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Well, not 50 yet, but 49 is right around the corner so....

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Fifty Plus (50+) Share the victories, challenges, successes and special concerns of bicyclists 50 and older. Especially useful for those entering or reentering bicycling.

Well, not 50 yet, but 49 is right around the corner so....

Old 10-19-07, 09:00 AM
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Well, not 50 yet, but 49 is right around the corner so....

I'm beginning to limit my inlike skating a bit since I fell last year going down a very steep hill and tore my MCL; the healing time sure gets longer as I get older. I do still love my 100mm speed skates though.

So now I want to start cycling; it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I have about $2500 to spend on a bike and don't really know what to look for; I do want a good bike that I can have for a while without having to upgrade anytime soon. I was looking at the Fuji Team RC which a local shop said I could get for about $2,000 since it's a 2006 model, but what other bikes (carbon or Ti) would you suggest that have either Dura Ace (or something comparable) for around that $2,500 price?

Also, this may sound stupid but, how should I begin cycling and what should I be aware of when I begin (e.g. road awareness and policies, necessary riding gear other than the bike... etc). I want to work on my skill level and endurance so that I can join one of the local riding groups around the Atlanta area without being a drain to the group and being left behind.

This is a great forum and I will really appreciate any positive guidance you can provide.

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Old 10-19-07, 09:10 AM
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There are plenty of Bikes around so to settle on one model early on is Not right. Get out to a few more shops and try a few more bikes. Make an allowance for the "Extra's" aswell. Cycling clothing- Helmet- Pump- basic tools and a new set of legs for when you do too much too early. Also- that group you want to join- Contact them now. They will be able to put you onto the shop (S) that will help you and give you a good deal.
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Old 10-19-07, 09:49 AM
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Concentrate on fit. The bike must fit correctly not almost correctly. I would rather have a lesser quality bike that fit exactly than a real nice one that didn't fit as well.

You will spend a lot on accessories.

You can't purchase anything and be sure you will not need to upgrade in a year. Believe me no matter what you buy; not matter how good it is; you will want something else in no time. Humans just desire things, if you try to acquire the object of your desire you will just be creating a vacuum and some other object of desire will fill that vacuum.
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Old 10-19-07, 09:59 AM
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One of the sage pieces of advice heard here. Shop for the shop, not the bike. Untill you learn to maintain your bike (many do not and that is also a valid option) your local bike shop will be responsible for fitting, tuning, repairing and upgrading your bike. The knowledge, skill and ability to translate your specific needs into the bike are things that you should be looking for.
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Old 10-19-07, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by maddmaxx
One of the sage pieces of advice heard here. Shop for the shop, not the bike. Untill you learn to maintain your bike (many do not and that is also a valid option) your local bike shop will be responsible for fitting, tuning, repairing and upgrading your bike. The knowledge, skill and ability to translate your specific needs into the bike are things that you should be looking for.
+1 The shop will have more of an intrest in your bike and you if you purchase it from them. It might cost a little more than Walmart but the service you get with the bike is worth the money. Try to find out from local cyclists what shop has the best mechanic.
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Old 10-19-07, 12:32 PM
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Starting out with $2500 budget is really great. Too many adults get in cheaply, then want to upgrade in 6 months, wishing they'd started on a better bike.

However...

Since there are so many more options in that price range, you have a greater responsibility to do your homework and "make it count." Fit and the bike shop you deal with are, as others have wisely said, the main thing.
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Old 10-19-07, 01:00 PM
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One option would be to buy something cheaper now and learn to ride on it. After riding for a year or two you will have a much better idea of what you really need/want. Then, keep the first bike as a backup, foul-weather, commuter, etc. -bike.
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Old 10-19-07, 02:56 PM
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Welcome to the wonderful world of bicycling. You have far more to learn than can be posted in one thread. A good starting place would be to check out the beginning/returning cyclist sticky thread in this subforum: https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus-50/348528-thread-beginning-returning-bicyclers-welcome.html

I understand the desire to start out with a good bike that will last you for many years, but you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to make a complex choice without enough experience to even fully understand the question. You will get a very good bicycle if you spend around $2500. But there are so many different types of bike to suit so many different purposes and preferences that it would only be by blind chance if you managed to pick the same bike now that you would pick if you had a year of riding in your legs before choosing.

