Congratulations! Giant makes a nice bike.

Don't be discouraged if your legs feel a little sore at first, you're using muscles that you haven'y used in a while.

Ride safe and remember it's supposed to be fun.

5'9" and the "M" is your size So the LBS is right. The wedge and tools and Pump will be required so get them on your next visit to the shop. Gearing and as you improve- that gearing will suit you unless you have some steep hills in your area You have what is termed a "Compact" crankset that is a favourite on this forum with a 50 and 34 tooth setup and a 12/28 cassette at the rear. 34/28 is suitable for most of us here unless we have mountains or very steep hills.

Now on the Lycra????
It is not compulsory but it is more comfortable. It may take a mind adjust to be able to wear it but even if you do not go for the shorts- The cycling jerseys are a must. They are made of a wicking material that will get rid of moisture very quickly and stay dry. The practice you may be thinking of using is a T shirt made of cotton. Probably the next worst thing to wear after plastic as sweat will stay within it and be cold. But you are coming onto winter so a "Sweat" sgirt will work with a waterproof over jacket. Once again thcycling specific ones work so for this winter just wear what you have till finances and special deals come along.

Hands and will get wet so wool is out. Windproof and wet proof is the way to go

Lots of things still for you to learn but get out and ride and start learning.

And on the pedals- They are clip and strap and can be as dangerous as Clipless pedals. Keep the straps loose and learn how to get the feet out easily- or even take the straps off till you feel more confident.

Hey, it's a 'cross bike, ya gotta get it wet and muddy! Caongratulations, I think you'll love it. I ride a Defy Composite 2, size M/L, and I'm 5' 11" and wear a 34" inseam, so I'm guessing the M is just right for you.

So, how frequently do you folks bike? everyday, every other day, or during the weekends?

I woke up today with a pain on the outer sides of my left knee, but I thought I would go out and bike. Did half an hour like yesterday, around 5 miles. The knees didn't hurt while cycling, but it does while I walk afterwards. The way back was particularly taxing, whereas the way out was much easier. Overall, I love it and I do hope that I won't get any injury that would prevent me from continuing (I always stopped walking because of shin splints). Hence the questions as to how often should I bike. Cheers.

I ride about every day with a day off every forth day or so. It's easy to over do it when your first starting out. Takes awhile to get cycling fit. Do some searches on "how far" or "how long" to cycle, as there are lots of posts on this topic. As far as knee pain, it could be an indication of improper fit, that being seat height. Or you could be mashing too high a gear. You will need to learn to spin and not mash. Another good topic to do a search on in the forums.

To start, try "every other day", add a bit of mileage as you go along, your asking a lot out of your body so be kind to it. I noticed that the, "Cassette", (cluster of gears on the rear wheel), seems to be smallish, you talked about needing a "easier gear", check with your LBS, (local bike shop), for a 11-32 or even better a 11-34 Cassette, that will make going up the hills easier and you can always go back to the org. cassette when you get stronger, jmho. Cross bikes make great "all arounders", don't expect it to be as fast as a pure road bike, just ENJOY the RIDE!

How often to ride? As much or as little as you like. But with a bike like that I think it will be more often than not.

Pain in the knees?

1: Very carefully check your seat height and fore/aft position.

2: Consider clipless pedals and shoes. It is possible, with a knowledgeable dealer/bike fitter, to very accurately align, position and fine tune a clipless pedal/shoe combination using shims and wedges if necessary, to minimise, if not eliminate knee strain issues.

I ride probably 5 days out of 7 when weather and evening light permit. As the evenings begin to disappear in the fall, I'm forced to scale back considerably. It gets much easier pretty quickly when you're just starting out. The first couple months offer constant and rapid improvement.

As far as bilking clothes, I don't really find them necessary for rides of 20 miles or less. When I graduated to riding a bit further, I found bike shorts did add some comfort. The prevailing opinion seems to be that cotton tee shirts suck, but it's what I wear much of the time (I only own one jersey) and I find them quite comfortable. Plus, I can get yellow tee shirts in bulk for about $5 each so I've always got a clean one in the drawer.

Thanks for the replies. The pain is actually not in the knee itself, but related to the small bone (maybe muscle?) out and below the knee, which I don't know if it is part of the knee or not. I will ask my physical therapist when I go tomorrow morning. Maybe I will skip biking tomorrow and resume on Wednesday.

I do try to use the lest resistance I could, so I don't think I am mashing a tougher gear. I should be going back to the bike store after another 9 hours for the 10 hour fit, unless I should go back to him earlier. I will ask him about replacing the gears. How big a job is this? I also think the gears may need adjusting as it is. Although I have only two large gears on the front, the shifter on the left hand gives me the feeling that there are three positions not two. Weird I know, but maybe I am imagining.

(ps: apologies for not using any standard of technically correct term in my posts. I will learn the terms as we go) :)

This is a swell looking bike! Does it roll easily like the Defy you tried out? I hope the tires are variable pressure.

