RelativelyNew

Hey there people,

Bare with me I am new. I am looking to get a road bike and some gear and could use some advice. Any advice from what to buy? (brand, style, gear) and where to buy it? (somewhere where I can get it at a half decent price). What do I need to get started?

I work in Hamilton but live in Mississauga. But would drive a bit further if I could find a sweet deal on this stuff. I am looking to spend no more than $1000 to get started (bike + gear), not sure, is that reasonable? I have read in other threads that used may be the best way to go but not sure where I would look for a good used bike. Also it seems "fit" is a big deal. Not sure you can find the right "fit" if you go used.

Any advice is appreciated.

cooker

Welcome. $1000 and under is certainly manageable even with new stuff. However, fit is not a problem with used bikes. Once you have an idea of the size of frame you need (and you need to know that whether you buy new or used), it's fairly straightforward to tweak the bike to fit you reasonably well. Adjust the seat height, maybe adjust it forward or backward on it's rails, and adjust the height of the bars. Rarely you might need to replace the handelbar stem or tube if you can't get them high enough or they're too far forward, but usually you don't.
The bigger problem with used bikes is they may have worn out parts and as an inexperienced person you might buy a lemon, and if you go that way be sure to get a bike store or very knowledgeable person check it over for you, but even here it usually works out ok, because even if you have to spend $200 on repairs, the used bike is probably still going to be cheaper than new. But buying new is safer for a new rider.
What sort of riding are you thinking of? Are you young, old, fit, out or shape, competitive, casual etc.?

RelativelyNew

I am 29 and in pretty decent shape. I work out daily, usually 45 minutes of cardio in the morning and about half hour of weights in the afternoon, I also play soccer on the weekend.

I have been thinking of getting into this for sometime now. My uncle(who is in his early 50s) this past weekend told me he bought a bike and told me he wanted to cycle the Amalfi coast next September. About 10 years ago I went for day long bike trip in Italy, I couldn't sit down for 3 days afterwards. I told my uncle I would definetly be in for the trip but it would require some serious training.

So the riding I would be doing would mostly be long rides in preperation for this. Ideally I would like to commute to work in the morning but it just isn't feasible to be riding from Mississauga to Hamilton. In any case the riding would likely be day long trips on the weekends and maybe some shorter rides during the week. Not likely to go off road or racing anytime soon.

cooker

You'll get lots of opinions. I commute on an old cromoly steel Trek 520 tour bike. Tour bikes are road bikes designed for travel over long distances and with luggage. They can be a bit more comfortable and slightly slower than racing bikes, and can handle slightly wider tires plus fenders and racks, but they are still much lighter and faster than mountain bikes. There are also many economically priced road bikes designed more for recreational riding than racing, like the Giant OCR3 or the Specialized Sequoia and many others. I'm assuming other BF members will jump in with their faves. Will you be carrying luggage on your bikes?

ken cummings

How is Re-My Sports in the Streetsville area of Mississuaga? Does it have multiple lines of known brands or is it limited to some unknown overweight brand? A shop that carries just bikes and bike gear might be what you need. Try several shops before buying.

cooker

Actually (now that I think about it) not a lot of people read these introduction threads, so you better post your question in the touring forum or the road bike forum; and somewhere there is a sticky (a permanent thread) on the under $X00 road bike (I forget what digit X is)

RelativelyNew

K thanks, I have moved it to the road bike forum.