We can help you choose a bike after getting a lot of information from you. But my suggestion, if you want to get a nice bike that will hold you for a while, would be to start with something inexpensive and then, after you have learned more about what you want from a bike, spend the money on a keeper.
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Old 10-19-07, 03:07 PM
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I'd like to second what bluesdawg wrote. Until I'd been riding for a while I really had no idea what it was I really wanted.

In the current market there are almost NO bad road bikes. All the junk is in other categories. You can find great bikes in the $500-$1000 range that will let you get out there and find out what you really want to do with a bike. Once you you know that you can flip your first bike and get half or more of what you paid for it back, or keep it. You can never have too many bikes

That being said, I also second the recommendations to shop based on FIT and SERVICE. As far as fit goes top tube length is the most critical thing in getting a good fit. Its easier to fudge seat tube length than anything else but it is the traditional metric. You can tweak stem length and seat position to change the reach but changing those has other ramifications.

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Old 10-19-07, 08:44 PM
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You all have been a great help. I started with what stapfam suggested and e-mailed one of the guys I met from the riding group; he's a young guy that is on the college riding team so I think he could be very helpful.

I'm going to do some shopping this weekend and in future weekends and take it slow; the $2,500 is not burning a hole in my pocket so I'll do the research you all have suggested before buying a bike. I'm in pretty good shape since I inline often and play golf (and I walk the course) pretty often, and play tennis tennis, so I'm hoping the physical transition won't be too difficult.

Again, you guys have been great and have slowed me down a bit, so I won't jump at a bike too quickly.
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Old 10-19-07, 08:59 PM
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Originally Posted by gear
Concentrate on fit. The bike must fit correctly not almost correctly. I would rather have a lesser quality bike that fit exactly than a real nice one that didn't fit as well.

You will spend a lot on accessories.

You can't purchase anything and be sure you will not need to upgrade in a year. Believe me no matter what you buy; not matter how good it is; you will want something else in no time. Humans just desire things, if you try to acquire the object of your desire you will just be creating a vacuum and some other object of desire will fill that vacuum.
Wait a second. A new rider doesn't know what fits. Even an experienced rider has a range within which they will fit. I really don't understand the "perfect fit" idea - most riders, me included, only get to ride a few bikes, and with all the possible variables, I think the idea of a perfect fit is more a matter o f luck (or what you get used to) than perseverance. Unless you're going to spend a few hours on a custom fitting, and then a few thousand on a custom frame, I think a perfect fit is an illusion. Am I wrong?
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Old 10-20-07, 05:44 AM
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A custom frame will ensure a perfect fit and when the OP gets around to purchasing his second bike he may go that route as I did and not regret it as I don't.

I suggested he concentrate on a "correct" fit for his first bike. That may in fact involve hours of research and fitting and it will be worth every minute. Fit is it; when it comes to comfort.
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Old 10-20-07, 05:58 AM
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Well, not 50 yet, but 49 is right around the corner so....

Hey, no one mentioned pies and the pre-50's dues assessment.

What's happening here - all this free advice to a pre 50 person - without the proper administrative procedures being implemented?

The grand art of bureaucracy has taken a real hit!

First Blueberry and $50 and not another piece of advice until that little matter is cleared up!

Anyway, I would NOT put $2,500 on a bike without pedaling for about 1,000 miles on a cheaper bike and getting the feel of "fit" and knowing which direction in bicycling I wanted to go.

But, of course, YMMV!!
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Old 10-20-07, 06:03 AM
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Originally Posted by kerlenbach@cfl.
Wait a second. A new rider doesn't know what fits.
Thats correct -- thats why he needs to deal with someone that does know what fits. sad to say but to a lot of bike shop people as long as you can stand over the bike it "fits".

There are a couple of "systems" for fitting bikes. IIRC the first one was called the "Fit Kit" but there are several around now. It would probably be best if he could find a shop that offered fitting using one of these systems but it still needs to be tempered by taking the rider (50+ remember?) into account.

One of my friends recently went thru a fitting like this after 30+ years of riding and he said it was still worthwhile.
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Old 10-20-07, 06:42 AM
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Besides pie, don't forget to schedule a colonoscopy. You are in good company here and you made the right move to stay fit and healthy. Welcome.
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Old 10-20-07, 07:08 AM
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Originally Posted by buddyp
Thats correct -- thats why he needs to deal with someone that does know what fits.
IMHO "Perfect" Fit is a personal thing and takes years of dialing in. A bike shop and all the fit equations in the world will only get you fairly close. A custom fit or frame is only as good as the information you can feed into the fitter and that is typically contained in bike that you have been riding for years and tweaking until it feels just right over the long haul. There are too many noise variables in a blind fit to do any more than get you on the right size frame. As a rider improves the time they spend in the drops versus in the hoods changes, thier body flexibility changes and thier riding preferences change.

