Charlemagne

Hey, all. I'm new to the whole road bike scene, but have been lurking amongst these forums for several weeks now gleaning what knowledge I can. Until now, I've mostly ridden mountain bikes, but had been using a mis-sized bike for years, which finally reached its breaking point. Now I'm looking to get something reliable that I can utilize for daily local commute, as well as joyriding about. When I performed a bit of research, a road bike seemed the obvious choice in this matter.

There seem to be a lot of educated individuals here, and I hope to be able to rely on some of your knowledge and experience to help me along, as well as get to know people a bit more.

Northwestrider

For your first bike purchase I think it a good idea to enlist the help of a goo LBS ( local bike shop ). fitting is important.

Charlemagne

Is a fitting always going to run into the $150+ range?

I'm working with a rather tight budget right now...

MO_Rider

Hello and welcome, Charlemagne ... when I bought my new bike a few months ago, the guys in the store fit me for a test ride. They made sure the frame fit right and the seat post was adjusted to the proper height. They offer a computerized fitting service at my LBS in that $150 range, but unless you're buying a really expensive road bike for competing in races and triathalons then it doesn't seem to make much sense. Others here with more experience may tell a different story, but I haven't felt like i've missed out on something because I didn't pony up that cash ...

I bought a Giant Escape 2 hybrid that I've enjoyed a lot. Something like that might fit your budget and be a nice ride for your purposes, too.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Lacumo

Welcome to BF! Fitting doesn’t have to painfully expensive. Cruise all the nearby and convenient bike shops and find out what they’re doing. Research how long they’ve been in the biz, what their reputation is, etc... When I bought my fancy custom mama Serotta, fitting was either painfully expensive or else included in the price of the bike (which means I still paid for it anyhow). I’ve also got local Trek and Specialized dealers who do a fairly “quick and dirty” fitting for free, and that job is probably ~2/3 as good as the expensive, exhaustive fitting job. (Cue everybody who disagrees with that one to come screaming in...) Just a personal opinion, but I don’t think you need a Rolls Royce fitting when you’re buying a Chevy or Honda class bicycle. Good luck with whatever you end up doing and definitely hit those LBS’s extensively before you make any big moves.

Charlemagne

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not really looking for anything as far as getting into competitive cycling, just something a couple rungs up from what I've got now.