my knowledge from there. Are there any brands or specific models anyone could recommend? Thanks again!

Nagrom_

What's your budget?

Profizzle99

800-1000 approx, entry level bike. Possibly a previous years model to save even more money.

jimbo_tunacan

For that much, you can get a pretty nice bike if you get it on sale. Aluminum frame with carbon fork, tiagra or better yet 105 components. Go to a good shop and try out everything they have in your size and see what you like. Make sure to save a few bucks for a new seat as most likely you will not like their stock seat. You should be able to get some deals on last years bikes but make sure it is the right size.

joe_5700

+1 Also, your first road bike can then become your rain/training bike when you do decide to upgrade. I grew up in Milwaukee and got my first bike at the Wheel and Sprocket as a kid about 30 years ago... Go check them out and look at some Trek (1.1 and 1.2) and Felt (F and Z models in price range) road bikes.

Profizzle99

Great to hear from another person from Milwaukee. I was actually looking at those exact bikes to simply start off from, good advice, thanks joe!