An example of all this - I recently bought a new bike, I decided to do a blind fit. We got the right size frame and then dialed it in over about two hours in the shop. When I got it home it was a little different then the bike I have been riding for years. I took the new one out with my wrenches for a metric and at teh end of the ride I compared it to my old bike and all the adjustments were just about the same (within the measurement error anyway).

A side note - a friend of mine told me a story of a friend of his who was hired by one of the primier boutique and custom bike builders. This individual came from a lean manufacturing culture and improved the cycle/build time for a custom bike from 2 weeks to 1 day. What they found was that the market would not except that because buyers did not think that the bikes were no longer custom, so now they just hold the order for a few weeks. The moral of this story, custom is mostly about making people feel special.

IMHO - the OP should seek out a good end of year special for well under $1K (something like a Trek 1000), ride it, tweak the fit, figure out your riding style and if your hooked and the Trek doesn't get it for whatever reason (and that could simply be that you want something more "custom" between your legs, there is a lot to be said for vanity) swap it out, you may find you want that $8,000 Cervelo, Serotta (whatever) just because it turns heads and makes you "feel" great and if you "feel" great you ride great. If you spend $2500 on a very good road bike it will be hard to part with it when you discover you really wanted a hybrid. I suspect I will get a lot of disagreement on these points but heck - that's life.
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Old 10-20-07, 07:13 AM
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Originally Posted by MulliganAl
You all have been a great help. I started with what stapfam suggested and e-mailed one of the guys I met from the riding group; he's a young guy that is on the college riding team so I think he could be very helpful.
He's unlikely to be of any use unfortunately.

Why?

He's young for starters. He has no comprehension of what age does to a body and while you may not feel old, there is no way you'll be as fit or as flexible as you were in your twenties unless you've worked hard at maintaining it.

He's a racer. You aren't doing racing ... yet. Training for racing is a subset of cycling, yet too many young people consider it the be all and end all. It's not, if anything, it's an aberation, though many old timers get drawn into racing. However, for them, it's different to the resilient body of the youth.

He's a racer and hence understands racing bikes. In all probability, a racing bike is the last thing you need to inflict upon yourself. Many road bikes share many attributes of racing bikes and indeed, look the same, but are different animals and the 'racer crowd' don't understand that.

Get thee in with a mob of old pharts of similar vintage and similar physical condition. Their choice of mount may horrify you (as it would the young man you refer to), but they've usually made their choices based on what works as opposed to amount of flame they'll cop in roadie forums. Maybe a full on, carbon fibre racing machine is the brute for you, but it's more likely it's not. The young have a lot of knowledge, but they lack the experience of their body falling short of their aspirations.

Richard
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Old 10-20-07, 09:02 AM
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Originally Posted by europa
He's unlikely to be of any use unfortunately.

Why?

He's young for starters. He has no comprehension of what age does to a body and while you may not feel old, there is no way you'll be as fit or as flexible as you were in your twenties unless you've worked hard at maintaining it.

He's a racer. You aren't doing racing ... yet. Training for racing is a subset of cycling, yet too many young people consider it the be all and end all. It's not, if anything, it's an aberation, though many old timers get drawn into racing. However, for them, it's different to the resilient body of the youth.

He's a racer and hence understands racing bikes. In all probability, a racing bike is the last thing you need to inflict upon yourself. Many road bikes share many attributes of racing bikes and indeed, look the same, but are different animals and the 'racer crowd' don't understand that.

Get thee in with a mob of old pharts of similar vintage and similar physical condition. Their choice of mount may horrify you (as it would the young man you refer to), but they've usually made their choices based on what works as opposed to amount of flame they'll cop in roadie forums. Maybe a full on, carbon fibre racing machine is the brute for you, but it's more likely it's not. The young have a lot of knowledge, but they lack the experience of their body falling short of their aspirations.

Richard
Thanks for the feedback Richard.

I got a different feeling from this young guy because I met him when he was getting ready for a late night ride with a group or riders that actually had a number of guys in it that were in their mid 50s (very good riders though). I have always loved speed, hence my 100mm speed inline skates that I currently skate on, so I think I'd be bored if I purchase a bike that didn't offer a certain degree of speed.

