basic advice if possible..

stuart wrote:
... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get
into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should
be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my
dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what
style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was a
choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike!
Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a
comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air.
Thanks for any advice,
Stuart


My advice.. somewhat biased .. would be to get a nice conseravtive
roady. Roadys with flat bars actually give you less hand postitions
which is perfectly obvious.. and I cant see that having less positions
to try is really a plus. (even tho lots of them wont be much use to you
just the act of using them for a few second then shifting to another
position will help) And if you are on the road a roady is the way to go.

My back aint wonderfull.. moving around works.. and of course riding
makes it stronger

But I expect you will get some horrible cheap pseudo mountain bike that
weighs a ton and has a sticker warning against off road use. Becouse it
has flat bars. And then you will ride it with the seat far too low and
after a while decide cycling is just too hard. I hope I am wrong tho.

After dithering around for a few years I finally managed to get back
into it after 50 years in the wilderness. My considered advice
is........ get one with a frame, two wheels, a seat, brakes and
handlebars,and a chain would help, and get out on the road.

Get a feel for what you've got yourself in for and save a few quid in
the meantime so you can afford to get something special if you find
that cycling is what you really want to do. By then you'll have a much
better notion of what your needs are.


I found the indecision of what bike to get wasn't getting any easier
and the years were slipping by rapidly, so I grabbed the first
reasonable looking M/B on Ebay for under 20 pounds. I might yet get
something new, but right now it's the least important thing on my mind.
I'm just enjoying being free, mobile and fit again.

I just got back into cycling after nearly 20 years. My bike came from
the local paper for £35 (Dawes racer funnily enough), I cleaned it up
a bit then rode it. Riding around on it for 2 months helped clarify my
thinking as to what proper bike I wanted, so I then got myself a good
one. (Lighter bike , lower gears, different bars and a girlie frame in
my case). Just bear in mind that the less good the bike is, the harder
it is going to be to do hills and any distance. Don't get a mountain
bike with knobbly tires for the road, it will slow you down and make
pedalling harder, and don't (really don't) get a full suspension
mountain bike for £99 from tesco/halfords/asda They are rubbish and
will kill your enthusiasm for cycling as they break (if they work at
all) and they are heavy and unsuited to either on road or off road.

It won't take you long to build up the muscles you use for cycling, but
remember at the beginning you won't have these muscles, and you don't
want to make life harder for yourself unneccesarily. Suggest local
paper small ads to start with as something that was once ok is better
than something cheap that will never be any good.

Emma

In message
"stuart" wrote:


Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a
comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air.
Thanks for any advice,
Stuart


"Which" report gives Schwinn Sierra GS at GBP 230 top marks for comfortable
ride. (but cheap chain set - replace after a year if you get into cycling).
Agree with other posts that any new bike that is much cheaper is probably
discouraging rubbish.

Best wishes

Paul

--
CTC Right to Ride Representative for Richmond upon Thames

On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 13:04:31 +0100, stuart wrote:

... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get
into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should
be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my
dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss.
I often recommend people to go to Decathlon, if there is one near you.

A chap in my cycling club has a Trek, can't remember the model though.
It has an adjustable handlebar stem, and he sits up quite straight on it.
I would maybe think about one of these adjustable stems. Ask in the bike
shop. You can tell them as they have a bolt at either end, and you can
raise the angle of the stem.

"stuart" wrote in message
...
... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get
into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should
be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my
dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what
style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was
a choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike!
Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a
comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air.
Thanks for any advice,
Stuart

Low gears will enable you to go up most hills without getting off to walk. A
second hand mountain bike with smooth (road) tyres. You can fit riser
handlebars to get your back even straighter. I have a Dawes Giro 200 for
road use - I paid £275 for it new, it's got flat handlebars so riser bars
could be fitted. I see them from time to time on eBay. The Dawes does not
have such low gears as a mountain bike though.

John

"stuart" wrote in message
...
... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get
into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should
be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my
dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what
style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was
a
choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike!
Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a
comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air.
Thanks for any advice,

Go and look at ridgeback bikes, they make bikes with good upright positions.
Try to get something with road bike size (700c) rather than mountain bike
26" wheels. I've used both on the road, and road bike sized wheels just seem
to roll better and be comfier on the road with narrow tyres.

.... I havnt rode a bike since school, nearly 30 years ago. I want to get
into it again for fitness etc, but have no idea what sort of bike I should
be looking for. I want it for on the road, and I also need to protect my
dodgy back, so need to sit as upright as poss. Sad git I know, but what
style of bike should I be looking for? Back when I was using them it was a
choice between a raleigh chopper or a dawes drop handle bar racing bike!
Im not interested in brand name, super light, 60 gears etc, just a
comfortable ride so I can get my heart rate up and some fresh air.
Thanks for any advice,
Stuart