I am still getting used to my new Escape 3, but the sitting position is pretty good for me. So, I will be interested in hearing about your experience with this bike.

Hey Crankykentucky:

Thanks for that. Comparing the TCX and the Defy I tried at the store, I found those to be the noticeable differences:
(1) the Defy did go (much?) faster than the TCX, for perhaps the same amount or even less effort.
(2) the Defy was a tad lighter in weight than TCX
(3) the Defy transmitted all of the road cracks and any asphalt imperfections to my body. This was particularly bad when I rode on the sidewalk.
(4) the TCX rode higher (for the same frame size) than the Defy. The store owner said that since TCX was cyclocross, they are made with a bigger cranck clearance from the ground.

From the two times I tried the bike, I absolutely love it. The paved trail I use has cracks, broken twigs on the ground, etc. which the TCX seems to handle well enough even for a vastly inexperienced rider like myself. I am still wobbly with the bike when maneuvering right spots, but hope this would improve with time. Cheers.

What ever you get you will like, and in the not too far future you will get another bike. We all do eventually.

Hi.
I went through the same thing a few months ago (returning to cycling - the new midlife crisis - after 20 odd years of little or no exercise). I agonised for MONTHS over what and what kind of bike and ended up with a hybrid. A beautiful Forme Peaktrail 1.0 which is fantastic and I love it. Cycled lots, going further, getting faster, hurting less!
HOWEVER, I had seen comments saying that a hybrid was the worst, rather than best, of both worlds and, although I would not agree, I do understand that sentiment because since I started going out, I haven't stopped browsing longingly for road bikes on the Internet!
My local bike shop has a CAAD8 down from £850 to £600 which fits me perfectly (yes I've even been in and tried it out!!) and chainreaction have some full carbon jobbie reduced from £1900 to £750, also in my size!!! If I had that kind of money knocking about I would buy one of them, or even both of them, TODAY!! lol
So, not helpful at all I know, but hopefully interesting.

Hahaha!! That is SO true.

This thread is one of the best I have read on this forum, even though it's a year old. Let's bump this back to the top...

I too was looking for a hybrid, do-anything-go-anywhere, type of bike to go along with my old "free" Schwinn Alum Comp mountain bike that my brother-in-law gave me. But then after talking to a lot of well versed, knowledgeable riders on here, I did a lot of comparisons and will be getting a road bike (i.e. an endurance bike). I even went as far as creating an Excel spreadsheet on various styles of bikes in different categories and have them sorted out, most expensive/high end, to cheap priced/not as good. That way, I can figure out the best bang for the buck.

I plan on keeping the Schwinn mtn bike for days when I want to get silly and splash around in the mud on singletrack trails, and slalom around trees in the woods - and hope I don't end up in a hospital ER! :lol: The old mtn bike can do anything and go anywhere, but is not the best choice for road riding. I don't need a comfort/hybrid or light trail bike, as the old Schwinn would still do that with ease. So, that leaves road bikes where I can comfortably ride 20-25 miles (or more!) and not have a problem at all.

Now that leaves me with dozens and dozens of choices. Giant, Trek, Specialized, Fuji, Cannondale, etc... The one that I want to seriously look at is the Fuji Sportif series of drop bar, more upright, type of road bikes.

The 2 bikes with trekking bars get the most use, in my house, the 2 with drop bars look good hanging up .

The old touring bike , it also with drop bars , is also un used in a couple years, since my last long bike tour.

Boy what great advice. LBS is first. Second is you are a moving target as until you ride for a few months or longer you don't know how you will react. I started with a hybrid after over 40 years of little activity. Did the hybrid thing for three years and the graduated to the road bike which I find like many of the above posters as the preferred set up. Will do 5,000 miles this year, 85% on road bike.

So most important to me is to get the bike you like and push off from the dock! Enjoy the journey and see how you like it. Sidewalks are dangerous, getting on and off your bike is not. Find some grassy areas and practice. Repetition helps.

So saying look to get engaged with riding rather than buying your last bike. Now find the best LBS in your area and spin!

Ed

I've decided that I will get a hybrid next year for the longer trips that my mtbs make harder work of. In the shed I've got a bike's worth of XT/XTR gears, cassette, levers/shifters and brakes, a good Cook Bros Racing chainset, plus a pair of decent 700c road wheels and have decided to buy a Roadrat steel frame and carbon fork from a small UK company, Cotic and build my own.


I've ridden one and was very pleased with it, it rides well and is very light. It has wide-spaced stays and can also be used as a 29er if the mood takes me.


I know I could go with a full road bike but when I've tried them they're just not for me any more. Besides which I look silly in Lycra.

I can't say as I 'get' the either/or "which one is best?" thinking that I see throughout this thread....

Mountain bikes do what mountain bikes do...
Cyclocross do what cyclocross do...
Road bikes do what roadbikes do...
Hybrids do what hybrids do...

... And there is a lot of overlap between all of them...

I think which is 'the best' is mostly related to what kind of riding your are doing that particular day...