Perhaps I'll talk with him then find a way to talk with the guys in this late night group that are in their 50s; they would definately understand the body changes we deal with over time and would ultimately be a better source of information.
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Old 10-20-07, 10:29 AM
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Originally Posted by MulliganAl
Thanks for the feedback Richard.

I got a different feeling from this young guy because I met him when he was getting ready for a late night ride with a group or riders that actually had a number of guys in it that were in their mid 50s (very good riders though). I have always loved speed, hence my 100mm speed inline skates that I currently skate on, so I think I'd be bored if I purchase a bike that didn't offer a certain degree of speed.

Perhaps I'll talk with him then find a way to talk with the guys in this late night group that are in their 50s; they would definately understand the body changes we deal with over time and would ultimately be a better source of information.
One thing we are all forgetting is that you have a level of fitness already. Not BIKE fitness admittedly but at least you shouldn't be worrying about possible serious Heart- Lung- Leg problems, Unless you go completely mad on your first trips out. Then there is the fact that you do have some serious money to put down on a bike.

P.S- another important fact is what is your favourite colour- do you have a Back problem and what is Pie? Come back with the answers to these basics and and you might get a friendlier Welcome. Till then - Hello.

I also feel that you have enough sense to talk to people-- To several people-- to find out what they will suggest. First of all you have to find that LBS (Local bike shop) The local group can put you onto this hopefully. That LBS should be able to get the bike fit correct - but I can assure you that if you try a variety of bikes- You will know where the fit is going. Also try a couple of shops to try a wider variety of bikes.

Only you can tell what is right- but a few makes to check out Giant- Trek- Specialised. They make good bikes. So do Pinarrelo-BMC-Boreas- and a lot of other names that you may not have heard of. Stick initially with the BIG commercial names. And remember- as said by others- The first bike you get will only be to help you in your choice for your second bike. (And the 3rd, the 4th. and so on)
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Old 10-20-07, 06:37 PM
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Ever think about trying a 'bent? They are fast and comfortable. I just completed an unsupported solo century today in 5:24 of riding time, and my butt, back, and neck feel as good as they did before I left on the ride.
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Old 10-20-07, 08:10 PM
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DF is right. Have we no standards here? OK, well, we don't. If you're under 50, I think there ought to be some price to get the benefit of our wisdom. What should that price be?
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Old 10-20-07, 08:24 PM
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You mentioned getting Durace for your $2500, probably not likely and not needed unless you plan racing. Shimano 105 is adequate and Ultegra is more than adequate.
Finding the right fit is more important than the grouppo.
I recently bought a Specialized Roubaix with a triple, for my old knees and a more relaxed frame geometry for the comfort of my old body. It came with 105 and is in your price range.
Get a good helmet that fits and wear it. The next most important safety item is a mirror. The Take a Look fits on your glasses and offers a wide range of vision and always is in focus.
Try riding with your local bike club and listen to the experienced riders, the learning curve will be greatly shortened.
Last year I did a tour on the Outer Banks and one of the guys I rode with every day was 79 years old and he rode the entire 700 miles of the tour.
Prepare yourself and your bike to be able to be riding at 79 and you will enjoy the journey.
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Old 10-24-07, 03:13 PM
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You guys have given me some great suggestions and I really appreciate all your help.

Today I went to my second LBS to talk with the guys there and saw two bikes that I really like. Since it was raining today I couldn't go riding but I'm heading back this weekend to do some riding so I can really see which bike feels the best. So far the two bikes I'm considering are, Specialized Tarmac Expert and Specialized Roubaix Expert Triple (like what I've heard about the more relaxed riding position of the Roubaix), they're 2007 models and will be very close to my budget price. The guy also had me look at the Bianchi 928 series and I'm going to give it a try but I don't know much about the Bianchi line.

I'm also going to hit my 3rd LBS this weekend if I have time and I think they sell with Fuji and Cannondale bikes. I'll let you know how I make out.
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Old 10-24-07, 03:23 PM
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Specialised Roubaix seems to be very popular on here for a performance bike that works and is comfortable. Bianchi- If you like them- then get the right colour. They have to have celeste in them. Great Italian bikes that Don't- Unless you can afford it- Break the bank. The range of their bikes is enormous but So is the quality. 928 series is good though. Big problem with a Bianchi- If you get it in Celeste- Is breaking away from the crowds of admirers. A well respected bike to drool over.

And yes- I have a celeste Bianchi. Pity its a mountain bike as they only started winning on them after the millenium. No pedigree yet.
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